Am too tired from shoveling snow to think of something clever and/or witty to say here.

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Disclaimer: Authoress does not own Black&White or Yugioh

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It was a week later when Yuugioh decided to act on Wilbur's information. By now, the village had expanded to comfortably accommodate it's population. At dawn, he flew out of his Temple and set out.

Somehow, no matter how trivial the movement was, the god never ceased to be amazed at his ability to fly. He glided quickly over the island, pausing to drop a bit of food into the village that Laurel had half-converted by accident, and soon found himself by the snowy mountains.

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"So, where's dis woman we're supposed ta be talkin' to?" Luster asked.

"Perhaps one of the villagers knows something about her?" Lupine suggested, and Yuugioh decided to ask a farmer.

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The man jumped as a giant ball of crimson light approached him asking for directions.

"You want to see the Duchess? Just go into town and wait, visitor," the farmer said as he leaned on his hoe.

"You'll draw her out to see you soon enough I'll wager."

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Yuugioh did as he was instructed, and sure enough after a bunch of people ran off screaming from the sight of him a group of people approached him.

"Visitor, do you seek an audience with the Duchess?" A tall and imposing figure - for a human - addressed him.

"Yes, I was wondering if I could speak with her," Yuugioh calmly replied.

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The man looked him over before letting out a 'harrumph'.

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"This way," he said, and Yuugioh followed them as they made their way over to a large and well-decorated tent.

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"How much longer is dis gonna take, I'm suffocating from boredom ova here," Luster complained as they waited outside the tent.

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Finally, the flap opened and a woman walked into view. She was very beautiful - again, by human standards - and seemed utterly unimpressed with his presence.

"I was informed you wished to speak with me?"

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"Yes. I was informed that you are one who possesses much in the way of information."

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"That is true - however, before you can ask me a question, you first must complete a task. Are you willing to do so?"

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"Yes."

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"Very well, here is your task…"

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"Remind me why we gotta do dis again?" Luster whined as they looked all over the island for something called the 'Forlorn Hope'.

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According to the Duchess, he needed to retrieve something 'golden as the raven's hair' from the center of the something called the Forlorn Hope. She had refused to give details, leaving Yuugioh to try and find it himself.

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"I know it's hard, but we can't just give up! Kazul is counting on us to find a piece of the Creed," Lupine countered.

"We've been lookin' fer a week now, we've seen every inch of dis island, and we still ain't found it yet! Maybe its called the Forlorn Hope 'cause finding it is a forlorn hope!"

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As determined as he was not to give up, Yuugioh felt his own hopes dwindling as they finally rested for the night. Too exhausted to make it back to the Temple, he gently lowered himself onto a roof in the second village which had recently been converted.

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Something about Laurel and a drought, he wasn't certain.

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Anyway, he began dozing on the roof, and near the building some villagers were telling the children old legends. One of them caught his half-conscious attention.

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"There speaks of a certain place, children, where unlimited riches and unbridled happiness are as common as the leaves of trees. It's surrounded by the tallest mountains, and no one has ever crossed over them and come back to tell the tale."

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"Then how do they know?"

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"Because one person did come back, and from them we know of the wonders that are there. He spoke of very strange things, and called them like the silver eyes of a wooden horse, like the flavors of a springtime thunderbolt, and like the golden of a raven's hair. Most people couldn't believe it, but he had proof - a strange disk adorned with a strange design. We've passed it down for generations, and here it is - no touching now, just look!"

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As the speaker revealed their treasure, Yuugioh woke up enough and was curious enough to look over himself. What a peculiar design - a misshapen lump, crossed with lines that extended from a single point.

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As the person began explaining how it hadn't rusted even after a thousand years, the god drifted back to uneasy sleep. Something about that design was so familiar…it was dawn when he woke up and things simply seemed to click.

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Completely freaking out Lupine and Luster, Yuugioh flew up - as high as he could go straight up. From directly above, the island shape matched the design on the disk!

And so Yuugioh flew to where the lines on the disk had been coming from.

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"Aha! I knew it!"

Another island was there, and it was completely ringed with impossibly huge mountains.

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"Man, you sure had a good call on dat one Boss," Luster said after he stopped gaping.

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Flying over the mountain tops easily, Yuugioh discovered, to his surprise, that he was entering someone's influence. There were three villages and a pair of temples in the islands interior, which really confused him.

The pillar of light coming from one was pure white - the other, pure black. Otherwise the temples weren't that unusual. Neither one was more evilly inclined or more good inclined. And it was all dominated by a single crest, a Yin-Yang.

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"Dis is the freakiest ting I've ever seen," Luster said as they came in to get a closer look.

"I wonder how long these temples have been here," Lupine said.

"I wonder if their owners mind us taking a look around," Yuugioh said.

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"You will find us friendly hosts -"

"If you never leave our coasts."

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A pair of goddesses were suddenly there, in front of him. One pure white, one pure black, and each sporting the same Yin-Yang crest.

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"Who are you?"

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"See sister, this one is very rude!"

"For that is the question we must ask you!"

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"My name is Yuugioh, and I came here to look for something. I need it in order to get information on a Creed."

The pair of goddesses looked shocked.

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"You seek the Creed?"

"It's hard to believe. You're so young -"

"And apparently so dumb."

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"I answered your question," Yuugioh said, feeling irritated by the pair's remarks, "Now answer mine. Who are you?"

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"We are the twin goddesses of this land."

"We share everything, you understand."

"This place is ours, to share and share alike."

"Don't try to take it, or you'll lose the fight."

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"Do they really gotta talk like dat all da time?" Luster grumbled.

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Yuugioh felt a migraine coming on, not to mention a serious sense of déjà vu from a pair of rhyming siblings blocking him from his goal.

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"He's getting bored, sister dear."

"We've been terrible hosts, that I fear."

"Don't be so meek, tell us what you seek!" They chorused together.

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"I was sent to find something 'golden as the raven's hair'."

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The sister goddesses seemed surprised, and began whispering to each other.

"Minerva, he wants to get - "

"Yes Athena, he does want it."

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"Well then," the white goddess Athena addressed the waiting Yuugioh, "We do have that."

"But," the black goddess Minerva said, "It's not something you can take and ask."

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"Do something for us -"

"And we'll give it to you. Otherwise -"

"Our business is through."