Chapter Seven

A Millennium Discovered

Author's Note: I bet none of you saw this coming. I planned to add some element of mystery involving the Millennium Items but even I didn't think it would end up like this. Well, I hope you all like it; I worked hard on this chapter.

*~*~*~*

"You okay, sis?"

Joey's little sister, Serenity, had her arm hooked into the crook of her big brothers arm and was walking simply in the direction that he led her. But even without her most important sense to help her she had something better in the form of the love her brother expressed for her. She knew that he wouldn't lead her astray in her vulnerable state, not even as a joke. "Yes, I'm fine. By the way, what time is it?"

Joey looked down at her slightly confused. "Does it matter?"

She giggled and shook her head. "No, I suppose not. But I am curious as to whether its night or day."

Joey smiled and continued to lead her out of the hospital where Tristan, Téa, and Solomon Motou sat waiting their return. When they walked out, Tristan grinned and jetted over, knocking Joey out of the way and replacing his arm as Serenity's crutch. "Hey, take a brake there, Joey ol' pal! You got more duels to win, remember?"

Joey's face burned bright red as he snatched Tristan around the throat and tossed him aside. He stopped his sisters confused marching with his presence and braced her again. "Don't quit yer day job, Tristan. My little sister is going to be in the next duel, not me."

Tristan got to his feet, brushed himself off and joined back alongside Téa, who was also smiling. Apparently, she didn't think the thought of a blind duelist as crazy as it sounded. "That's so great that your letting your little sister duel, Joey. You wanna borrow my deck, Serenity?"

Joey snickered and waved Téa's proposal away like it wasn't even feasible. "Hey, no offense Téa, but Serenity's gonna win, and to do that she's gonna need a good deck, so she'll be usin' mine. With me tellin' her every card she draws, all the ones in her hand, and givin' her a few pointers, there's no way she's gonna lose. Right, sis?"

Serenity smiled and nodded, then fumbled around with the zipper of the loose hooded sweater she wore. In place of her pink pajamas, she wore a black skirt and thigh-high stockings. Laced hiking boots reached to her knees and her beautiful chocolate-brown hair was tied into a ponytail but two unruly locks still dangled over the gauze covering her eyes. "Umm...Joey, you never answered my question."

Joey had already led her into sitting down next to him on a nearby row of chairs outside of the hospital and was thumbing threw his deck, preparing the cards ahead of time. He looked up at her and blinked in confusion. "Huh? What question?"

Téa and Tristan remembered and snickered quietly to one another.

Serenity smiled wider and cocked her head innocently to the side. "What time is it?"

Mr. Motou, out of habit, looked at his wristwatch. His grandson, Yugi Motou, jokingly called that "sporadic Alzheimer's."

Joey smiled, continuing to fumble with the cards in his dueling deck. He held up the Alligator Sword card and replaced it behind the Swordsman of Landstar. "Its daytime, sis."

*~*~*~*~*

"What time is it?" Deirdre asked his companion, Skylar, who looked up at him from her strawberry smoothie.

She wiped a pink mustache from her upper lip with her sleeve and looked at her upside-down wristwatch. "Almost 3:00."

He nodded and turned around halfway in his plastic bucket seat, searching the expansive crowd for a possible dueling challenge. They hadn't moved from their comfortable and shaded spot under the canopy of the café for an hour, mostly because Skylar had adamantly protested against it. Though he didn't mind, it was nice to sit and relax for once instead of panicking and doubting your personal skills.

He didn't have much choice in that either. If he had lost to Bones or never even worked up the courage to challenge him, then she probably would have slapped him by now just to knock him out of his reverie of misery. She was tired of his complaining and he was tired of having to subject her too it.

Strange, he had only known her for just over a day and she had already become the best friend he had ever had. And he would admit it to her if she ever asked, but she didn't so there was no reason to embarrass himself needlessly. But she probably would have admitted to the same thing. He had occasionally seen her at school, dressing like and hanging out with the popular people, but she never seemed to pay them much attention to them. She gave him all the courtesy that a true friend would, and he appreciated her for it.

"Ooo, ooo! Look!" Skylar cheered, pointing over Deirdre's shoulder.

