It had been an hour after the domain let its inhabitance wake up. The unmoving sun bared down on the mountain's highest peak, but the Silents didn't notice it in their magical barrier.
"Reporting in Sir. We found the Pharaoh. He's with a group of monsters somewhat near Dark Magician Girl's Castle." Silent Paladin wrote in her floating green lettering. "This group consists of the fallen Blue-Eyes, the broodmother, Silent Magician, many Kuribohs, and most surprisingly of all, the Mad Builder. We couldn't hear what the Pharaoh was telling them, but it has them quite agitated."
Silent Paladin kept her report floating to the side of Silent Swordsman's face, as was polite in Silent society. Yet, even though Swordsman gave her the specific command to come to him immediately when they saw the Pharaoh, he didn't acknowledge her words. He was instead studying something a little way down the mountainside.
Silent Paladin waited patiently a few more moments before making her words flash. Again, Silent Swordsman didn't turn to her. The Paladin then started to fidget in place. She thought about using what was left of her voice to get his attention but held back. The more powerful a Silent was, the more they lost their voice. She wasn't about to advertise her power level, even with tiny vocal sounds.
Silent Paladin stood resolutely quiet and waited. Silent Swordsman continued to not notice her (there was no way he was just ignoring her, right?). Only for both of them to jump when a voice shouted from across the clearing.
"Swordsman! We have another request, this time from Hero City!" Silent Messenger yelled as she flitted up to Silent Swordsman. Silent Paladin hid her glare under a false smile. Of course, it was only then that Silent Swordsman turned.
Silent Messenger was a young humanoid with pearl skin, silver feathered wings on her arms, and golden-clawed avian feet. This duel spirit also donned the famous white and blue tunic of the Silent archetype. The girl looked more like she belonged in the harpy archetype than the Silents. However, Silent Paladin supposed that's what the stars intended with their archetype. For the Silents to represent each of the duel monster types and even specific fighting disciplines. All to be better protectors of the varied domains…
"Paladin!" Silent Swordsman's silver message appeared right in front of Silent Paladin's face. She jumped from her thoughts and audibly yelped. She couldn't hide how her red cheeks turned for making a sound like that.
"Messenger has told me that even Hero City wishes for us to return to controlling the dimensional barrier if we can end the lockdown." Silent Swordsman explained with a smile, ignoring Silent Paladin's embarrassment.
"Even Hero City? But that domain wouldn't even let us in their border when we were trying to find the Gandora cure." Silent Paladin wrote in disbelief.
"Yep, I just got their message myself." Silent Messenger said. "If we start spreading out, we can have every bit of the barrier manned, and we can end this… lockdown…. by…." Silent Messenger slowly petered off when she realized she was making plans without Silent Swordsman's permission. Both female monsters looked tensely at the swordsman. Even in his lowest leveled form, each knew he could easily show his displeasure when his authority was ignored, purposefully or accidentally. Both were relieved to see Silent Swordsman not paying attention to them. Instead, he was studying the mountainside again.
"Do those boulders look a little odd to you two?" Silent Swordsman wrote without turning to the two.
"Which boulders, sir?" Silent Paladin asked. A silver arrow then appeared in the air and pointed out of the protective bubble surrounding their camp. Both girls looked over at the collection of large rocks in a trench. They looked about as natural as this domain could make. The rock pile-up was probably caused by stones rolling down from the peak and getting stuck in a ditch. Silent Messenger was the first to give up and shrug. Silent Paladin, though, kept looking over the landscape to find any sign of what Silent Swordsman was talking about. While she couldn't see anything weird about it, she didn't want to seem clueless.
"Is it a trap, sir? Maybe a spell? If it is a laid spell, I can use one of my many abilities to stop it, if you wish." Silent Paladin said while puffing out her chest.
Silent Swordsman didn't read Silent Paladin's words and instead picked up a rock to throw at the pile-up. It clacked against one of the large boulders, but nothing happened.
"Keep your eye on that Messenger. Now, Paladin, you had a report too?"
"Yes! Spy has his eye on the Pharaoh." Silent Paladin said as she pointed to Silent Spy on the other side of the mountain peak, using his magic eyeglass to look down through the cover of clouds and attempt to hear the Pharaoh's words.
"Good, we will need as much information as we can gather before we go down the mountain."
"Sir?" Silent Paladin accidentally spoke out loud. The hesitation in her voice made Silent Swordsman turn back to her.
"I doubt the Pharaoh will just let us take the Gandora, and now I am banking on that. We might just get much more out of this situation than those dragons."
"But, sir." Silent Paladin wrote this time. She knew very well how careful she had to be with these next words. "I don't mean to question you, sir. It is just, we are still going after the Gandora? Even with monsters stuck in the human world? We can end the lockdown now if we, as an archetype, take control of the barrier. I'm sure that is a better use of energy than chasing these dragons." She waited with held breath for his reaction.
Silent Swordsman turned away from her and looked down the mountain. A clearing in the perfect clouds allowed him some glimpses of the monster villages below. "Say we did go and stop the lockdown now? Do you know what would happen? The Legendary Knights would immediately come back and retake the barrier. We'd maybe get a pat on the back for the good deed, and we would be back to square one."
