(Sorry it took so long to upload this new chapter, university coursework kind of ate up all of my spare time. But I got there in the end)
SILENT TALE Chapter 4 – Ben Warren
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Dante was falling, drifting downwards from a great height, but he was unable to make out any of the details of his descent, everything was a blur of white and yellow. Strangely he was not afraid by any of this, instead there was a feeling of homeliness, as if he belonged wherever he was going. Slowly his descent slowed, and finally stopped, leaving him hanging in the air stationary.
Now that he was not moving Dante was able to check his surroundings. It looked like a ruined chapel or an ancient burial ground. There were marble pillars scattered about the floor, and it looked like they had once supported some kind of a roof, the remains of which could not be seen.
"Where am I?" He whispered to himself. His voice echoed about him and rolled into the distance.
As if in answer, a faint wind picked up, casting dust across the ground. There was the sound of footsteps from somewhere behind him, and Dante turned to see who it could be.
A tall man, garbed in blue armor and carrying a sword slung loosely over his right shoulder was standing there. It was as if he had always been there, a serene calm radiating from him. Dante was confused, but not scared, he had always known that this figure was with him, there was nothing but faith between the two of them. He could even name the mysterious knight.
Black Luster Soldier.
"Did you call me here?" Dante asked, his voice quiet in the sudden stillness. It felt like the whole world was waiting for him to speak, as if it were stretched to breaking point.
The knight shook his head, his body staying perfectly still as his head moved from side to side. "There was no need to bring you here." He spoke at last in a voice similar to Dante's "You have always been here in you heart young man."
"This . . . this isn't real isn't it. I mean, this is a dream right?"
"It is whatever you make of it. This place is a nexus between my world and your own, here the barrier between them is at its weakest and it allows me to communicate with you like this."
Dante pieced together the words, translating them in his head before interpreting them aloud. "So there is another world beside ours where characters from Duel Monsters really exist?"
"Indeed, and it is in dire need of your help. Dartz must be stopped."
Dante shook his head a little and glanced about him, if he looked at this place in a certain way it was almost familiar. "I thought that Yugi was supposed to be the one fighting him, isn't he the best of us?"
Black Luster smiled sadly and shook his head. "You have great potential Dante, but indeed Yugi is the greatest. I think that even you, who has never known defeat in battle, would lose to him. But he has already fallen to the power of Dartz, and his soul resides within the madman's grasp."
"Yugi was defeated?" Dante asked, a little taken aback. From what he had learnt of the young Japanese player, he was the very best duelist ever to have lived, a tactical genius second to none.
"You still do not understand the message that Pegasus left you."
It was true, he had been unable to understand the rest of the footage, despite the fact that he had watched it several times since his escape from the office of the man who had created Duel Monsters. The guy's singsong voice was hard to understand, and he reveled in speaking in riddles. All that he had been able to discern was that Dartz was capturing the souls of players and using them as some kind of tribute to summon a powerful force into the human world. Something that he called his God.
The man possessed a power unlike anything Dante had ever seen, he could summon monsters from the game to do his bidding. But it looked like it was a skill possessed by others. Bakura had saved him using a similar power, and even he had been able to summon monsters and weapons to defend himself.
But Dartz was something else, something sinister. He radiated a power that was unthinkable.
"When you awaken, look to the east for answers." Black Luster whispered to him, and then everything faded out to white.
"Dante wake up!" Tanya yelled and kicked the back of his seat. Slipping, the young man fell off of his chair and landed on the floor. He'd given up the bed the night before so is that his friend could take the bed in their small hotel room, and instead gone to sleep on one of the rooms many wicker chairs. Rubbing his back he reflected that this was possibly the worst thing he could have done.
"What did I do?" he mumbled and stood up slowly.
"You where having a nightmare." She informed him simply and shrugged. "Waking you up seemed like the best move." By way of apology she slipped a tray down in front of him filled with fruit, and he helped himself to a slice of melon.
