Yugi was relieved when his feet touched solid ground again. As much as he always wondered what it felt like to levitate like his favorite monster cards, the actual feeling was far from pleasant. All he could do was close his eyes and convince himself not to even think about looking down.
Dark Magician Girl set him gently on the stone floor, and then dropped from the air herself.
"My magic's improving!" she beamed, holding her wand in the air. "I've never floated that long before!"
Yugi stood for a moment before his knees stopped trembling.
"Where are we?"
"The deck, of course." Dark Magician Girl answered, looking around. "Well, the farthest end of the deck. I don't think I've ever been this far, but I was so mad, I just started walking and… well, you know the rest. Someone should really put a sign here that says 'watch your step."
"Right."
"Anyway…" she started walking. Yugi jumped quickly to her side so as not to get lost.
The stone-covered hallway stretched for what felt like a quarter-mile before Yugi saw any other signs of life within this 'deck' as Dark Magician Girl had called it.
To his right, a Jack's knight was tapping a King's knight on the shoulder, and pointing at them both. To his left, a Kuribo scuttled slowly across the ground, appearing extremely well-fed. He glanced back at Dark Magician Girl. None of these sights seemed to surprise her.
"Excuse me… was that…" Yugi stuttered, not sure if he actually believed what he saw with his own eyes.
The spellcaster nodded.
"That's the last time I tell Kuribo he can help himself to the cookies." She answered. "He probably ate every singe one in the jar!"
"No… I mean… the duel monsters. Are they real?"
Dark Magician Girl stopped.
"Of course we're real!" she tapped herself in the head with her wand to prove the point. "Aren't you?"
Yugi nodded, still beyond flabbergasted at what he saw.
"As if you couldn't guess… the warrior barracks are that way, over where the knights were standing. They have a big practice arena, next to a little room to repair their weapons and armor."
Yugi looked over his shoulder again. The knights had walked away.
"Obnoxious Celtic Guardian took me back to the little room once. He wanted me to help him shine his sword." She continued, starting to ramble. "But that wasn't what he meant…"
"I see." Yugi interrupted.
"Oh! And that's the Beast barrack, where all the beast monsters live." She switched direction as they walked. "And that's the spellcaster's barrack where I live! I have a little room next to the training hall, where I can keep my spellbooks and my replacement wands. I tend to break my wand a lot… among other things…"
She instinctively rubbed her right wrist. Her wand-holding arm had been injured more times than any other part of her body. Often, when she thought about the past duels, it still ached.
"So all of you live here?" Yugi, still mystified at the living, breathing, duel monsters, failed to notice Dark Magician Girl's expression change.
"Yeah." She nodded, continuing to walk. "The kitchen is over there… and those are the gates to the duel."
He did, however, notice the sadness in her voice when she spoke about the duel.
"The gates?" Yugi looked up. There were many monsters waiting patiently in the foyer area. A large set of wooden doors remained open on the side of the hall.
Yugi watched them for a few minutes.
There were a few soft conversations, but for the most part, they were silent. Every now and then, a monster would stand up, and walk towards the doors. Light engulfed him, and he disappeared from the Deck.
"Dark Magician Girl?" Yugi asked cautiously, tugging on her gauntlet. "Where did Buster Blader just go?"
"Into the duel." She answered. "He was just summoned by the Lord."
Yugi thought about that answer for a long minute. Each time the pharaoh drew a monster card into his hand, one of the monsters here would go through those gates.
"And everyone else here?"
Dark Magician Girl looked down at the floor.
"They're waiting. We… we all know our place at the start of the duel. When our time draws near, we come here to wait for our turn." She eventually looked up at Yugi. The boy seemed rather distant. "Yugi?"
"Sorry, Dark Magician Girl, I was just thinking…" he answered.
She gave him an inquisitive glance.
"I guess I thought they'd be a little more excited than this." Yugi replied. "When I'm getting ready for a duel, I'm really excited. Especially if it's one of Kaiba's tournaments, or a really great game with my friends. Or…"
Dark Magician Girl trembled at Yugi's pleasant answer. She fought to keep her composure, covering her mouth as she gasped.
"The shrimp's kidding, right?" Obnoxious Celtic Guardian added as he walked out of the Graveyard. The elf had spent the past hour inside the tent, and despite his usual sense of humor, he was almost at a loss for words. Unwilling to elaborate, he marched towards the warriors' barrack.
"Did… did I say something wrong?" he looked at her, and at the other monsters, who suddenly shot angry scowls through the strange newcomer.
"… You… you don't know… do you…?" she finally managed to reply, shaking her head. She forced herself not to cry.
"Know what?"