"But the duel spirits stuck in our sister dimension cannot last forever." Silent Paladin gained enough bravery to write. She immediately regretted it by the look Silent Swordsman shot her. That wild look in his eyes and an almost cracked smile. She had seen it before when he was in the midst of battle, surrounded by total destruction. He seemed to love the chaos almost as much as the dragons they were chasing seemed to.
"You are very right, my dear. And that fact is making the monsters in this dimension very desperate. It is also showing them just how useless the Knights were. I want them to come crawling to us, not just sending messages. I want to make them regret what they've done to our once proud archetype. Do not worry. The time for action is fast approaching. As we wait, we might as well head down the mountain..." he then looked towards Dark Magician Girl's castle and then to the humanoid village to the north. "... we'll show the other domains that we aren't weak."
Silent Paladin remained quiet. Eventually, Silent Swordsman turned to read her reaction. She simply bowed to him.
"Of course, sir."
"He-Hey! Help!" The two turned as Silent Messenger shouted.
Silent Messenger had left the bubble and seemed to have tried to investigate the strange boulders herself. Her hand and feathers were currently attached to the stone as if it was made of glue. The more she struggled, the more she was sucked into the rock.
"Messenger!" Silent Paladin shouted as she too left the bubble and ran to the tinier monster's side. She immediately recognized this as a Sapsister spell and used her ability to stop it.
"Wait! That will cause the spell's other effect-" Silent Swordsman began to write but was stopped midsentence. In a flash of pastel green light, Silent Messenger was thrown from the boulders. The winged beast went flying over Silent Paladin's head and towards the edge of the nearest cliff. Paladin was about to leap to catch her when she felt something dig painfully into her back and shoulders. She turned to see what looked like a humanoid made of melting metal grow from the remains of the spell and attack her.
In two split-second flashes of silver light, the growing humanoid was slashed in half, and Silent Messenger was caught before she fell over the edge. The two Silent women looked to see LV 5 Silent Swordsman. He remained ready for other traps and spells to activate, but none came. Once he was sure there was only the mountain breeze left, he put Silent Messenger down. Silent Paladin immediately ran over to her and started healing, ignoring her own injured shoulder.
As Silent Paladin checked over Silent Messenger, Silent Swordsman walked back to their barrier. "So, he did set traps... I am sure the mountainside is full of them." Silent Swordsman then snapped his fingers to get Silent Paladin's attention.
"Paladin, get Silent Shield Bearer. She can stop trap activation, right? You two go down the mountain and destroy as many spells and traps as you find. Once down, activate your other ability and summon Messenger to your side so she can tell us what path we need to take down on our march. We will make them regret their choice to fight us."
Silent Messenger looked up to Silent Paladin with a bit of worry, but the taller monster didn't react to her. Paladin simply stood up and bowed to Silent Swordsman.
"As you wish, sir."
…
As Yami and Seto took their stances on opposite sides of the living room, Yami could only think of one thing as he glared at his opponent. What in the world was he thinking?! Dueling Seto, now?! When he could barely stand, and his thoughts were being taken over by creeping ice!? Yet, as he mentally yelled at himself, he still began the duel by drawing five cards.
"You don't have to do this, Yami," Junior said. "You're clearly not well."
"I'm fine! I just have…to…." Yami stammered. How could he project confidence when he didn't have a clue what he was doing? "I'm going to protect you. I know if I duel and win, Seto won't take any action against you."
"Really?" Junior sounded just about as confident as Yami felt. They both then looked to Seto. The CEO didn't say anything either for or against Yami's statement. He simply prepared his cards.
"Yes. I have always found I come to understand my opponent better when I duel them. I hope to use this to figure out what is going on with Seto." Yami said to his family with a bit more confidence. He then turned away and faced his opponent.
Yami had a pretty good beginning hand, but Seto's expression let slip he had an excellent beginning hand too. That slight rise to the edge of his lips, a small facial tick probably only Yami would recognize. It now made Yami's blood boil to see him so confident. His grip on his cards tightened because of it, to the point he nearly bent his cards. Once Yami noticed the unconscious strength, he immediately released his grip. When he did, he felt another dark pulse. It felt like some of the ice in his veins radiated out and made the air around colder. Yami was about to shrug it off as another change in temperature only he could feel when he noticed that Yui started to shiver.
Yami paused. Had he really just changed the temperature in the room? Even a little change required the presence of an enormous amount of shadow magic. Yami swallowed hard. He did not like this in the slightest.
Yami knew he needed to get control of this situation. He decided to try pushing the chill from just his fingertips to test how well he could control this sudden balancing act of crippled and cold. Yet, even with just the littlest of pushes, the entirety of the cold feeling retreated from his body. Yami nearly collapsed on the spot as he accidentally welcomed the static back.
"Is this really the time for dueling?" Grandpa worriedly asked as Yami quickly caught himself and stumbled back to his feet. Yami ignored his and the other Mutos' worry to start his turn.