He'd been dreaming, he remembered bits and pieces of it but not the whole story. It was like patches of his memory had been faded out and he was left with the tail-end of things. Biting into the sweet fruit, he carefully wiped the juice from his chin and looked around for his deck. It was still sitting in the Duel-plate on the table in the center of the room, where he had left it last night. Reaching out, he thumbed through the cards and carefully shuffled his way down to find Tius.
The God-card was one of a kind, inferior in power to that of the three Yugi had won in the battle-city championships but still greater than anything else in the game. Pegasus had said that he was uncertain how it had ended up in Dante's collection, but that nothing happened without a reason. Fate had chosen him to be the one to hold onto the card, and despite Dartz's best efforts that was exactly what he had done so far.
Tanya thumbled with his laptop and replayed the last few moments of the message he had downloaded from the computer back in Pegasus' office two days ago. It played out in the droning tone that Pegasus used when he was being serious about something.
". . . coincidental as it may seem, that I chose you to receive Tius for a reason. Listen closely Dante-boy because what I am about to tell you is very important. Somewhere in England there is a site where a great power once dwelt, thousands of years ago it resided in your homeland and safeguarded the borders. If you could awaken this power then you may be able to defend against Dartz and his minions. Stalling his goals until such a time as Yugi can strike at the very heart of matters. But Dartz is equally aware of this power, and even now is searching your homeland for it. Should he find it before you do then it will be destroyed, along with out last hope to stop his plans. I'm putting a lot of trust in you Dabte-boy, but Tius chose you for a reason, and I don't think that I have much time left to help you with. Good luck . . ."
The rest of the file was too corroded to play. Dartz's assassin had destroyed the computer and evidently done something in the process that had stopped the video from recording properly.
They'd booked their tickets on a flight to England yesterday. All they had to do now was wait until the evening to fly out and across the ocean. They would make it back to England in time for sunrise if there were no delays. Dante was going home.
He had missed it, he realized that now as he was about to return. Sure there was no hero worship like there was over in the states, but at heart he was English, and yearned for the green fields of his native land.
He wondered if Bakura missed his homeland back east?
Dante stiffened, a slice of fruit poised in front of his lips, ready to be eaten.
"What's wrong?" Tanya asked him, sensing his sudden change to mood.
Standing up in one swift motion, Dante grabbed the Duel-plate from the table and stalked out of the room, crossing into the bedroom where Bakura was alseep and slamming the door open.
They found Bakura half-dressed and pulling on his shirt. The white-haired kid was about to turn and greet him when Dante roughly grabbed his collar and pushed him into the wall, pressing him there firmly.
"What the hell are you going?" he yelled and tried to move, but he was too well pinned.
"Dante!" Tanya yelled from the door, unable to grasp what was going on.
Dante didn't even blink, he just held Bakura there unmoving for what seemed like an eternity before leaning close and whispering into the man's ear. "Look to the east for answers . . . "
Spinning the captive around, Bakura tried to push him off but was unsuccessful in the attempt, he was however able to get a grip on something golden and shiny that hung about his neck, and brought it up as if it were a weapon to be used against him.
"What the hell do you think you're doing? Have you gone mad?" The Japanese boy spat.
Letting his grip loosen a little, Bakura was able to step away from him, but Dante still kept a hold of one arm. Tight enough to let him know who was in charge of this situation.
"Tell me about Yugi's soul." The young Englishman commanded.
Bakura stood defiant, unwilling to answer and questions, but he realized slowly that the only way out of the situation was to tell the truth. There was no way he could take Dante in this mood. He was dark, almost as sinister as Malick had been back on the airship to the finale of the Battle City tournament. He'd had that same strange look of contempt in his eyes right before trying to send him into the depths of a dark game.
"Dartz has it." He answered at last, after a considerable time had passed. "The other soul within Yugi's body is in full control now, he's trying to get his partner back."
"Explain." Dante whispered.
"Yugi has a Millenium Artifact, some of which contain the spirits of people long dead. They reside within the body of the one who finds them, bringing power and skills along with the package."
"You mean like the thing you're wearing about your neck?" Dante asked, "what is it?"
"The Millenium Ring."
"And which are you? The host or the parasite inside of him?"
There was a long silence, "Does it matter?" Bakura asked, "I'm helping you aren't I?"
