Disclaimer: My policy on Yu-Gi-Oh: I no own, you no sue!
Chapter 13: Saving the Light Kingdom! Part 1
Cy and Svrion walked through the forest hand in hand, Cy resting her head lightly on Svrion's shoulder, who smiled and looked down at her. It was such a sweet moment, the tall trees enclosing them with the tweet tweet of songbirds and the rustle of the wind-dancing leaves that accompanied the crunching of their footsteps upon the layer of leaves and twigs. The darkening sky seemed greatly out of place compared to the melody of the forest and the sweet smell of all the different plants mixed together.
"How much longer?" Cy whispered lightly, filling in the obvious absence of human voices.
"Well, if we keep going," Svrion replied, "We'll reach the edge of the forest on the side that leads right to thetown underneath the Castle. I heard from my great… well, Grandfather - for short - that every few hours the guards at the Castle change and fly down. Only when the next guards take the aircraft up to the Castle we can get up there since it is no tourist spot. So, we'll have to go to the town and blend in till then. We can't go there looking like Dark Magicians…that wouldn't get such a good response."
"So… is this part of the Dark Kingdom we are going to?"
"Yeah… it's a small section called Shadow Town. My Grandfather talks about it all the time, along with showing me maps and stuff. It's nice to have a Dark Sage in the family."
Once again, the two lapsed into silence as they headedfor Shadow Town. Cy had never heard of the place. She always had seen the Realm as split between two Kingdoms, the Dark and the Light, with a shadowy forest to separate the two. And of course, she knew the Castle of Dark Illusions that floated mysteriously up in the sky, just a little off of the border between the two Kingdoms. Cy didn't know of any divisions of either Kingdom. With a shrug, she let the thought slip away. She didn't care what Shadow Town was. As long as they got there in one piece, everything would be fine.
However, getting there in one piece meant that they had to cross the many patrollers that constantly kept watch over the edge of the Town. Cy and Svrion didn't even notice they were there until one nearly crossed their path. Luckily, Svrion pushed Cy behind the trees just as the Witty Phantom strolled past, whistling a happy tune. The two of them watched him go for a few seconds before Svrion got an idea. Reaching up to the nearest tree, he swiftly cracked off a tree branch. The subtle sound caught the Phantom's attention; after all, he did have large ears. He looked from side to side.
"Who is that?" he asked into the dense trees. "Lance…is that you?" He looked around for a sign from his partner. Meanwhile, Svrion crept up behind the trees. When the Witty Phantom turned around, he whacked him behind the neck with the branch. With a sharp thud, the Phantom fell to the forest ground.
"Hey, dude, why'd ya call me?" Svrion turned around, searching for the source of the voice. Apparently, that Lance, or whatever the name of the unconscious patroller's partner was, had heard his friend's call. He looked at the tree near Cy to check if she was still where he had told her to stay. Figures, she wasn't.
"Crap, the guy's coming!" he muttered as he made his way back to the tree with great haste. Of course, Cy was safe. She was trying to reach for one of the branches in a nearby tree, like Svrion had, to pull it off. Unfortunately, she was a good foot too short of her goal.
"Oh Ra, why am I always the short one?" she sighed. She jumped one more time and actually caught the branch. However, it didn't snap off. She just hung there like an idiot, blinking and looking up at her hand that desperately grasped the end of the branch. Before she could put more force into her pull, she heard footsteps. On the other side of the tree, a Witty Phantom appeared, searching around the brush for his friend. An idea crawled into Cy's mind. With a little grin, she planned on how to use the situation to her advantage.
Just when the Phantom reached the tree, Cy gave a shout that slightly resembled a war cry. Startled, the spy turned just in time to see Cy fly around the trunk and kick out with her boots. With a thud that matched his partner, the Witty Phantom fell back first onto the floor. However, this maneuver had exerted too much force on the branch Cy had been holding. It snapped, followed by the third thud as Cy also fell on her back.
"Cy! Was that you?"
"Svrion!" Not wanting to look like a fool, Cy quickly got up and brushed down her outfit. She placed her leg on the Phantom's chest just as Svrion came into view, holding up the branch with a threatening expression.