"It's always time to duel." Yami had meant it more as a joke to ease the other Mutos. But his voice made it come out, for lack of a better word, cold. Even Seto raised an eyebrow at Yami's tone. "I'll begin." Yami quickly added.
The Pharaoh decided to summoned his Queen's Knight. He then set a few other face downs, doing his best to also ignore Seto. Yami knew he would have to face his opponent eventually, especially if he wanted to use this duel to figure Seto out. Still, for now, he just had to concentrate on staying sane.
'Just what's happening to me? I remember something about Yami Bakura, kinda? But these feelings and emotions definitely do not feel like Bakura's presence.' Yami thought as he rubbed his head.
"Hey, end your turn, Muto." Seto snapped. Yami jumped, not realizing how long he had been standing there doing nothing. He quickly announced he was done.
'Just what am I doing?' Yami thought, forcing himself to ignore a lot of things. Seto, his family, and the ever-dipping temperature of the room.
…
Yugi could tell Gandora wanted to pick him up, much as she did on the trip up the mountain. She restrained herself, but Yugi almost wished he could be picked up too. He was just as nervous as her going back to Dark Magician Girl.
Once Yugi and Blue-Eyes had woken up from what was supposed to be a short nap (even Blue-Eyes was shocked to see they had slept past the point everyone else had already woken up), they raced over to their friends to find them still in the ash clearing. There Yugi explained his idea to them. As expected, they were… trepidacious. But if these last few adventures had done anything for Silent Magician, Gandora, Yugi, and Kuriboh, it made them trust each other. After a bit more convincing from Yugi, the four agreed to help out.
Step one of Plan A. Using the hour before the Silents come to see Dark Magician Girl. (It was supposed to be two hours, but oversleeping had already caused a hiccup in the plan). Talk to Dark Magician Girl and see if she is willing to try for peace one more time with the Gandora.
The group prepared to fly back to Dark Magician Girl's castle. With Yugi and Silent riding on Gandora's shoulders, Blue-Eyes was saddled with carrying the remaining mob of Kuriboh, along with the surprise addition of Marshmallon. Yugi had asked the candy monster to come for proof of what the Gandora could do for the domain but hadn't actually expected them to agree. He was asking a monster he barely knew to put their life in jeopardy. Yugi was shocked when Marshmallon was quite excited to be a part of this plan, even talking about pulling their employees in to be more witnesses.
Yugi was given to understand just how influential of a duel monster Marshmallon was in this world. Apparently, this tiny monster was an immortal inventor. And while they were famous for their many discoveries, such as the bag of teleporting magic, they still had strapped to their side. They were more famous for being at every significant event in duel monster history. Each time somehow always coming out with a massive profit gain, for the good and bad that meant.
'Of all the monsters Gandora could have collapsed at the door of, it just had to be this world's equivalent of a multi-billionaire.' Yugi laughed at that thought. 'What's more, she managed to win them over.' Yugi hoped this luck fell under fulfilling the prophecy, and that meant much more luck would bless them going forward. They would need it.
"I am absolutely helping a prophesied hero! Especially if it's for the freedom of such helpful dragons." Marshmallon laughed as they had hopped onto the already encumbered Blue-Eyes.
"You are lucky I love you, Yugi," Blue-Eyes growled as the horde of excited Kuriboh all jumped for joy on her back and wings.
"And lucky that she is too proud to ask me to split the Kuribohs among us." Gandora chuckled under her breath as the two dragons took off.
The flight back to the castle was relatively quiet. The only ones talking being Yugi and Gandora, the two happily chatting with each other. Both hoping to keep the other's spirits up. Suddenly in the back of Yugi's mind, he heard Blue-Eyes's voice.
'I knew it.'
Yugi looked ahead to Blue-Eyes. The great dragon was flying ahead of the group of three because even though she was carrying more weight, she was still a stronger flier than Gandora. Yugi didn't think he'd be loud enough to get her attention, so he tried using their mental link.
'Was that thought from you, Blue-Eyes?'
Blue-Eyes glanced back to Yugi, and then with a sigh, slowed down her flight, so she was alongside Gandora."I suppose it was. I am surprised you heard that, being so deep in conversation with your new spirit partner." Blue-Eyes said with a half-smirk.
"Wait, what?!" Gandora, to her surprise, lost a few feet of altitude. She quickly re-corrected, but that didn't stop both Yugi's and Silent's faces from going a little green. "What do you mean, spirit partner? Yugi's not my spirit partner." Gandora said.
Marshmallon hopped onto Blue-Eyes's head and said. "I'm surprised, Gandora. It's quite obvious you two have made a connection. It's not unusual for a duel spirit to connect with a human, especially with such a strong spirit as the Pharaoh's. Why have you've been so against it?"
"I just didn't think it was possible. No one from the Gandora archetype had been able to make a connection like that since Gandora-X the Dragon of Demolition." Gandora explained.
"Really? Well, congratulations, you two are definitely connected. I could tell in the time of this short flight." Blue-Eyes said.
"Wait, wait, wait, What? Can someone explain to the clueless human?" Yugi asked.