Dante let him go, but kept him backed up against the wall, "Why are you helping us?" he asked simply.
"Because I want to collect together all of the Millennium artifacts." A slow snake-like grin began to spread across his face. "What use would they be to me if Dartz has destroyed the world? I can't work with Yugi because the soul inside of him doesn't trust me, so I had to look for another powerful duelist to work with."
"Pegasus says that Dartz is looking for a power hidden in England, somewhere where the barriers between our world and that of the Duel Monsters are thinner than anywhere else. Have you any idea where it would be?"
Bakura shrugged, "Not exactly." He admitted, "But get me to England and I'll be able to use the power of the Ring to find the place. All I know is that it will be somewhere old and somewhere very, very well guarded."
"Guarded by who?" Tanya chipped in from the door.
"Ancient magical wards." He replied simply. "Something that powerful wouldn't have been left unguarded for a million years. Now . . . are you going to let me go? Or do we have to get nasty?" He asked Dante with every hint of menace. "I assure you, that Duel Plate isn't going to protect you if you pick a fight with me."
Dante released him, giving him free access to the rest of the suite. The white-haired Asian boy stepped past him, and sauntered off. But not before he had stopped to look Tanya over in the doorway.
"You might want to think about leaving this one behind. She's useless to us, and a liability when things get rough." He sneered and left.
Tanya entered the room and sat down on the vacant bed, waiting until she heard the sound of the toilet door closing and a shower starting before she spoke again.
"He gives me the creeps." She informed Dante with no hint of sarcasm.
Dante moved around the bed and sat down next to her, the Duel Plate on his lap. He didn't want to admit it, but maybe Bakura was right. Taking Tanya to England would only put her into more danger than he had already. If she hadn't risked her life to save him then she wouldn't have even had any of this trouble in the first place.
Evidently she was quicker on the uptake than he had given her credit though, because she fixed him with a mean glare and spoke in a very clear voice "Don't you even think of sending me away Dante." She turned her body around to face him, tucking her legs under herself, one hand reaching out and sitting atop his. "If there is one thing that I know is true, its that everything I have done with you has been the right thing. I didn't want to spend the rest of my life hanging around that hotel being paid peanuts to serve drinks to arrogant customers. And I know that its been dangerous, and that I haven't helped as much as I could have done, but I promise that if you take me along I'll be useful. You need somebody to watch your back Dante, because you're too trusting. Bakura isn't going to be on our side forever, and it wouldn't surprise me if he made a play for your card when all this is over. You need me there with you."
Dante didn't say anything, he just cupped her hand between his and smiled gently. "I wouldn't dream of leaving you behind." He said sincerely. "And don't you worry about Bakura, I think there are some tricks I could pull that would shock even him."
He stood and pulled her to her feet.
"How did you know about him anyway?" She asked as they left the room.
"I . . . had a dream." He confessed, feeling a little silly now that he came to say it.
She looked at him like he was mad, and then shrugged it off. "You're a weird one Dante, I'll give you that." Then she added, "that's why I like you."
The airstrip was barren, only three planes were left heading towards England, and all of them were going to take far too long to get there. It struck Dante, as he made his way over to the private hangers, that this was the stupidest thing he had ever done. And mused for the third time just how he had let Tanya talk him into doing it. There was NO way that anyone was going to give them a ride across the ocean on a private jet for free. These things just didn't happen in real life.
Inside the hanger was quieter, and at least it was out of the wind. Seven planes of varying sizes were stored there, baring logos and corporation markings that clearly defined who the owners were. One of the planes was much grander than the others though, a silver shadow stored at the back of the hanger.
Dante made his way slowly over towards it. Trying to get a better look at the machine.
"Hey!" a voice called out from behind him, "What are you doing here?"
Stopping dead, he turned around slowly, worried that perhaps he had done something wrong – or that maybe this area of the place was restricted. What greeted his eyes was a surprise.
A young boy was standing with his hands on his hips, he's been the one to call out to him. But behind him was another man, taller and well built. Dante recognized him, everybody in the game would.
Seto Kaiba.