Disclaimer: I do not own Magic: The Gathering or any other product mentioned in this fic.

Wow. I started this fic less than a month ago and I'm already up to chapter 20! If I keep going like this, I just might get done by the end of the summer! Domo arigato to everyone who has been reviewing! All your comments are really inspiring me to write more! On another note, gomen for keeping you waiting so long. I've been real busy with work and have been suffering from a major writer's block.

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"I play Mishra's Factory," said Charles. A small machine appeared on the field. "And I play Accumulated Knowledge, drawing one cards plus one card for each Accumulated Knowledge in every graveyard!" He drew three cards. "End turn."

"I play Zombify!" said Chikuro "I bring back Spirit of the Night (6/5, Flying, Trample, Haste, Pro Black)! Attack!" The creature extended a black tendril and wrapped it around Numa. The Planeswalker screamed in pain as the tendril squeezed him; Chikuro smiled sadistically as he heard bones cracking.

CHIKURO: 4
NUMA: 14
CHARLES: 19

"End turn."

"I play a Swamp," said Numa, gasping for breath "And I summon Goblin Assassin (2/2)." A goblin in a red cloak appeared on the field, clutching a knife. "When this creature or another goblin comes into play, each player flips a coin. If a player's coin comes up tails, that player sacrifices a creature." All three players pulled out a coin and flipped. Numa got heads; Chikuro and Charles got tails. Scowling, Chikuro sacrificed his Spirit of the Night.

"End turn."

"I play a second Mishra's Factory," said Charles "And I summon Man-o'-War, returning your Goblin Assassin to your hand." A blue jellyfish appeared on the field and reached out with its tendrils, shocking Numa's goblin. "Next, I turn my one of my Mishra's Factory into a 2/2 Assembly creature until end of turn." The machine sprouted legs and arms, turning into a small robot. "I attack with my Assembly creature." The robot propelled itself over to Numa's field and slammed into the Planeswalker, knocking the wind out of him.

CHIKURO: 4
NUMA: 14
CHARLES: 19

"End turn." The Assembly Worker's legs and arms went back into its body.

"This is going to feel good!" said Chikuro "I play a Swamp and Consume Spirit you for three." A green mist seeped from Numa's mouth and into Chikuro's outstretched hand. Numa gasped as his life force was drained.

CHIKURO: 7
NUMA: 11
CHARLES: 19

"I play a Mountain," said Numa "And I play Smother on your Man-o'-War, destroying it." The jellyfish collapsed to the ground and exploded into mana. "Next, I play Dark Ritual and summon a morph (2/2). End turn." A shapeless gray blob appeared on the field.

"My turn," said Charles "I play an Island and summon Palinchron (4/5. Flying)." A brown winged creature appeared on the field. "As well," said Charles "When this creature is played from my hand, I may untap up to seven lands. So I'll summon Cloud of Faeries (1/1), untapping two lands as per its effect. Now I'll turn my Factory into a Worker, tapping my other Factory to give it +1+1 until end of turn." The robot formed again, but this time, it had spikes instead of arms. "I attack with my Worker!"

"I'll take it," said Numa. The robot charged past his morph and crashed into Numa, cutting him deeply with its spikes. Numa gasped in pain as the two spikes entered his body. He stumbled back, slipping in the blood that was splattered around him.

CHIKURO: 7
NUMA: 8
CHARLES: 19

"End turn."

"I play Zombify to return Hypnox (8/8, Flying) to play!" said Chikuro. The nightmare creature appeared on the field, waving its tentacles in anticipation. "End turn."

"I play Black Lotus!" said Numa. The black flower appeared on the field. "I sack it to add three black mana to my mana pool and summon Goblin Assassin (2/2)." The duellists flipped again, this time, nobody got a tails.

"Nice try," said Chikuro "But Hypnox isn't going anywhere." The nightmare nodded in agreement.