"We are speaking on spirit partners. I thought I already explained this to you. It's a partnership between a human and a duel monster that goes down to the spiritual level." Blue-Eyes tutted.
"Yes, you did. But what do you mean we're partners now? Being connected on a spiritual level sounded like it required a lot more work than just becoming good friends." Yugi asked.
"For some humans, it does require a lot more." Silent's blue words flickered in front of the group. "Those with weak souls have a much harder time connecting with spirits. But with strong souls, it's so easy for a monster to connect with them. It can sometimes go unnoticed by both parties until the monster suddenly has a burst of power. Strong souls are like flames for us moths." She wrote as she good-naturedly bumped Yugi.
"It is also how I can be partners with your whole family without running out of soul to share. All Mutos have an innately strong soul. But even still, your soul is incredibly powerful for a human. It is probably the reason you were destined to host the Nameless Pharaoh. Or maybe because you hold the Nameless Pharaoh, your soul grew stronger?" Blue-Eyes shrugged. "I am not a soul-seer; you would have to go to the Necrovalley domain if you wanted professional measurements."
Yugi looked up to Gandora. They both had about the same expression. They didn't feel any different; there was no special spark between them. While they had grown closer than most others would have at the same time, Yugi just thought that was his personality. But as he looked up into Gandora's crimson eyes, he couldn't help but smile.
"I'm happy to be your partner Gandora. It seems like I have a few already, and I'm happy to have more!" Yugi's smile grew into a wide grin. The more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea of being connected with Gandora. What better way to show her he really did care for her? "So, when do I get the ability to read your mind?"
"Remember, each partnership has a different effect. It might be a while longer before you find anything out of the ordinary. But, Gandora should have felt a growth in her power when the connection was made." Blue-Eyes said.
Silent let her legs slightly swing in the air as she thought. "You know, one thing I never understood was how strong Gandora's power was on the mountain. During the time when we were going through the riddle gauntlet? Her breath managed to ravish the mountainside when you ordered her to attack." Silent wrote.
Yugi remembered back to the riddle area. When they were running out of the castle rebuilding itself, he ordered her to attack the wall to get out. That one breath attack managed to destroy the remaining riddles on the mountain. Gandora had even been surprised by her power. Yet, when Gandora attacked things like the wall hiding the Exodia puzzle or the Silents on her own, she wasn't near as powerful.
"That… Does sound like the power of a spirit partner." Gandora tentatively admitted. "Back when the Gandora were at their height in ancient times, instead of our power only being half the damage we took, it was equal or even more than the damage." Gandora started to grin as she looked back at Yugi.
"Well, there we go. But even if we weren't magically connected, I would still be by your side." Yugi grinned. Gandora happily smiled back, seeming extra giddy.
As the flight continued, Yugi found his thoughts returning to one name. "Who is Gandora-X the Dragon of Demolition? It… sounds familiar, yet I don't think it's a card in my world." Yugi asked
"I don't know why it'd be familiar; I haven't named him before," Gandora said. She then looked to the others to see if they knew what Yugi was talking about. When they all shrugged, Gandora returned to Yugi. "I am a descendent of the Dragon of Demolition. All Gandora are nowadays, in fact. It's why we all have such a strong need not to kill, to the point the warrior army had to implant another magical ideal to fight that." Gandora explained like it was an obvious fact Yugi should already know.
In his confusion, Yugi looked to Silent and Blue-Eyes for an explanation, but Marshmallon spoke up this time.
"Ah, I'm guessing this ancestor of yours lived during ancient Egypt?" Marshmallon asked. Gandora nodded. "Oh boy, that was a fun time to live through as a duel spirit." They said sarcastically. "But, at least it was better than being constantly afraid of the Great Leviathan," Marshmallon sighed with a new nostalgic tone. They then turned to Yugi.
"You see, Pharaoh, back during the times of the shadow games, the Egyptians had a special way of summoning a spirit to the human dimension. This would use a person's soul as a base to pull a similar spirit into the human world. This would, more often than not, force a spiritual connection between the two beings. Now, most spirits fought against this connection and would eventually disconnect, only using the connection as free teleportation between the dimensions. But if the spirit liked their human, the spirit partnership that would be forged would reach deep and far, more than any natural partnership. The human's strongest ideals would often affect the spirit's very soul and vice-versa. To the point, both their descendants would be affected by it."
"Gandora-X the Dragon of Demolition was partnered with some ancient ruler, a surprisingly pacifistic ruler. We Gandora still feel his wish for peaceful solutions to this day, even if the human himself wasn't able to live up to his ideals."
"That must be… confusing with your need to, well, explode…." Yugi said with a tilt of his head.
"It's actually not, at least when we aren't forced into battle every day. Destruction in its purest form is not the chaos others seem to think it is. And it definitely does not have to take lives. That old ruler understood that well."
The group then fell silent as they saw the great white castle peak over the massive tree line.
"Let's hope we can appeal to that want for peace then," Yugi whispered as the group began descending.
…
"I now end my turn," Yami said.
The duel had been going on for a few turns now. A few attacks had been thrown at each other, but there had been no damage thanks to Mirror Force and Enemy Controller. And in that time, Yami had managed to get King's Knight, and in turn, Jack's Knight onto his field. All his monsters were in defense position.