"Girl power!" Cy cheered as she motioned to the fallen patroller, and Svrion sighed with relief. Unfortunately, the excitement wasn't over yet. The fallen Phantom hadn't gotten quite as knocked out as Cy had expected. He suddenly reached out and grabbed her ankle.
"Wow!" she cried out with surprise. However, Svrion was ready.
"Dark Magic Attack!" Mind crush! The Phantom fell back, now definitely without the ability to wake up for a couple of hours, and with a gigantic headache too.
"Now what?" Cy asked as Svrion came back shortly with the other patroller dragging behind him. The two looked down upon the fruit of their short fight.
"I think we found our disguises," Svrion said.
"We have to wear that?" Cy cried incredulously. "Excuse me, but you've seen my size. I doubt I'm going to fit into that… plus, we won't blend in. Your purple hair will immediately rule you out. Unless, you can chop it off or something."
"No way!" Svrion protested.
"It was just an idea…" Cy said defensively. "No need to go crazy about it. We'll just have to think of something else…like magic. Do you know a spell that can make you blonde?"
"Yeah, one that wipes out my brains."
"That was not very funny!"
"I'm just kidding! Okay, okay, sorry…I take back my joke. I just couldn't resist."
"Now I'm thinking we should just chop off your hair." Svrion grinned foolishly, backing up.
"Why don't we just wear the suits and then decide?" Cy scowled but agreed.
"But you have to be the one to undress them…bring the suit over to me when you're done. I'm standing over there!" Cy pointed to section of the forest behind a set of large trees.
"Careful…" Svrion warned as he watched her skip behind the branches. He smiled.
So blonde jokes do get on her nerves. Figures… she is blonde, sometimes in more ways than one…
A few minutes later, after a bunch of rustling and grunting, Svrion finally presented Cy with one pair of the Witty Phantoms' disguise.
"Here, I think this is the smaller one."
"Thanks…though I still doubt it will fit. Well, maybe there's some hope." The two split to opposite sides of the forest to change, wary of any other Phantoms that might be lurking by. Luckily, it seemed those two patrollers had been the only ones in this section of the forest.
Cy contemplated whether to take off her outfit or not. Her mother had made it, which made it special. The fact that it was probably the only outfit of its kind in the Realm made it really special. And the fact that Cy liked it made it definitely even more special. She couldn't abandon it in the middle of the forest.
Hm…you know what? If I wear the suit on top of it, maybe I actually might look a little muscular. I can give it a shot…
Cy put on the outfit one piece at a time, starting with the blue collared shirt and the purple pants, followed by the coat of the same shade. She quickly did her tie, the knowledge of how to do so having mysterious origins, and slipped on the hat. She put on the white gloves over her own, thankful that her arms and hands were skinny enough to do so. Then, she smoothed the pant legs down so it covered her boots.
Sure, her shoulders looked freaky and the skirt on her outfit made her backside look really big, but she knew she definitely did not look as bad as certain Dark Magician trainers she knew. For some reason, Cy remembered a certain moment when she had accompanied her parents to Celton's school for Open House. There she met probably the freakiest teacher alive – Arkana. With a laugh, she concluded she probably looked a lot more like him now than she ever would have thought.
Enough reminiscing, I now have a small problem – my Dark Magician "helmet". It's too big to stick in my dress… and I doubt Svrion has room. Oh well.
"Oops!" Cy turned.
"Svrion? What's the matter?" She made her way over to where she had heard his exclamation. Svrion was pretty much good to go. Cy giggled and blushed slightly. He looked so cute in that suit. The outfit made him look, well…
"Sexy…glad you're not a Witty Phantom every day. The population couldn't handle this." Svrion laughed as he turned around, revealing the problem.
"I untied the tie when I tried so hard to keep the tie tied. Now the tied tie is no longer tied, and no matter how I've tried, the tie won't get tied. I can't tie a tie, no matter how hard I try." Cy raised her eyebrows.
"Men and their issues…" She walked over to where Svrion held out the two ends of the tie with a pleading look. She reached up, quite a bit up, to even out the two ends. Then, in a quick process of twisting, overlapping, and knotting, the tie looked like it had never been untied.
"I can't tie a tie if I tried and you can tie a tie on your first try."
