Authour's Note: Sorry agian guys!!! I know I said it would be an early chapter, but I had major writer's block. -.-U I found writing duels to be heaps difficult and being the perfectionise I am, I wrote it once, read it and decided it was crap so I wrote it agian, editing it like 50 times before I decided it would be decent enough to post up. With this duel it doesn't really follow the series with the whole always explaining what everything card does - eg..."I activate my magic card and it does blah blah blah" you know, stuff like that. My first version of the chappie was like that and I found it pretty tedious to read. In this chapter there are bits to the duel, but it focuses a lot on Seth's darker side and emotions, etc. some may find this boring, if so plz tell me and suggest how i can improve I'll try my best...sorry if you get bored!!!
Yes the wedding ceremony between Atem and err I forget her name...you know my OC will be commencing next chapter so keep an eye out for that.
I'm not gonna be making any promises on when the next chappie will be up but I've written some of it already so it may be sooner than expected
Anyhows here are some replies:
kikoken: well glad ur happy thx for reviewing!
NeferNeferi: thx for all the shadow dueling info, it help a lot
Minor Arcana: thx for ur info on dueling as well. looking forward to reading ur next chappie!
kim: ur review is much appreciated!
R o b o t C a t: thx for the review, im glad u still put up with it even though it is not the couple u like. sorry but bakura wont be in this chappie, hes set for later appearances in the story already
SGCred: thx for reviewing, ur comments always motivate me to write! the info on duels was also useful so thx agian.
sailor-z-360: yay two reviews from you, thx. looking foward to ur next update as well!
Mystic of Nile: Thx god we got that one cleared up! we'll thx for the review and looking forward to ur next update!!
Now that I'm finished with rambling on, here's the chapter!!! ::hands everyone popcorn::
Disclaimer: If I owned Yugioh you'll be seeing a lot more Kaiba and thus it would be call Kaiba-Oh!...but I don't so u don't have to be afraid...yet ::hehe::
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Chapter 6
It may sound absurd...but don't be naive
Even Heroes have the right to bleed
I may be disturbed...but won't you concede
Even Heroes have the right to dream...
It's not easy to be me
[Five for Fighting – Superman (It's Not Easy)]
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Seth stood high and tall, his eyes dark and sharp with the faint lining of kohl. He stood motionless like an immortal warrior facing battle, imposing his eminence upon the enemy with piercing hatred before striking. He held a strong grip on his Sennen Rod, which glowed in a faint radiance, in anticipation of the shadow game.
He had challenged him, that fool of a priest the one excessively shedding pity to all. That idiot Mahado who the pharaoh praised so inexplicably ...benevolent, loyal and compassionate! Seth mentally spat out the filthy words. No matter, for he would fall, like so many others have, none can match my power within this game, the high priest pledged to himself. Mahado was but another opponent, weak and fooled to think he had a chance of victory.
The high priest darkly smirked across the ancient duel stage to his opponent as he pointed the Rod towards the figure, "Mahado, high priest of Osiris, king of the underworld! One of the six high priests of the creator sun God, Re! Today you will kneel to me in defeat!" The rod holder proclaimed, obeying to the ancient tradition of addressing ones opponent with his full name and status.
"Seth, cousin of the pharaoh and high priest of Setekh, god of evil and chaos, one of the six high priests of the creator sun God, Re - it is you who will fall!" The ring holder replied, his tone even and unruffled. Mahado's narrowed eyes, aligned with the tattooed lines beneath his orbs, a mark of his deity, Osiris. Overpoweringly dark and discerning, they seemed to penetrate Seth's bitter icy glare as he gazed at his adversary.
"You are fooled to think I would fall to a petty imbecile like you Mahado!" Seth retaliated, eyes flashing like clouds of dark azure.
"Priest of Setekh, you know as well as I the Gods favour light over shadow! I will say this again, you WILL fall in this duel!" The older priest said, his voice strong and firm. The golden ring that hung inertly around his neck now began to take life and glow as he readied himself for the shadow game.