"You're usually more talkative than this Yugi," Seto said as he drew a card. "Usually, you would have had at least two declarations of friendship by now. Weren't you going to try and use this duel to 'figure me out?'"
Yami forced himself to look at Seto. Just as before, he was immediately filled with rage when looking at Kaiba. "I never thought you enjoyed our little banter when dueling. Don't you prefer silence?"
"Hmm." Seto remained quiet for a few more moments. "Don't think I'm going to go easy on you just because you're sick. I still expect you to duel with all your strength unless you want something to happen to Dragon over there."
Junior gritted his teeth. Yui held on to his arm to stop him from doing something stupid, or maybe as a sign of reassurance. But Yami didn't focus on that long. He instead concentrated on Seto's words. The lack of tone behind his threat…
Seto hadn't brought up anything relating to Junior before this point in the duel. Yami guessed that Seto only made this threat to reinvigorate the Pharaoh, not out of any real intention of acting on his part. When the Pharaoh realized that, he let a small smile slide.
Yami had purposefully added Junior's safety to the duel's stipulation to see how Seto would react. With Seto only bringing up outing Junior to the public to try and silence Yui, his non-reaction to the duel stipulation (Seto probably would have taken any requirement to duel with Yami), plus this empty threat made one thing clear to the Pharoah. Seto had not come here planning to cut Junior off as a loose end. It must have been a secondary mission to whatever Seto's real purpose was.
Yami shook his head. Now the question was, what was that mission? It must have been vital for Kaiba to come now. And it still somehow involved Junior since Seto wanted to speak with him personally. Yet, with the whole family here, the CEO hadn't wanted to ask it outright.
Yami then paused. If he had just left Seto alone with Junior, would this all have been figured out? Was this duel unnecessary? Maybe the family had simply jumped to conclusions? Yami looked up from his cards and was about to ask when his sudden rage returned with a vengeance. For a few moments, Yami saw nothing but red.
'How dare Kaiba just barge into this house and scare my family like that?! No, the duel was necessary, just to put Kaiba in his place.'
"I use Ancient Rules to summon Blue-Eyes White Dragon to the field," Seto announced. Thanks to this being a more official duel between two champions, the holograms were appropriately sized to the small room they were dueling in. In a white flash, a Blue-Eyes appeared on the field. Even with its smaller size, it still bent its head as to not graze the ceiling. Both Junior and Yami recognized what that meant. One of the three Blue-Eyes spirits was in the room, one of the males by the looks of him.
The Blue-Eyes looked around the battlefield, then paused when his eyes landed on Yami. Yami prepared for the challenging roar the males usually did when they realized they were fighting the Pharaoh. But instead, the dragon floated a few steps back in surprise. His eyes widened. He then turned back to Seto, a questioning look on his face. When Seto didn't acknowledge him, the dragon turned right back around and roared a quick, if a bit awkward, challenge.
"Now attack Queen's Knight!" Seto announced.
Yami smiled as he activated his quick-play spell in response. "I activate my spell, Unity!"
This new spell of Yami's allowed Queen's Knight's defense to become equal to the combined defense of all face-up monsters on his side of the field. This made her defense a thousand points higher than Blue-Eyes's attack. The dragon bounced off the knight's shield. The pinging on Seto's duel disk signaled the first real hit of the duel. Yami was ready for Seto's next move when the whole room froze in horror.
Instead of Blue-Eyes merely returning to Seto's side of the field, the dragon was thrown violently back, right into Seto. It was as if the large creature had actually collided with Kaiba, throwing them both back into a bookshelf. The shelf shook under the force as both Seto, and his dragon fell to the floor.
"Sir, are you ok!?" Roland asked as everyone, but the frozen Yami ran to Kaiba's side. As his duel disk finished pinging away his life points, Seto stumbled back to his feet, standing up through the dragon's hologram. The group gasped when they saw the bleeding cut Seto now had on his cheek.
"Seto-?" Yami began to ask.
"It's nothing! I simply tripped on the mess in this living room. Do you always live in this pigsty?" Seto said as he wiped away the blood.
"Sorry, we were… cleaning." Junior managed to say.
Everyone was silent as the Blue-Eyes got back to his feet and floated to his place on the field, going through the others like the hologram he should have been.
While in official tournament duels, the holograms were made more solid for theatrical effect. They would only ever slightly push the duelist or kick up wind. Even with a spirit inside, they would never cause a cut or more extreme wound. KaibaCorp made sure of that to avoid lawsuits. Yet, despite what Kaiba said, he definitely was pushed backward. And it definitely wasn't a preprogrammed action for a monster to be thrown into their duelist.
Goosebumps spread across Yami's arms, but it wasn't from his inner chill or even the suddenly cold room.
"It's your turn, Muto," Seto said in a stern voice, obviously trying to regain some of his composure. He then angrily waved away the others. Roland remained by his side as the Mutos hesitantly returned to Yami's side of the room.
