Disclaimer: I don't own Magic: The Gathering.
It took Arrathir a few hours to retell his adventure in Domino; mostly because Erik kept interrupting him as to why this was relevant to their present situation. When he'd finished, Eva took over and told everything that had happened since the PTQ: The Sliver Queen, their escape, and the beginning of her mana training.
"So, why is this Sliver bitch after you?" asked Erik when they'd finished.
"Beats me," said Arrathir "All I know is she's out to kill me."
They arrived in Tokyo five hours later where a limousine drove them to a posh hotel in the heart of the city.
"Konichiwa, Morlock-sama," said the receptionist as soon as they had entered the reception area. It was obvious that he knew Erik very well. Erik had a quick conversation in Japanese with the receptionist then they boarded the elevator that took them to the penthouse. Although not as impressive as Erik's previous home, the apartment was still magnificent. The living room had huge bay windows that offered a breathtaking view of the city. There was even a terrace on top of the building which could be accessed by a stairway on the balcony. Jet-lagged and exhausted, Arrathir and Eva went to their separate rooms and soon fell asleep.
Meanwhile, Erik logged onto the computer in his room to check on the situation back home. He was horrified to find out most of his personnel had been killed by the Slivers. When the security forces had arrived, they had only found the bodies of the dead personnel, no Slivers. Nothing was reported stolen or missing, meaning his two guests had been right: The Slivers had been after him. He pulled his deck out.
"This means war," he muttered as he began modifying his deck to better combat a possible Sliver deck.
The next morning, Eva woke up and at first did not recognize where she was. Then it all came back to her. Stretching, she got out of bed and ran a hand through her scraggly hair.
"I need a shower," she muttered, walking to the master bathroom. Faced with the enormous Jacuzzi bathtub, she decided to skip the shower and go for a bath instead. Once the tub was full to the brim with hot, soapy water, she stripped down and lowered herself into the tub, sighing in pleasure as the warmth washed away her fatigue and soothed her tried body. She closed her eyes and leaned back in the tub; unaware that a certain someone was making their way to the bathroom with the same intention she had previously come there for. Said person forgot to knock before entering. Hearing the door open, Eva opened her eyes and sat up, meeting the gaze of a confused and embarrassed Arrathir who, seeing Eva in a rather revealing state, promptly exploded into a nosebleed.
There was a shriek, a resounding, "PERVERT!" and Arrathir ran from the bathroom, his clothes on fire. He rolled on the ground in an attempt to put out the flames.
"Could you please not get any blood on the carpet?" said Erik, passing by "The cleaning crew really hates that."
What a way to start a day…
After having mopped up the flow of blood from his nose, Arrathir made his way to the kitchen with the intention of finding breakfast. As he poked about the kitchen, Erik happened to pass by again.
"Looking for something?' he asked "You brain perhaps?"
"Breakfast was actually my first choice," said Arrathir, ignoring the insult.
"Ever heard of this thing called room service?" asked Erik "You just dial the number by the phone and they'll send you up whatever you want. There's a menu by the phone. Good luck."
This is not my day.
Arrathir made his way to the phone, carefully avoiding a fuming Eva who emerged from the bathroom. He had received his share of beatings for the day. Finding the phone, he dialed the number, but was a bit unsure of what to order, seeing as the menu was written in kanji and his Japanese reading skills were close to inexistent. Seeing a picture of what looked like ramen on the menu, he decided to order that, figuring he'd at least go with something he knew. The food arrived a few minutes later, but to Arrathir's horror, he'd only been provided with chopsticks as eating utensils.
Eating with chopsticks is not like riding a bicycle, as Arrathir soon found out. Despite his previous experience with chopsticks a year ago, no matter how hard he tried, the noodles refused to stay on the sticks. Finally, he gave up and grabbed the bowl, tilting it towards himself and slurping down the noodles.
"Hey, Arrathir," said Eva.
"Hugh?" said Arrathir, lowering his bowl, noodles dangling from his mouth. Seeing Eva's disgusted look, he gulped the noodles down. "What?" he repeated.
"Do you think that Sliver bitch can track us here?"
"I have no idea," said Arrathir, slurping down more noodles "It would be harder since we're much further away from her, so our mana radiations will be weaker. However, she is a Planeswalker, so I wouldn't put it past her to find us again. I think we should be safe for a week or so."
"So…what should we do today?"
"We could check out the sights," suggested Arrathir.
Tokyo, the capital of Japan, is not really a city. It is composed of 23 special wards (self-governing municipalities), 23 cities, 5 towns, and 8 villages, each having their own government. The metropolis itself is led by a publicly elected governor. Over 8 million people live in the 23 wards that make up "central Tokyo" and is most people's definition of Tokyo. Because of this high concentration, there has been talk of moving the country's capital to another city since there is always the fear of an earthquake striking, which could cripple the entire country, Tokyo being Japan's center of politics, business, finance, and education.
For the rest of the day, Arrathir and Eva roamed the city, visiting famous locations including the Fuji TV building with its eccentric architecture, the Imperial Palace, the Meiji Shrine, dedicated to the souls of Emperor Meiji and his wife, Sensoji, Japan's oldest Buddhist temple, and the Shibuya ward, Tokyo's centre of youth culture. They stopped at a nightclub where Eva had to plead, threaten, and finally, drag Arrathir on stage to karaoke with her. It was a disaster, but given the drunken state of most of the club's customers, nobody seemed to care.
"Never again," said Arrathir when they'd left the stage.
"You weren't that bad," said Eva.
"Are you kidding?" said Arrathir "I was off-key and couldn't keep up with the tempo!"