"You will need more than the blessing of the Gods to beat my power!" The priest of Setekh sneered, "Enough of this natter!"
Their voices clashed and combined into turbulent words, "It's time to DUEL!" [A/N: lol I've always wanted to write that in somewhere]
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Atem sat, silent against the ambience of the roaring crowd, his stillness piercing through the electrifying atmosphere. Noiselessly sighing to himself he shifted upon his throne, casting a glance towards his three high priests seated nearby. Isis, keeper of the millennium Tauk embodied worry, her graceful face engraved with a mix of anxiety and fret. She seemed locked in her own secrete realm, unknown to even the son of Re.
The mass crowd puncture the air with a bawl, drawing in the pharaoh's attention back to the shadow duel. Seth seemed to have the upper hand, Atem unconsciously analysed. His instinctive mind often reacted to the shadow game, reflexively testing the various ploys and strategies in his mind as the high priest of Setekh summoned a Ka to the field. Its essence diffusing from the ancient tablet, magically materialising into a beast of power and even from afar, the pharaoh could perceive the trademark smirk of his cousin.
"Now my Minotaur of Chaos, come forth and attack his petty mage!" Seth beckon, pointing the Sennen Rod towards his foe. Mahado, stood impassive by the monster blindly rushing towards his Mage of Nemesis, the left corner of his lip flickered into from what Atem could distinguish, a diminutive smile, "I activate my hidden tablet, Mirror of Light!"
The ring holder's faced down tablet began to glow with a soft luminosity as its magical energy and structured into a reflective wall of light, protecting the older priest and returning the damage to the attacking creature itself.
Seth's chuckle chilled the pharaoh to the inner depths of his soul. Seth was his High priest, ally, friend, cousin and rival – rival, what he feared most from the older boy, for the most for all that was dark within the Rod holder seem to emerge in these duels, his arrogance, pride, smugness and malevolent nature engulfed and overridden all that was light and he became as dark as sinister shadows, lingering and feasting upon his opponents fall. To him, none would stand in his way and he would not grant any mercy however slight its magnitude.
"Mahado, you fool! The irony consumes me for as wise as you claim to be, you appear as imbecilic as a mule!" The high priest of Setekh scorned, not bothering to cover his mockery towards the older man, "I trigger my hidden tablet: Horus' Wind to wipe away your feeble defences!" A maniac cackle blurred into the exhilarating roars of the crowd as Seth's beast obliterated Mahado's monster.
Atem watched with keen attentiveness, absorbing both moves and predicting further play, despite his unawareness of the tablets. Although establishing a rickety start, Mahado seemed to rise again as strategy after strategy went into play, Seth struggling with the older man's new found form. The match soon formed into dense layers of tactics and strategic play, a web of danger seemed to lurk around every unknown move, every enigmatic tablet, and both were men dripping with sweat from the tension between the tightly woven shadow duel.
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The young pharaoh did not know of the time passed for it could have been minutes or hours, deep in the vast arena his mentality was blurred within the roaring crowd, the summoned Kas and the duellists' minds. He dwelled within the game itself and thus he was lost in the hours that passed, however a familiar voice soon broke his immersion of the duel, "They've been going at it for hours. Who do ya think will win?"
It was Jouno, who stood beside his throne as a personal guard. His ran his fingers through the golden bangs that concealed his temple, "I'm getting' sorta hungry here..."
Atem could only chuckle when he heard the marque grumble of his kinsman's stomach, "Don't worry Jouno ...it seems the majority of their Ba essences have been consumed, I don't think either can last much longer..."
"That's good. Mahado is a lot better than I thought he was. Seth usually just destroys his opponents like that", the soldier demonstrated clicking his fingers for further effect. Although he despised the priest, Jouno had to admit, he was good...real good, probably as good as the pharaoh himself, he mused...nah, Atem's THE King of Games, no one can match his skill.
"Do not misjudge Mahado, Jouno, his skills are worthy for he rarely duels and when he does... he embodies the skills of Osiris himself", the pharaoh declared as he watched intently at the game where the ring holder summoned another Ka to his side.