"R-right." Yami pulled out his next card. It was Dark Magic Curtain. At the cost of half his life points, he could summon his ace monster, Dark Magician. Yami held out a little hope. Maybe Dark Magician's spirit would come this time. He needed his card partner.
"I use the spell, Dark Magic Curtain!" Yami announced as he slapped the card into its slot. The holographic field responded by producing a great curtain that fell over the room. With a breeze of cold wind, the curtain fluttered away to reveal Dark Magician. The magician immediately turned to Yami. The two locked eyes and Yami let out a relieved sigh. His beloved spirit was in that hologram. But his smile fell away as Dark Magician's face showed more emotion than he usually did. He seemed truly worried, nearly panicked. Yami was about to ask why when his duel disk began to beep, signaling the loss of half his life points. Red-hot pain ripped through Yami.
It was as if something was sucking away Yami's insides. The cold that saturated his body stubbornly remained, but everything else was in pain. Yami bit his tongue to stop from yelping. He recognized that pain; he knew it all too well. He just hadn't been prepared for it.
"Yami?" Yui's voice broke through Yami's surprise and made him look around the room frantically.
'The cold temperature, the spirits being surprised at being summoned, and the unmistakable pain inflicted for losing life points. This was a shadow game.' Yami couldn't hide his fear as he realized that Seto definitely did not have the power to start this. 'Gods, this is a shadow game!'
The Pharaoh had promised, he promised! He promised Yugi that he would never start another shadow game, and yet here he was. He had started this game so quickly, so fluidly, to the point it had been second nature to him, much like when he was first awoken from the puzzle. That fact scared him more than any pain inflicted by magic.
Kaiba had picked up on Yami's sudden fear, but it was clear he wasn't going to ask what was wrong. Then Yami's heart fell lower in his stomach. Kaiba wouldn't just end a duel, especially with Yami. The Pharaoh could just surrender now, but he didn't know what would happen when one of them lost the duel. Would it be bad enough for one of them to lose their soul?
Yami shook his head and ended his turn without doing anything else. No, he decided. Even unconsciously, he wouldn't have set the fail conditions as bad as that.
But then again, maybe it wasn't him in control right now?
…
As Yugi stepped up to the drawbridge of the castle, he couldn't help but stop. It seemed so long ago that he had been levitated into here by a desperate Silent Magician. But the journey wasn't over yet. Yugi took in a deep breath as he caught up with the rest of his monster friends. He couldn't fail them.
Inside the main hall, there were bedrolls and blankets spread everywhere. This castle had been the shelter for refugees during the initial Gandora attacks. It looked like Dark Magician Girl or her servants hadn't gotten around to cleaning them up yet, even with most monsters getting their houses or at least their rebuilt land back in the most recent reset. That hadn't stopped all the dirty looks Gandora gained through the castle.
Gandora kept her head held high, but Yugi could tell she acutely felt the stares thrown her way. Yugi was about to say something to her when a group of smaller monsters suddenly ran past the group to get to Gandora.
"Hey, Gandora! Glad to see yar all good. We got the call from Boss and came over right away." A plushie dog said to Gandora. His words were followed by other loud declarations for Gandora's safety from the other new monsters.
Gandora grew a broad grin as she picked up the workers to talk to them face to face. "Madolche Cruffssant! Buten! And everyone else! I'm so glad you are all safe! How are the children?"
While the talkers didn't notice as they continued their conversation, Yugi saw all the monsters around the castle pause. Their glares at Gandora faltered. They were initially shocked that Gandora picked up the smaller monsters in such a gentle way and then even more surprised that these monsters even let her touch them.
"Sorry, guys. We can't keep Dark Magician Girl waiting." Silent's words flashed in between Gandora and the group of builders.
"Right," Gandora said, almost disappointedly. She then bent down so the monsters could hop out of her palms.
"Hey, we'll catch up later. You will be there to help clean up the mess you made of the tree village, right? We'll have a lot of rebuildin' to do." Madolche Cruffssant said with a good-natured wink.
"Of course," Gandora said as she waved them off. As the group walked away, Yugi heard Gandora say under her breath. "I'll try."
Yugi looked once more to the little monsters as they dispersed through the many halls of the castle. One pig-like builder was pulled aside by one of the surprised onlookers from earlier. Yugi couldn't hear what the whispering monster asked, but he could hear the pig's happy reply.
"Oh, sure. You should have seen her catch all of us in one scoop when one of the walkways we were building collapsed. I've never seen such a large monster be that aware of us little guys. It's like once duel spirits get past their first story in height, they suddenly forget we exist. But we never had that problem with her…."
Yugi smiled as the conversation became a distant thing behind them. Maybe part four of plan A wouldn't be that impossible: Convince the people that the Gandora can be peaceful and even helpful.
The real sticker would be with Dark Magician Girl and the Gandora themselves. Yugi could set up the situation for peace, but those two groups would want to honestly have that peace for this to work. And the one they needed to convince first was Dark Magician Girl. Because if she was there reaching out the olive branch, Yugi thought Giga might be more willing to listen to their plan.