He turned and followed the direction her finger was gesturing; apparently it was to a blue-haired boy not far away who was competing in a duel. If Deirdre remembered correctly, that was Espa Roba, the so-called "Psychic Duelist." However, not long ago Joey Wheeler dispelled that rumor as nothing more than an elaborate hoax. Though from where he was sitting, Deirdre could make out Espa holding his fingers to his head and chanting like he was channeling the "cosmic forces." Apparently he still used that phony ESP stuff in order to psyche out his opponents. And it seemed to be working quite well.

"Battle him! You can take him, just ignore all that psychic garbage he spouts!"

Deirdre shrugged and stood up. "All right, but I'm going to go the bathroom first. When I get back he should be done with his present duel and then I'll challenge him."

"K." Skylar watched him walk off into the restaurant and vanish behind the tinted windows. She turned back to the distant duel then stood up and skipped over so she could listen in on Espa Roba's feigned psychic abilities. Deirdre would appreciate knowing more about his opponent before actually getting into the duel. Ever the strategist, Skylar was.

Meanwhile...

Deirdre walked through the restaurant, dodging by people balancing their food on flimsy plastic trays and another guy mopping the floor. He nearly collided into the "Watch your Step" foldout sign but made it safely past the gauntlet and entered the men's restroom.

But the moment he entered he began to feel lightheaded, and it wasn't because of the stench. He stood motionless for a second to gather his bearings then stumbled over to the sink and stooped over the faucet, shoveling water into his face hoping to alleviate the queasiness overtaking his senses. Now he believed that he was going to vomit, and just before the taste reached his tongue he instantly felt fine. Like the sudden illness had never hit him at all.

He stepped back and stared at himself in the mirror. His face was still slightly green from the feeling of nausea, but other than that and the pressing need for him to relieve himself nothing was wrong. He turned, preparing to enter a stall, but then his reflection in the mirror began to contort and the background turned pitch black.

Deirdre gasped and turned around, but all he saw was burnished linoleum tiles and the baby-changing center. He flipped back to the mirror and the darkness was gone. Not a single shred remained.

"I must be catching something," and again he attempted to approach a stall, but the moment he took a step forward a hole opened up in the ground before him. He panicked and jumped back, this time nearly falling into another open cavity behind him. He stumbled and backed up into the sink, then hopped and sat on top of the counter. The two holes began to grow larger and were soon engulfing the entire bathroom. When one of the holes touched a wall, the wall slowly began to melt away into a black empty void.

Deirdre began to sweat nervously, but also out of fear. "S-someone h-help!"

He turned to see the door was now also black nothingness. Then the first hole he nearly fell into touched the sink, and it instantly vanished, dropping him into the vast darkness below him. He gave one frightened yelp before his voice was cut off.

However, the fall was short-lived. He hit the ground rather hard, but it didn't feel like he was hurt. He crawled to his feet and looked around insanely, seeing nothing but perpetual darkness all around him. And the worst of all was that his overwhelmed mind could not find any explanation for this phenomenon.

"W-where a-am I?" He stuttered, taking slow, experimental steps backward. Just as he was about to scream he backed into a solid object, and when he turned around he still saw nothing but darkness. He pounded on what seemed to be a hollow wall, because with every pound would follow a loud booming knock. He tried to push the object, but it wouldn't budge. He got frustrated and kicked the object, hard, but it didn't move and even the force, which should have broken his foot, didn't.

At the moment, he took comfort in at least having the object there and despite his complete lack of knowledge of where he was, he sat down and propped himself up against the invisible wall. He buried his face in his arms and did everything in his power to resist the urge to cry, and he wanted to. He had never felt so weak and defenseless, so ignorant in his environment.

He looked up from his arms and just as a way to test a possibility, looked at his hands. The likely explanation for all of this was that he wasn't in an invisible room; he was in the dark. But too no avail, he could see his hand just like it was out in the daylight.

With a heavy sigh he braced himself against the invisible wall behind him and tried to get back to his feet, but then the wall gave away and the scenery around him changed from absolute blackness to a sunny, sandy desert. He gave a confused shout and shot to his feet, looking around for any sign of Battle City or even the dark room he was just in.

What he saw, not too far away, was what appeared to be a large amount of abandoned machinery. That meant people, and possibly answers. So he took into a brisk stride, occasionally stumbling on the loose sand, until he stepped onto a tall sand dune overlooking the site. Now that he could get a wider range of the area, it looked like an archeological dig. He blocked the sun from his eyes with the palm of his hand, but unfortunately saw no people, however he did see a massive pyramid. It was the most spectacular image Deirdre had ever laid eyes on. The site of this structure was so breathtaking that he took a step forward, forgetting that he was on top of the dune, and tripped.