"Not this time," said Numa "But try this! I tap out to morph my Warbreak Trumpeter (1/1). When this creature is flipped up, it costs one red and X to morph. I place X 1/1 goblin tokens in play, so three." A goblin with a horn appeared on the field. He blew his horn, producing a honking noise. Three green goblins materialized on the field. "Now we flip again because four goblins just came in play!" Chikuro flipped his coin four times, getting three heads and one tails. Charles got two heads and two tails. Numa got one tails and three heads. Chikuro and Charles sacrificed all their creatures while Numa sacked one of his goblin tokens.

"End turn."

This is not good! I need to get Havoc Demon out before he swarms us.

"I play Snap," said Charles "Returning your Goblin Assassin to your hand." The goblin faded from the field. "Next I summon Man-o'-war (2/2), returning your Warbreak Trumpeter to your hand." Another jellyfish appeared on the field and shocked the goblin back to Numa's hand. "End turn."

"Now to bring about the instrument of your destruction!" said Chikuro "I play Zombify, returning Spirit of the Night (6/5, Flying, Trample, Haste, Pro Black) and attack with it!" Numa was thrown backwards by the attacks. He hit the back wall heavily and lay on the ground, panting for air. His robes were stained in blood and he was bleeding severely.

CHIKURO: 7
NUMA: 2
CHARLES: 19

Groaning, Numa managed to pull himself up, wincing in pain. Drawing a card, he cackled madly.

"This is your end!" he said, "I play Dark Ritual, adding three black mana to my mana pool and next I play Stone Rain!" A red meteor came crashing down on Arrathir, destroying one of his Swamps. "Now I play Radiate! For each target an instant or sorcery could target, I put a copy of that spell on the stack. In other words…"

"You can destroy all our lands!" said Chikuro.

"Exactly!" said Numa. Chikuro and Charles covered their heads as a shower of meteors rained down on them, obliterating all their lands.

"Finally, I play Goblin Grenade, sacking one goblin token to destroy your Spirit of the Night!" said Numa.

With no mana at our disposal, we are screwed!

"End turn."

"I play an Island and attack with Man-o'-War," said Charles.

"Block with my final token," said Numa.

"End turn."

"I play one Swamp and summon Putrid Imp (2/2 (Threshold))!" said Chikuro "End turn!"

"I summon a Morph (2/2) and end my turn," said Numa.

Suddenly, Eva's body gave a violent jerk.

NO!

"Game over," said Numa "Time up."

Stop the duel!

What?

You're a Keeper! You have the power to end a mana duel! Do it!

You're joking, right?

DO IT!

This goes against everything I believe in…

"I declare this duel a draw!" said Chikuro. The creatures in play disappeared.

"Coward!" said Numa "We will meet again, Keeper of Black Mana, and you too, Keeper of Blue Mana!" Numa chanted a spell and vanished in a puff of smoke. Arrathir took control and ran to Eva. Bringing her down, he checked her over for vial signs. She wasn't breathing and he could not feel her mana.

Chikuro…is she…

She's gone…

"NO! EVA!" shouted Arrathir, shaking the girl by the shoulders.

It's no use…

"Why?" said Arrathir, embracing Eva's body "I never wanted this for you! It's all my fault! I couldn't save you!" Sobbing, Arrathir held Eva, letting all his grief out in a long cry of pain. Charles judged it respectful to exit the room and leave Arrathir alone.

"What is going on here," he muttered when he was outside the room.

"You have no idea," said a voice. Charles turned and did a double taken when he saw Arrathir standing behind him. However, this person was not Arrathir. The clothes and appearance were the same, but something was off, the most obvious being the symbol of black mana on his forehead.

"Who are you?" Charles asked.

"I am Chikuro, Arrathir's inner spirit," he said "One of the five mages who once controlled the flow of mana throughout the Multiverse. We're on a mission to awaken the remaining four Keepers of Mana. Catching flies?"

Charles' mouth snapped shut. "Sorry," he said, "So, Magic is real? There's a Dominaria?"