The group made it to the large doors leading to Dark Magician Girl's "office." But Yugi knew to call it her office was the wrong description as soon as he stepped inside. It was the throne room, without a throne and the pomp and circumstance that comes with such a seat. It was a large room with enough space for even the biggest monster. Yet, there was a close feeling about it like this would be a chat with friends over tea instead of an audience with the domain's leader. At the center of this room was a large, glowing globe floating over a circular gold frame. Dark Magician Girl was staring intensely at this globe.
"Ah, Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Did you manage to wrangle Yugi…?" Dark Magician Girl said with her back turned to the entrance. Her eyes widened when she turned to face them and saw the large group that came with Blue-Eyes.
"Oh! You managed to get everyone!" Dark Magician Girl then saw Marshmallon pop their head out of the Kuriboh river. "And made a friend." She said with a smile.
Marshmallon nodded to her and then turned to Yugi, as everyone did. Yugi felt all their eyes on him as he stepped forward. He had to remind himself that this was Dark Magician Girl. She would listen to him, right? Then why was he so nervous?
"Dark Magician Girl, I heard about the Silents' ultimatum." Yugi began.
"Good." Dark Magician Girl cut in as she rested her still bandaged hand on the strange orb. "I was just looking to see where the Gandora were." Her eyes then shifted to the Gandora standing behind Yugi. Yugi's heart sunk when he got the implication.
"You want to lead the Silents to them," Yugi whispered. Gandora let out a growl but checked herself when she saw how ashamed Dark Magician Girl looked.
"I-I don't want to. You know me, Yugi. You know I'd never support… this." She said with a vague gesture to Gandora. "But if we go up against the Silents... They will destroy more of this barely healed land and then take what they want anyway." She said as she looked to Silent Magician. The mage held a neutral face, but both Yugi and Dark Magician Girl could read the broiling sea of emotion she was hiding.
"You know too well the truth behind their promise of destruction. I helped raise them, and you were them, Silent Magician. They're too far gone."
"I don't believe that." Silent Magician wrote. "I will always believe that all Silents want and will be the true protectors they were made to be, at least eventually. But you are right. As of now, they will do what they think is right to regain their honor. That, at the moment, is getting these dragons for the army that hired them. But if we give them a different option, I believe they'll back off."
"How?" Dark Magician Girl asked as she turned back to Yugi.
"The Silents are mercenaries. They have no real attachment to getting the Gandora other than they were hired to. If we as a domain agree to keep and protect the Gandora, I think we can change their minds or at least dissuade the Silents."
Dark Magician Girl had to hold back a slight chuckle. "Protect the Gandora, as a domain? Yugi, I know you forgive easily, but… Some monsters won't." Gandora looked away as Dark Magician Girl continued speaking, seeming to wilt at her words. "The Gandora have destroyed so much and have hurt my people greatly. I have to listen to the voices of my people. This land is for weaker monsters and those that want a break from fighting. The Gandora have broken that rule."
"They don't understand better!" Gandora suddenly spoke up, surprising everyone but Yugi. "Most of them haven't known a world outside of being forced to be living bombs. But if they know they are in a safe place where being the strongest physically isn't required-"
"Gandora." Dark Magician Girl said with a shake of the head. "These are not just a bunch of hatchlings or mind-controlled monsters. They are all thinking, morally reasoning adults. You are a perfect example of that. They knew that their rampages were hurtful, yet they still did them."
"I know, and I can't stand how malicious they've sometimes been. Trust me, I've been the victim of such treatment just as much as the monsters of this land. But that's all the Gandora expect in return! We've lived in a world of nothing but kill or be killed. See things from our eyes! Imagine finally finding a way out of that horrible situation, losing many loved ones along the way…." Gandora's voice cracked as her fists tightened. She looked at Yugi. He hoped he was able to give her some comfort with an encouraging smile. It seemed to do the trick as she continued in a more smooth voice. "Then you and your entourage come and attack us before we've said two words."
Yugi and the others turned to each other in surprise. They hadn't heard that part of the story before. Even Blue-Eyes lost a bit of her regality as she looked to Dark Magician Girl for a response. In turn, the domain leader's face darkened, but she didn't object to Gandora's claim. Yugi then remembered something Gandora said upon their first real talk together, under that glowing white tree.
"Just ask the 'great' leader Dark Magician Girl. She was the first to attack and, in turn, feel Giga's wrath." Gandora had said back then.
When Yugi turned to Dark Magician Girl with wide, worried eyes, she crossed her arms. "I've never attacked first. It would go against everything this domain stands for." She murmured
"To a bunch of war-raised Gandora, it sure seemed like it! We all had just come through the domain's barrier when the lockdown took away the portal we used to get in. Once we realized the portal had disappeared behind us, of course, we were scared. We didn't know that the Knights had been banished instead of simply leaving the portal unguarded. Then you and your guards came up to us yelling how we were 'breaking the barrier,' and 'strong monsters didn't belong here!'"
"Then Giga and the others started roaring back. Telling me how they would destroy what they wished and that we had no say!" Dark Magician Girl snapped back. She then felt her injured side. "And he attacked before I got another word out!"