He screamed just before his face hit the harsh sand and did dozens upon dozens of rolls and flips as he cascaded down the hill. After what seemed like the most agonizing hour of his life, (in truth it was only a few seconds) he hit the bottom of the hill and dug his fingers into the sand. He looked up, coughed and began to spit out a large amount of the coarse material.

He groaned and pulled himself up. "This is by far the worst day of my life," he growled, and began to limp toward the pyramid.

As he neared, he began to feel the cool breeze of the massive shadow the pyramid cast on the scorched sands. Despite his currently dirty and roughed-up body and clothes, he felt much better.

When he got to the entrance to the pyramid, which was roped off with a long nylon cord, he saw that besides several bulldozers and a crane, there was honestly nothing here that would make someone think that anyone had been here for years. Deciding that his way back might be in the unknown and possible dangerous pyramid, he broke the latch that kept the rope on the far pole and let it drop lifelessly to the ground. He entered the pyramid, not knowing what to expect.

What he got was a very small room ornamented with dozens of hieroglyphics, some depicting things he could never even begin to understand, and others that actually resembled things he recognized. Like Duel Monsters. One was unmistakably the Dark Magician apparently fighting a Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

But that might just be his suddenly vivid imagination talking. The room was centered around one large elevated platform, which had a huge slab of rock on top of it. Deirdre walked around to the side of the tablet and examined it. What he saw, besides more indiscernible hieroglyphics, were six shallow empty holes with exotic shapes. A few he had no idea what could have once fitted inside of them, but one looked like a key. Another resembled a long staff with a winged orb on the tip. Another was in the shape of an upside-down pyramid.

The only one of these holes that still had something inside of it was also the largest. At the very base of the tablet was a golden scale. The craftsmanship that had to have gone into the item was remarkable. It was flawless, even after all these years. The magnificence of the item grabbed at Deirdre as he smoothed his hand over the face of the object, which had a warped lidless eye grafted into it.

The same idealized eye was at the very apex of the tablet, and in several places around the room. And even stranger was that even though Deirdre knew he shouldn't be messing with something of this indubitable rarity, he found that he could not help himself, and with both of his marred hands he removed the golden scale from its socket. He was careful to make sure that neither of the trays accidentally broke off from their chains.

He tested the object's weight in his hands and it was really very light, amazing for something fashioned out of solid gold, but he had experienced stranger things today. As he looked over the object, his eye caught the extrinsic deformed eye in the center of the scale. Immediately his mind was filled with a wealth of foreign information and when he looked back at the tablet, he could understand all the writing he saw. He looked around the room and could also perfectly comprehend all of the ancient text there as well.

"Amazing," he breathed, and let the scale drop to his side, completely oblivious to the fact that it could be damaged in such a position. Deirdre walked over to the western wall and began to gorge himself on the knowledge he read.

He interpreted much about ancient battles waged in a place called the "Shadow Realm." Grand battles not fought for mere material wealth or power, but for the fate of kingdoms and whole civilizations, even worlds. He read that holy priests with magical powers would fight these duels with monsters summoned from the Shadow Realm, just like in the popular card game that he so greatly enjoyed.

Deirdre soon lost all track of time as he just continued to side step and read more and more information. But by far the most interesting was the very last bit on the eastern wall, which told of seven magical items of unbelievable power. These items each held a portion of a force so mighty that if one gathered all of them together, he or she could conquer the world unhindered. The seven items were called the Millennium Items, and they were supposedly hidden away in the tomb of a great pharaoh where they would never be found and used, whether it be for good or evil purposes.

As he read, the names of each item became known. The Millennium Puzzle, the Millennium Key, the Millennium Necklace, the Millennium Rod, the Millennium Ring, the Millennium Eye, and the Millennium Balance, which Deirdre himself currently held.

Deirdre scrolled past all the information about the other six items and went straight to his at the bottom. He began to read aloud to himself as if others were around awaiting the results of what he found. "The Millennium Balance is the item that weighs greatly upon the spirits of many. It ties all other items together and wields the ability to discern a pure heart when set against a fair feather."

Deirdre stood back and swallowed, letting the magnitude of this situation settle in. He then held it up again and stared back at himself in its polished surface. "Wields the ability to discern a pure heart when set against a fair feather? What the Hell does that mean?"