"It's not my first try," Cy explained, pointing to her own tie. "I just know how to tie a tie, you can too if you try."
"I tried…the tie won't tie. Now I'm tongue tied."
"Okay, we should stop now…" Cy stepped back to admire their work. Luckily, Svrion looked a lot better than she did, but that had been established long ago. For the final touch, Cy made Svrion bend down so she could fit the hat on his head. When he pulled back, she sighed softly.
"You look so handsome!" she gushed. She threw her arms around him and gave him a small peck on the check. Svrion smiled as he pulled down the brim of his hat so a shadow partly covered his face. Cy pretended to faint.
"Shall we go, my dear…um…sir…"
"Two problems…what are we going to do with our old clothes? And second, what about your hair? I know you look hotter as a purple-haired guy, but you need to get yellow hair."
"May I borrow yours?"
"Very funny?" Cy put a hand to her chin to think about it. Svrion looked up and saw that the clouds were starting to thicken. On top of that, he saw the aircraft leaving from the Castle that was clearly visible now that they were so close to Shadow Town.
"We don't have much time… we need to go now. It's getting dark too…" Svrion piled up his clothes and put headpiece on top. "Maybe this will be over soon, and we can actually retrieve these items before they are stolen. But no time. We must hurry!" Cy could sense the urgency in Svrion's voice. Apparently the aircrafts flew pretty fast. Swiftly created a ball of light in his hand, Svrion led Cy on the path that led out of the woods.
To Cy, it seemed like the forest went on forever. The sky was getting darker as more clouds poured in. The only color now was the bright yellow of Svrion's light that glowed much a shade like Cy's hair.
Wait…that gives me an idea…
The two reached the boundary of the forest. The trees quickly gave away to brown dirt as the first few buildings came into view. A little ahead, there was a large fence with a gate, and further inside that the aircraft had just landed. Svrion was about to extinguish his light, but Cy quickly took it from him.
"Take off your hat!" she whispered as she pulled and tugged the ball of light until it resembled a sheet of yellow fabric. Svrion complied and Cy pressed the hazy material over Svrion's hair until it covered every last purple-colored strand.
"You're crazy," Svrion muttered, not enjoying his shining new blonde wig very much. Cy clicked her tongue.
"Not quite as attractive, but good enough. You'll pass as a Witty Phantom. Now, let's hurry!" Svrion put his hat back on and the two ran towards the entrance. They slowed down as they reached the tall, black poles that signified the gate.
"Lance…Roy. You two are late! Your patrol time is over…you were supposed to be here half an hour ago." The guard at the gate was a Mysterious Puppeteer, and he did not look happy. Then again, all but his eyes were covered so there was a chance he hid a smile under that dark robe of his.
"Sorry," Svrion said, trying to change his voice so that it matched Roy's, the taller one. "It seems the shift of Lord of Dragons have returned."
"Yes…but the next pair of Lord of Dragons has not shown up yet. We cannot risk the Flute being up there unguarded for too long. The Castle's defense will not hold for too much time. I suggest you two go up there and keep watch until we can send proper guards."
"Talk about a chance happening!" Cy whispered.
"What is that?" the guard asked.
"I mean…" Cy deepened her voice. "I didn't count on that happening. We will see to it immediately." The Mysterious Puppeteer bowed and the two entered through the gate. The town looked a lot like any other town. However, there wasn't much activity out on the streets. It seemed the dark clouds had scared everyone back into their home. Only the Guard Center was buzzing, and that was only until the guards switched.
A couple of Witty Phantoms rushed past Cy and Svrion, waving. Apparently, they were the new patrollers. Cy and Svrion played along and waved back, both of them keeping their hats low over their eyes – Cy especially. They made their way over to the aircraft.
"Nice," Svrion commented as he let his hands brush over the surface of the slick aircraft. It was obvious it relied heavily on magic, hopefully one that the two of them didn't need to supply. The white surface gleamed from an unknown light as clouds did cover most of the sky. It wasn't as big as Svrion and Cy had thought when they had seen it from afar, but it definitely could hold them and more.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Cy swung herself over the side, landing gracefully next to the steering wheel. Svrion followed after her. They looked at the front of the craft. It had a wheel, but little else.