"They were terrified! We all knew you to be one of the Nameless Pharaoh's partners. Making you seem like one of the strongest monsters around! All that heartache to get into the domain, and it seemed like I had just landed them in another death trap!" Gandora roared.
Everyone became tense as the two argued, ready for things to fall apart. But it was Gandora that was the first to back down. She looked down at her gripped claws, flexing them open and closed. Then she once again looked to Yugi. He kept his steady gaze, knowing she needed to be the one to say whatever she was about to voice for both her sake and Dark Magician Girl's.
"Then again… I don't know what happened after that point. That was when I had flown back to the wishing well to make my next wish… Seeming like I was abandoning my archetype again." Gandora then bowed her head. "No… I should be apologizing for them. I don't know what they did to you, and I have no right to get angry over you protecting your domain from seeming invaders."
Gandora then bent down to kneel to Dark Magician Girl. "Please, at least give them the chance to prove they want what this domain stands for. I know they really do want peace; they just don't know how to treat it once they do get it."
The room became silent. Everyone then turned their gazes to Dark Magician Girl. The domain leader seemed dumbstruck as she looked at the monster many times her size bowing to her. With a sigh, she readjusted her hat and floated to stand in front of Gandora.
"Please stand." Dark Magician Girl said in a quiet voice. Gandora immediately stood, once again towering over the group. Yugi knew the size difference must have become more apparent to Dark Magician Girl as she stared up at one of the biggest Gandora. "I didn't know about the lockdown at the time and thought you guys had somehow sneaked past the Knights. I... I can see where a misunderstanding would arise."
Dark Magician Girl tightened her grip on her scepter. "I thank you for apologizing. That must have taken a lot of humility from such an innately proud race. You are very different from the rest of your archetype... I don't know if I can trust the other Gandora to share the same feelings as you, though."
"If I could, Gandora." Silent stepped forward as she briefly touched Gandora's knee. Gandora nodded to her and stepped back so the mage would have the stage.
"I understand where the Gandora are coming from." Silent wrote. This got Dark Magician Girl's undivided attention. "I know what it feels like to suddenly be the big fish in the pond. It is such an addicting feeling to finally be the one in power, I'm sure even more to ex-slaves." She then looked to Gandora. "While their actions are still their own, I- no, we truly think there can be peace. Please! Give them a chance! The chance you gave me after my many crimes as a corrupt Silent guardian."
Dark Magician Girl found no words as she looked over the determined Silent Magician. The domain leader's hand fell over her chest as she looked over the strange group in front of her. The respected Blue-Eyes White Dragon, the Nameless Pharaoh's partner, the famed Marshmallon, the now respected Silent Magician, a single female Gandora, shunned by her own kind, and a small horde of Kuriboh. All willing to fight for dragons that didn't even ask for their help.
"You once told me, Gandora, that your archetype never shows weakness. Don't they see help from others as weakness? Do you really think we can convince them?"
Gandora shrunk back a little. "Yes, they see a great many things as weakness. That fighting spirit was something the warrior army implanted in us to combat that ingrained promise we had to our first human partner. And while I doubt we can change that in only a day. I do know we can convince them that fighting the Silents won't end well. They'll work with us to avoid them and… I think they'll be quick learners when they realize that this can be their home."
Dark Magician Girl then turned to Yugi. She seemed exhausted. Yugi knew weeks of juggling a lockdown, the Gandora and the Silents would do that. "Yugi, while I would love to accept them with open arms, I really would... I don't know if the others in this domain will accept them. It's my job as their domain leader to act on their wishes. Most still remember the many invaders that attacked before Silent Magician stepped up to be this domain's protector. Then to have these dragons come and decimate the land, even if we can reset it back. It's a hard pill to swallow."
"I have a plan for that." Yugi smiled.
Dark Magician Girl seemed momentarily surprised but immediately bounced back. She floated to her feet with such excitement that Yugi knew this was the last problem stopping her from trusting them.
"Really? What?"
Yugi then led her gaze to Marshmallon. "The monster here actually gave me the idea. This will be a domain-wide project, but if you and I back it, I think we can change the people's hearts." Yugi then added under his breath. "And if the Gandora actually want to cooperate with us."
Yugi then said out loud. "Gandora are quite destructive, to the point they can peel away the land's perfection so unnerving to many monsters, even after a full land reset."
Dark Magician Girl lit up as Yugi said that. "Really? If that's true, that'd be amazing! I get complaints about that near-daily."
Yugi continued, "If we work together to systematically and safely destroy and reset the domain, everyone can be happy. It'd be a long project, so the Gandora would have time to learn how to live outside of war and help them make up for their past troubles. At the same time, this would let the people get used to them in return."
They would talk much longer with Dark Magician Girl to clear up details. But Yugi could tell by her face that she was with them, as she had always been with him in past duels.
Step one of Plan A: check
Step two and three now must happen simultaneously, meaning the group had to split up.
"You feel ready to face your archetype, partner?" Yugi asked as the group began their preparations to split.
Gandora gave a toothy smile as she smashed her fist into her palm. "Absolutely! I've needed to have a real conversation with my ex-mate for a while."