"What? The duel you were just in didn't convince you?" said Chikuro "Yes. It's all real: Dominaria, Urza, Yawgmoth. They all existed."

"So, who was that girl?" Charles asked.

"That was Eva," said Chikuro "Arrathir's unofficial girlfriend, as you might have gathered by his reaction."

Charles looked more confused than ever. "So that guy was a Planeswalker?"

"Yes," said Chikuro "And he's not the first we've faced. His precursor was a Sliver summoner called Anima. When we defeated her, we awakened the Keeper of White mana, a friend of Arrathir's called Erik. Now I believe we have found the Keeper of Blue mana."

"What?"

"You," said Chikuro "You are the reincarnation of the Keeper."

"Whoa!" said Charles "What is this? Some kind of joke? Who are these 'Keepers'?"

"The Keepers of mana were five powerful Planeswalkers who channeled the mana throughout the Multiverse," said Chikuro "When conflict arose among them, they quarreled and eventually waged war on one another. The result was the near-destruction of the Multiverse and the death of the five Keepers. Now, the Keepers have been reincarnated and wait to be awakened. You are the reincarnation of the Keeper of Blue mana."

Charles stared at Erik, as if expecting him to shout 'April Fools!' at any time. Chikuro was not smiling however. His face was serious and his piercing glare seemed to look into Charles' very soul.

"So…I have a spirit inside my body?" he asked.

"Yes," said Chikuro "All that remains is to awaken the spirit. The duel should have triggered the awakening since the spirit would have taken over to protect its existence."

"How do I awaken it?"

"I'm not sure," said Chikuro. He began pacing, thinking. "Since the duel didn't awaken him, I'm guessing each Keeper has to be awakened in a different manner. I was awakened through death and the Keeper of White mana was awakened through the Keeper's will to stay alive…" he paused. "It seems like there's a pattern here. It's like each Keeper has to be awakened according to what their color symbolizes. Let's see, blue. It's the color control, wisdom…and knowledge! The Keeper of Blue Mana has to be awakened through knowledge."

"How do we do that?" asked Charles who still looked very confused.

"I see only one possible way," said Chikuro "You have to acknowledge the spirit's existence. Once you do, this knowledge will awaken the Keeper."

"I'm still having trouble accepting the fact that the world of Magic; The Gathering is real!" said Charles.

"Well, at least now you know of the Keeper, it will only be a matter of time before he awakens as the knowledge of his existence seeps into your mind," said Chikuro.

"If the Keepers were Planeswalkers," said Charles "How could they die? I though Planeswalkers were semi-gods."

"Yes," said Chikuro "But their power was so great they eventually destroyed each other."

"What caused this?"

"The War of the Keepers was due to my insatiability for power," said Chikuro "I thought that I could conquer the Multiverse. Blinded by my greed, I killed three of the Keepers, killing thousands of innocents in the process. It only ended when the Keeper of White Mana and I dueled, resulting in both our deaths."

"So why are you trying to awaken the Keepers?" asked Charles "Why don't you just take over the Multiverse?"

"Being dead thousands of years has given me a lot of time to think," said Chikuro "I realized that control of the Multiverse would not be of any real use to me. Awakening the Keepers is my way to ease my scruples for all the evil I did in my past lifetime."

Just then, the door behind them slammed open and Arrathir walked out. His eyes were bloodshot and his face was stained with tears, but he had a fierce look on his face that Chikuro had never seen before.

"Are you all right?" asked Chikuro.

"NO!" shouted Arrathir "The one person I cared about more than anything in the world is dead! Do you have any idea how that feels? I am going to kill Numa!"

Arrathir stormed off; Chikuro re-entering his Soul Room, a bewildered Charles in tow.

To be continued…

Author's Note: OK, because I know everyone's going ask me this: Eva is dead. Gone. Kaput. Deceased. She's kicked the bucket, shuffled off her mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the choir invisible. What will angst-filled Arrathir do now?