"Flying lessons, anyone?" Svrion queried to the air, touching the wheel. Suddenly, it started to glow a sickly black and the duo backtracked a few steps, wondering whether they should get off this strange transportation device. But soon, that option was long gone as the craft soared into the sky. Svrion realized the only thing he needed to do as a pilot was move the steering wheel in the direction of the castle. Everything else was controlled by the craft itself.
Cy was disappointed that there was no seating. She just stood there, hoping the aircraft wouldn't turn and that she wouldn't plummet over the side. Svrion stood next to her.
"We go to our doom!" Cy announced dramatically, hoping what she was saying was false. Svrion nodded.
"Hopefully not. After all, all we are doing is getting the Flute." The dark clouds started to gather near the Castle. Suddenly, a lightning bolt reached out and struck the floating fortress. Svrion cringed as Cy gasped. "Then again, it does look a little scary." As another lightning bolt struck, he mentally agreed that it was an understatement.
"Don't worry, we'll be fine," Cy assured him, only then realizing the speed of the aircraft. They would be at their destination in less than three minutes. Cy took a deep breath, wanting to believe her own words. Wanting Svrion to believe her words.
Suddenly, Svrion reached out and pulled Cy close to him, swallowing her in a great big hug. Cy didn't understand what was happening, and didn't even want to think about who was now in charge of the steering.
"I just want to say," Svrion mumbled from burying his face in her blonde hair, "that you've been the best thing that has happened to me on this whole trip or journey or whatever, and that I really appreciate that you've been by my side the whole time. I really love you Cy, thanks."
"It's not like we're going to die," Cy assured him. But anyway, she wrapped her arms around his waist as he kept his around her shoulders, head resting gently on top of hers.
Dear Mental Diary, I haven't visited you in a while. Well, I've been really busy. But now, I can relax. It's like the calm before the storm. I know it's not going to be easy, defeating the Dark Kingdom. And I sometimes wonder why I got thrown into all of this! But I know that Svrion and I can do it! Plus, this adventure does have its perks! Svrion is probably the awesomest guy ever…wait till I tell Clarrisa that I have a boyfriend.
For a few seconds, Svrion and Cy stayed in the warm embrace. Then, Cy pulled back.
"I love you too," she said, noticing that her response was missing. Svrion bent down and kissed her lips, hoping that it wouldn't be the last time. The two savored the moment as much as they could, until a bright flash of lightning forced them apart.
"What the…?" Svrion was cut short as Cy yelped, reaching out and twisting the steering wheel. The aircraft plunged to the right, just as another bolt of lightning flashed where they had been a second before. Cy quickly buried herself in Svrion's arms, frightened. If she hadn't done that…
"This is not the time!" Svrion said with determination, slowly pushing Cy away. He made sure she stood close to him, though, within arm's reach if the aircraft was about to do more acrobatics. Then, he placed both hands on the steering wheel and looked at the sky. "Apparently, the Castle senses things we couldn't imagine. It knows we're imposters. Get ready for a rough ride, Cy." She nodded, and Svrion placed an arm around her shoulder. Just then, a flurry of lightning strikes issued out of the main cloud, a particularly dark and menacing one that made a point of hovering right above the Castle's topmost turret. But, Svrion was ready.
Skillfully, Svrion turned the aircraft to the right, then to the left, avoiding all the blasts. He smirked as he thought of his gaming skills that he had acquired practicing on some virtual reality games.
"Two more on your right!" Cy observed, and Svrion was quick to dodge to the left in time. "Now one's on the left, see if you can go right. Okay, now, go faster and see if you can plunge down…that's it, now lift it up…maybe you can…let's go to that window. It's protected from the lightning blasts because of that turret. Hopefully the Castle won't attack itself." Svrion calmly followed Cy's orders, and naturally the two of them landed safely in the little spot outside a second-story window. It lay in the shadow of two turrets that protectively housed it far from the lightning blasts that now vainly searched for them. Cy fell back against Svrion's chest, breathing a sigh of relief. He allowed a second to wrap his arms around her before pulling back and jumping off the craft. Cy followed.