"You'll soon come to understand, my friend," came a light voice behind him.

Deirdre flipped around and held up the Millennium Balance defensively, prepared to use it as a bludgeoning weapon if need be. The person he saw was a dark-skinned man wearing a long robe and a turban on his head. Also held up before him like a weapon was the Millennium Key. Deirdre knew what it was instantly. He didn't have to see it to know; he had just read it.

"You are the new guardian of the Millennium Balance and I can give you but one piece of information: Use it wisely. Do not let the thought of greed overtake you. Try to harmonize with your item and use its powers for good." The man grinned lightly and lowered his item; in turn Deirdre did the same. "However, I cannot choose your destiny for you. Use your newfound power however you wish. In the meantime, I am sending you back home, where you can further reflect on these events in peace."

The same familiar feeling of nausea struck Deirdre like a bus, only this time it was twice as potent and he could barely even focus on the man before him let alone ask him any questions. Though one did manage to escape his lips before he completely vanished into the ether. "What is your name?!"

The man smiled again. "Next time we meet, and it will be soon, you will address me as Shadi."

And then all was dark.

*~*~*~*~*

Deirdre awoke coughing, spitting up not only grains of sand but also blood. He immediately wanted to get to his feet but he was restrained. Then three distinct voices came to be, but his vision was so blurred that he couldn't have even pictured their faces in his mind's eye. However, one was unmistakably Skylar's.

"Deirdre, please don't move! We've called an ambulance. We think you slipped and hit your head."

"D-d-didn't s-slip..."

"Keep him still, Roy! He might have broken his neck!" A man's voice said.

"I know, I know..." another man spoke, but his voice was much younger than that of his companion.

"Where the hell is the ambulance?! You called them ten minutes ago!"

"Miss, please, try to remain calm. Your friend is going to be all right."

"All right? ALL RIGHT?!! Look at him! He looks like he could croak at any moment! Call them again!"

"N-not goin' to d-diiiee..."

"Stop talking, Deirdre! You're only going to make it worse!"

Then his vision went black again, however he could still hear the frantic screaming of Skylar and the voice of the other man trying to get her to stay calm or leave the restroom. The man who was holding Deirdre still was quiet except for his repetitive grumbling whenever the other man scolded him for accidentally rocking Deirdre's neck.

Not long afterwards, the ambulance arrived and whisked Deirdre off to the hospital. The entire time Deirdre knew he wasn't seriously injured because from the moment he snapped back into reality he slowly began to feel better. By the time he was in the emergency room being prepped for X-rays, he felt completely fine, however an amazing sense of fatigue racked his body and he couldn't have even twitched a leg if he wanted to. And he did, he so desperately wanted to get to his feet.

The doctors found nothing broken, not even bruised, and released him from the hospital a few hours later in the company of his parents. They could give no explanation for what happened in the restroom and assumed it might have been a spastic seizure. Deirdre's parents didn't buy it.

Skylar never once left his side but was eventually ordered home. Her mother had to come and forcefully remove her from her friend's company.

When Deirdre got home, he managed to find the strength to drag himself up to his room and crash onto his bed. His parents obviously wanted to talk but he wasn't in the mood for it. They gave him back his Duel Disk, which was left on the café table with Skylar, and bid him goodnight.

Then the moment he was alone his strength miraculously returned and he didn't feel like he would be able to sleep until sometime late next week. He swung his legs over the side of his bed and rubbed his face, trying to understand the events of that day.

"Was that all just a hallucination? But, it was so real..."

"...No, it couldn't have been."

As he removed his hands from his face, he noticed a strange feeling that hadn't ever been there before, like something scratching his skin. He looked at his hands and noticed a golden band, one that he had never seen before then and definitely did not ever own. He slid it off his index finger and looked over its surface. He wasn't even that surprised when he found the same warped eye design that was characteristic of all Millennium Items.

With but a simple thought, the ring instantly transformed back into the Millennium Balance. The ring must be its handy travel size. He once again examined the item and once again felt exhausted as the weight of all that he experienced crashed down upon him. Absent-mindedly the Balance reverted to its ring form and took it upon itself to find its way back onto Deirdre's finger.

He then laid back on his pillow and with a short wave of his hand, magically shut out the light. He didn't even notice and fell into a deep slumber.