They saw little of Erik during their stay, which suited Arrathir fine. He was grateful to their host for sheltering them, but Erik's snobbish, superior attitude was really pissing him off. He vividly reminded Arrathir of Seto Kaiba. On their sixth night in Tokyo, Arrathir crashed into bed, exhausted. Eva had, once again, dragged him all over the city. It's not that Arrathir didn't appreciate the Japanese culture, but more the fact Eva seemed determined to see everything to see in Tokyo, which was a lot. He was soon asleep.
Arrathir stood over his victim. He raised his knife high and cut the girl's throat. Blood sprayed everywhere, soaking his black robes. The blood ran down the gutters in the sacrificial altar and collected in the golden chalice at the base. Arrathir took the chalice and raised it to the idol.
"We offer to you, the Lords of the Undead, this sacrifice," he said "As a token of our devotion."
Arrathir raised the chalice to his lips and drunk the warm liquid within, relishing the salty iron taste of human blood. He felt a terrible power course through him.
Arrathir awoke with a start. The dream had been so vivid. He raised his fingers to his mouth, half expecting to feel blood on his lips. There was none, but he could almost taste it.
Where did that comes from?
He turned over and tried to get back to sleep, but he was unable. Looking at his watch, he saw it was almost three A.M.
Maybe a bit of fresh air will do me some good.
Getting out of bed, he put on his glasses and headed out onto the balcony. The concrete was cool beneath his bare feet. He looked out at the city beneath his feet, like a glittering jewel in the night. Looking up, he saw the sky was cloudless and the stars shone brightly. He decided it would be a good night for stargazing, so he ascended the stairs to the terrace. There, he lay down on the floor; hands crossed behind his head and gazed into the heavens. He found it fascinating to be looking back into time. Since the light from most stars visible from Earth took a few million light-years to reach Earth, he was actually seeing the position of the stars, as they were millions of years ago.
Arrathir was starting to feel drowsy and did not hear the person coming up the stairs to the terrace. It was only when they lay down beside him that he noticed them.
"Eva?" he asked "What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same," she said.
"I couldn't sleep," said Arrathir.
"Same here," said Eva "It's so peaceful out here."
"With all the chaos we've been through, it's nice to relax," said Arrathir.
Suddenly, there was a white streak in the sky.
"Look," said Eva "A shooting star. Make a wish!"
"Did you know," said Arrathir "That in ancient times, people believed the sky was a lid on the Earth? Sometimes, the Gods would open the lid to look at humanity. When they did, stars would fall from the sky, so people believed when you saw a shooting star, you had to shout out your wish so the Gods would hear and grant it."
"Really?" asked Eva "What would you wish for?"
"I want my spirit to forgive me," said Arrathir "I know I hurt him really bad and I want him back. It's not that he's the best of company, but he is a part of me, and with him gone, there's this big empty space inside my life. What would your wish be?"
"For my parents to be alive again," said Eva.
"You could just wish we'd never met," said Arrathir "That would solve all your problems."
"Never!" said Eva "I'm glad to have met you! Granted my life is more chaotic now than ever, but it's…well, it's hard to explain, but I feel like I was supposed to meet you."
"Do you believe in fate?"
"I believe everything happens for a reason," said Eva "So yes, I do."
"Look," said Arrathir, pointing to the sky "There's Venus. It's really bright tonight."
"Venus," said Eva "Named after the goddess of love."
Arrathir turned his head to find Eva's face right next to his. Even in the darkness, he could see her blush. His throat was suddenly very dry and his heart started beating a tempo that would have put Phil Rudd to shame. He could feel Eva's warm breath on his skin. Their lips brushed timidly and Arrathir gulped, closing his eyes and awaiting the kiss.
"Oh, did I come at a bad time?"
Arrathir's eyes snapped open. He knew that voice. Getting up, he saw the Sliver summoner standing a few feet from him.
"You!" he growled.
"Don't think you're getting away this time!" she said. She snapped her fingers and six Winged Sliver appeared around the terrace. "Make one move to escape and you die!"
"If you're going to kill me," said Arrathir "Just do it and get it over with. Or is there something else you want?"
"You're very perspicacious," said the Sliver summoner "Let's settle this the summoner way: I challenge you to a duel!"
To be continued…
Author's note: Yes! The chapter everyone has been waiting for is next! The Sliver duel! Also, for those who don't get the joke: Phil Rudd is the drummer for AC/DC.
ACS Dude: This story takes place at the end of the Onslaught cycle, so about 4309 AR. The War of the Keepers happened long before the Thran Civil War. Dominaria was formed from what was left after the War of the Keepers. You may or may not agree with this, since I'm making this up. Also, since the Keeper knows everything Arrathir knows, he knows all about Urza, Arrathir having read most of the Magic novels. Finally, Khell will appear in this story, patience.
Khell: You'll show up eventually.
Grayangle: No, I want this story to be strictly MTG. Also, I did not choose the character name; it was submitted to me.
Blitz Blazer: Giving the creatures personalities was something I'd looked into wayyyyyyyyyyyyy back in the early chapters of MTG vs YGO. Arrathir's first summon was supposed to have been his Soulless One who would also have shown up instead of Gurth in the Graveyard. However, I never got around to doing it, but I might look into it again.
SeraphSong: Well, you'll be impatiently awaiting the next chapter I guess. You hit the nail on the head when you compared Erik to Kaiba. When I first read his profile, I thought, "That's exactly like Kaiba."
Demonlordalpha10: Hey, welcome to Have you read "Magic: The Gathering vs Yu-Gi-Oh"? If you haven't you should. It explains everything about Arrathir and the Keeper.
John: You'll soon find out…