"I beckon thee forth Dark Magician!" Mahado's eye flickered with an unknown intensity as the magical being emerged from the etched stone tablet. Atem drew in a heavy breath, this Ka was a great one, Mahado's favourite and in fact, his favourite for it embodied all strength that was magical within the shadow duels. The magician, cloaked in purple was indeed the most powerful spirit in the field of magic. His spells were of supreme magnitude and were unmatched by any monsters in the game.
Another smile extended across Mahado's face, "As I previously said Seth, the Gods DO favour light over dark for the tablet in my hand is be my key to victory! I shall increase my Dark Magician's attack strength with my magical tablet: Book of Spells!" The magician's staff blazed with a bright illuminance, sweeping away the shadows with the gloom filled arena and its spell obliterated two of Seth's summoned monsters in defence.
From his afar seat Atem could perceive what he imagined to be Seth, his face composed, yet frustration could be witness through his furrowed brows, his hair plastered to his forehead with colossal sweat and lips pressed together in a thin parallel line - he had a look of a mad man, lost in the heart of darkness. His mind was racing with desperate strategies.
Atem shifted once more in his seat, the intensity of the arena filled him – physically and mentally for if his cousin received but one more direct attack he would no doubt fall. Atem knew only one spirit could save him, one mysterious tablet that Seth showed only to him, but would not reveal where he acquired such power. The enigma was indeed powerful, though Seth never saw the need to use it in a shadow duel before; the pharaoh wondered whether his cousin added the Ka to his deck this time.
Suddenly the Rod holder's expression altered into one of a maniac smile, his laugh, now more thunderous than ever engulfed even the roaring crowd. His eyes showed no depth, no flicker, just shadow, dwelling in the madness of his soul. He slowly raised his Rod as if he was in some dramatic play and his dry voice slashed through the cosmic stadium, "I do not need the Gods' blessings for my own power is enough to suppress and crush your petty monster!" With his free hand Seth placed the tablet upon the stone alter as it illuminated a slow blue aura.
"I summon thee, mighty creature of the Gods: Blue Eyes White Dragon!"
The spirit flowed out of the ancient stone, materialising into a majestic creature. All was silent as the Ka formed; scales shining with a faint shimmering waxen luminosity, while eyes blazing with a brilliant sapphire shade. The dragon spread its mighty wings and roared to a deafening magnitude. A murmured of disbelief ran through the crowd for all that witness this phenomenon were shocked. None have ever seen a Ka this powerful but in legends and dreams.
"A creature of the Gods? It is impossible! None can control a being of this power!" Mahado said, narrowing his eyes, "What is this Seth? A foul trick?"
"Ha! I loathe upon your ignorance! This is MY Ka, fool! Only I alone have the power to command it for I am its keeper!"
"You?! You are the keeper of the Blue Eyes White Dragon?!" Mahado could not help but allow the disbelief to gush through with his words. It was legend; the dragon was no more than myth, its keeper no more than fable, yet now both were situated before his eyes. He mouth was dry and his hands shook with shock, this-this disrespectful, arrogant priest was its infamous keeper?! Mahado's mind was a blank void, now there was nothing but an inevitable defeat. None could beat this creature; the gods had bestowed upon it the mightiest of powers. It was blessed; it strength untouchable, its agility unrivalled, its supremacy matchless by none but the gods.
It was over... and all in profound irony for it seemed the gods did favour shadow over light. Mahado could not help but silently laugh at the paradox.
Setekh did defeat Osiris as shadow would conquer light.
Seth crossed his arms, a mix of condescension and madness upon his face. A deep shadow seemed to be cast over the arena, all was still and noiseless as though the stadium was a quite hollow shell, the dragon shifted itself readying for its master's impending command.
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well if you've made it this far im impressed ::hands our more popcorn:: so tell me...was it as bad as i thought it was, if so plz tell me the truth so i can improve like it, hate it...plz REVIEW!!! plus im up pretty late so if there are any spelling or grammatical mistakes plz tell me in the review...thx!!!