A/N: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF YU GI OH 5DS OR THE VANISHING OF ETHAN CARTER! ALL RIGHTS GO TO KONAMI AND THE ASTRONAUTS!
Chapter 2: Traps and Skulls
"So, didn't you say we had to find some traps to start off?" Akiza asked.
"Yes," Paul answered. "So be careful where you step and watch everything around you."
They nodded. They stayed close to him and went to a horseshoe like path that went around a small hill. They froze however, as a ball covered in spikes swung down from a tree and barely missed them.
"That was close…" Leo muttered, sighing in relief.
Paul went up to it. He put his hand out and what seemed like a rip in the earth appeared, showing something on the other side. But it didn't reveal enough to go through or see much of anything really. "By putting all the traps' energies together, we'll be able to walk around and peer inside the other world for a bit."
"A-Alright," Jack agreed.
"Just stay close," Paul suggested. "I'll keep you safe."
They walked across the railroad tracks that were covered in plants, making it obvious they were long abandoned. They reached a small indent when a track from in the ground sprung up with spinning spikes inside. Paul sensed again and more could be seen, but it was obvious they needed more traps to complete the puzzle.
They walked around a bit more when a bear trap snapped up just in front of Paul, but missed him. He sensed again and a bit more of the scene could be seen. And it kind of looked like a field of skulls inside it.
"How many more traps do we need to find?" Crow asked.
"About two, I'm guessing," Paul answered.
They walked around a bit more to find another trap spring up. It was a wooden plate with spikes on it on a wooden pole. Paul sensed again and they found it was mostly filled out, save a small section.
They turned and climbed up a hill and over some rocks. They walked back down before noticing another trap similar to the last jump up from behind a tree. Paul sensed out one last time and they finally formed a clear picture. But the picture suddenly surrounded them and put them in a totally different place.
"Whoa…" Luna muttered.
In front of them was a field of grass littered with skulls. Not too far from them was a tree with a fire pit there. And at the base of the tree was a paper of some kind. They looked around carefully as they walked towards the paper.
Paul picked it up to find it was a story. He slowly read it:
"Sap"
By Yusei Fudo
An old man came to the forest every day to drink sap from the tree. To get there, the old man had to step around many dangerous traps. The villagers believed this old man had hidden a jade amulet back in the forest. But the old man wanted the villagers to believe this, because they would search the forest for its treasure and not drink his sap.
One cool fall night, someone set fire to the forest and the fire spread to the village. The old man escaped the fire by covering himself in sap. When he returned to the village, he found all the villagers' bones and the old man sat down and cried. Then he found more sap to drink.
Paul flipped the paper over and showed a drawn picture of fire burning a house and a forest.
"Did Yusei really write that?" Luna wondered.
"And draw that?" Leo followed.
"It would seem so," Paul answered.
He took a deep breath and they heard a voice of an old man, "Yusei, I told you - you can't be here!"
Then a voice that resembled Yusei's only it sounded much younger said, "But Ed - I wrote something for you."
The old man's voice, Ed by what it seemed, responded, "That's real nice. Thank you. Just leave it. I'll read it later."
There was a quick flash before they found themselves out of that old world in a field similar to before, but normal and with no bones anywhere in sight. Paul set the story down at the tree again.
"What was that?" Jack responded. "That boy's voice sounded like Yusei's when he was younger."
"By learning each story, we can hear things that are linked to it. Bit by bit, it'll help us piece things together," Paul stated. "Now, we must move on and head towards Red Creek. We'll need to cross an abandoned bridge, so be careful there."
"Hey, what's this?" Luna called and they turned to see her holding a burnt newspaper clipping. Most of it was charred, but some could still be read:
ONE DEAD IN HOUSE FIRE
BAYFIELD COUNTY - Fire damaged the historic home in Red Creek Valley Wednesday morning, according to officials from the Bayfield County Fire Department. A family of six was asleep when the blaze broke out at the remote house once owned by Albert Vandergriff, by the Ogden Lake in Red Creek Valley. Gayle Carter, 58, was pronounced dead at the scene. Remaining family members were able to escape.
Carter's husband, Edwin, 62, told investigators he may have fallen asleep with a lit cigarette in his hand. Firefighters were dispatched to the scene -
After that, everything was burned too bad to read on that side. The next side, however, continued the topic:
AFTER HEATED PUBLIC HEARING, NO ANSWERS FOR VANDERGRIFF HEIRS
BAYFIELD COUNTY
Members of the Vandergriff family again gathered in the Bayfield County Courthouse today to debate the fate of the Vandergriff fortune, which has remained in escrow since 1961 - family patriarch Albert - died in a mine - aftereffects of - destroyed Vander- - severely -
The rest of the left side of the article was too burnt to read. But there was the right side that was still mostly intact:
James Vandergriff, 38, of Chicago, argued that his father's demands were "unreasonable" and that many Vandergriff family members have "personal reasons" for wanting to avoid living in Red Creek Valley on the Vandergriff estate as stipulated in the elder Vandergriff's will. The recent fire of which the Vandergriff home was damaged, he said, only underlined his family's concerns.
Since 1967, the Carter family has lived upon the former Vandergriff estate - temporary caretakers.
And then the article was gone.
"Hmm…" Paul muttered.
"That gives us more questions than answers, doesn't it?" Akiza asked.
"It does to an extent," Paul replied. "However, by how James mentioned family members have some sort of 'personal reasons' for avoid living on the estate, it would suggest that something much deeper was going on in that estate."
"Then let's get find that estate and check it out," Jack suggested.
"We only have a small piece in this grand puzzle, Jack," Paul responded. "We will find more answers as we move further along. But I'm sure our final answer as to what happened to your friend will be found in the Vandergriff estate. With that said, let's move on." They nodded and followed him back through the forest.