The two of them sized up the Castle from where they stood. It had many turrets, towers, and stairs, all merging together and flowing apart in a way that seemed architecturally impossible. And that wasn't even counting the fact that the whole Castle floated a little less than a mile above ground. The two Light Kingdom residents tested the edges of the window, hoping they could use it to get inside. Luckily, they found that they could open it from the outside by lightly pushing in the edges. It swung inside, letting the two of them indoors.
Once the window closed up, Cy and Svrion realized it was horribly dark. Luckily, Svrion's wig hair was shining brightly. Cy had to laugh. Svrion's head looked like a light bulb. However, she could tell that Svrion wasn't in a very pleasant mood. He looked quite annoyed by his hair.
"Let's get a move on it, shall we?" he asked, frowning down upon his shoulders where his brightly glowing headpiece chose to lazily sprawl out. Cy stifled her giggle. After that whole romantic ride, there was no reason to get on his bad side now.
The two of them wandered around the Castle. It was made up of giant chambers that seemed virtually empty, save for the tall columns of black marble that rose majestically up to the ceiling. Cy really had to resist the urge to shout; the wide expanse of space was tempting her to release a sea of echoes. Suddenly, Svrion stopped.
"Do you hear that?" he asked, looking around with worry. Cy stopped. She heard it too, assuring Svrion that he wasn't imaging things. A soft pair of footsteps sounded behind them. The duo whirled around, already thinking of spells to use. The footsteps stopped.
"Curse this darkness," Svrion whispered angrily. "I can't tell who it is that's making that sound." Even his soft comment was carried across the empty hall. Cy shivered. The entire area was cloaked in shadow. Someone could easily sneak up on them.
"Let's hurry!" Cy suggested, grabbing Svrion's arm and pulling him farther into the darkness. "Your hair only makes it worse!" Svrion muttered something and pulled the annoying light out of his hair, shaping it back into a ball that he sheltered between his palms. Now, even though it gave out only a little light, enough for them to see a few feet in front,it still remained an obvious beacon to any who followed.
After going through a couple more doors and ballroom-sized rooms, the two of them finally found themselves in front of a taller, more decorated set of doors. Two guards stood in front, eyeing them suspiciously. Both were Dragon Master Knights. As Cy and Svrion approached, the two guards unsheathed their swords and held it in a ready gesture.
"Um…hello?" Svrion asked, clearly surprised. He was sure that back in Shadow Town, he had been told that the Flute was left unguarded.
"Backup…" said the Dragon Master Knight on the left. Cy noticed he had a faintly feminine voice, though still sounding evil at the same time. While she pondered this, Svrion tried to think of a way out of this situation.
"We were sent to tell you that the next guards would be here soon. They weren't prepared, and so we came to warn you to be on the safe side. And, we came to check on the Flute. Just in case." The Knights looked at each other with a shrug.
"Why not?" said the guard on the right, his voice sounding regal like that of a king's. He pushed open the door, lacing his hand with a special magic that allowed him to do so. Cy and Svrion mentally sighed with relief. Luck was clearly on their side.
The two entered the chamber. It resembled a throne room, with a long velvet carpet that ran the entire length of the room to rest at a few steps that led up to a throne. However, the throne was not in the shape of a chair, but a display case that held the famous Flute of Summoning Dragon. It faintly glowed green and sparks flew out of its mouth, leaving through the windows that rested high on the walls. Cy looked behind her. The doors were wide open still but the guards had vanished. Shrugging, she quickened her pace. Svrion followed and finally, they had reached the Flute.
"Wow, it's so beautiful!" Cy cried. She didn't even care that her voice echoed throughout the chamber. She picked up the Flute. It was larger that she had imagined too. She ran her hand over its golden surface encrusted with many a jewel. Rubies, emeralds, sapphires, anddiamonds all called out to her. The light from the glow illuminated her face. Svrion came up next to her, placing a hand on the horn as well.
"Congratulations!" Cy whirled around, recognizing the voices. She expected it to come from the Knights, but instead, it came from two tall figures cloaked in shadow. She backed up against Svrion, who tensed with worry. The greeting wasn't said in happiness. The voices had an eerie, almost evil sound to them.
"Who…who…who?" Svrion stuttered. The first of the two figures stepped out of the darkness, followed quickly by her husband.
"Cosmo Queen! King Jinzo!" The rulers of the Dark Kingdom had come to pay them a visit.