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 5: House of Portals
They walked passed the station for a bit before Akiza asked, "It's kind of sad to see tracks like this."
"No trains have been through here in a long time. That was part of a pattern," Paul responded.
"How?" Leo asked.
"Large pieces of this country are thrown away, doomed to become, and then remain, the worst versions of themselves. Beneath all that rot, dark things grow," Paul explained vaguely.
"I still don't get it," Crow stated.
"You may one day, as you get older and see the things I have," Paul responded.
"I guess that's true," Akiza responded. "As you get older, you see patterns that others don't see." Paul nodded.
That's when they noticed a dam leading into a small town across the river nearing. "That's Red Creek Valley," Paul told them.
It wasn't too long before they reached the dam's top and found it was also a bridge, which should've been obvious in the first place. They slowly began their walk across it. The view was beyond amazing.
They soon reached the town, but it was long abandoned by the looks of it. Some houses, like the one in front of them, seemed to be completely wrecked. It was almost eerie, especially with the ever looming silence.
There was a house on the top of the hill above them and they walked up to it. Inside seemed like it had been in a fire and some of the wood strips were on the ground along with different things. However, a single table sat just beyond the door at the corner leading to another room. On it was a piece of paper:
I invoke the Boneless One, the One of Voids, Destroyer of Ships and He who is feared by the winds. Hear me!
Great Minister Focalor, I wish to make a pact with you to confound my enemies and protect my possessions! Use the Doors of Confusion to cloud their judgement! Seal the path with Falsity and Guile, and permit those who can discern every True Interior to pass!
Aglon, Tetragram, vacheon stimulamaton ezphares Tetragrammaton, olyaram irion esytion existion eryona onera orasim mozm messias soter Emanue! Saboth ADONAY, te adoro et te invoco. Amen.
"That sounds almost like a prayer," Luna commented.
"But what are the 'Doors of Confusion'?" Leo asked.
There was a small flash of white light and they turned and noticed the doorway there before now shimmered and glowed. They walked up to it. On the other side showed another room and staircase. They stepped through it with a whooshing or whistling sound and there was a white flash.
There was the stairs that went up. But there was a door on the right that had a similar glow and down the hall to the far left had another door which glowed. Behind them, the door before was completely normal only it was shut and unable to open.
"So, do we have to put the rooms back in order to before?" Crow wondered.
They walked to the one at the far left and Paul slid his hand just barely touching it. The room after it changed to another.
"Can we do that?" Leo wondered.
"Go ahead and try," Paul answered. Leo did so and it swapped rooms for him. "Alright, then. If we separate into groups, we may be able to solve this puzzle easier. But be careful. You may get transported to another location in the house if you get it wrong." They nodded. "Leo, Luna, you two go together. Jack, Crow, you two are a team, too. Akiza, with me." They nodded again.
Akiza and Paul stayed at the one they were at at the moment while Leo and Luna went upstairs and Jack and Crow went to the one to the right of the original door. They swapped for a few moments before Akiza said, "That one seems right to me." It appeared to be a dining room.
Paul nodded and they walked through. There was a flash of white light and they found themselves the door behind them seemed normal again.
. . .
Leo and Luna walked upstairs and went to the door. They went through the options until they felt the right one. It seemed like a somewhat empty office or bedroom. All it had was a dresser with a lamp on it and a desk and chair there. They walked through and there was a flash of white light. The twins turned to find the door before was complete and there.
However, they turned back and walked up the stairs. They found themselves in an attic. The only doorway was to another room just above them and they went to it. They swapped a couple before finding one. It was a small, wrecked room with a desk that was littered in books and a chair just before it. They walked through it and another white light. They turned back to the last place they were and it was fine.
They walked back down the stairs to the second floor and turned to the glowing doorway to the right of the stairs. They swapped to another room before walking through it. Another white light.
They turned back and went to the one behind the stairs, but on the left side of them. They flipped it to a long hallway before they stepped through and into a white flash.
. . .
Jack and Crow were on the first floor and found one that seemed right. It was another foyer like room that led to two other rooms. They checked it and white light was shot.
. . .
Luna and Leo went into the hallway and turned to the closest doorway on the left side. They didn't feel they needed to swap for this one and stepped through, another white light.
They then went to the doorway at the end of the hall. They flipped through a few until they found one seemed to enter into a three-windowed room. A white light. They turned and noticed Akiza and Paul walking up to them.
"Looks like we got most of this house done," Akiza commented.
"Yeah," Leo answered. "Let's go find Jack and Crow. See how they're doing."
. . .
Jack went to the room in front of them at the top of a small staircase. He flipped through them before walking through one. It was a small room with a desk in the middle. He then walked back to Crow who just about to through his.
"Jack, Crow," greeted their friends as they walked up.
"This the last one?" Akiza asked.
"Yeah," Crow answered. "I think I got it."
They stepped through and a white light was shot. They turned behind them, noticing a light from it. The doorway was leading to a whole different room. It was covered in mainly books and papers, but had what seemed like a fetus statue and things would be looking like from a wizard story.
They slowly walked into it. It was definitely a lab of some sort and there was dead crows or ravens hanging from the ceiling. On the table was a paper on it. It was another story though this one had no title.
A magician once lived inside an old house and made potions that let him see the future. People from the village came to the magician's house and demanded he share his potions with them. "We want to see the future too," they told him. But the magician said no.
The people from the village grew angry and burned the magician's house. But the magician knew this would happen. He had already cast a spell on his potion room. The house burned, but the room did not. The people from the village waited, but the magician never came out.
Paul flipped the paper over and revealed a draw picture of a long hallway that almost seemed unending.
Suddenly, a voice they had not heard but sounding like a man asked, "Why are you standing there? You spying?"
"No," Yusei's young voice replied.
"No, huh. What the hell's wrong with you, exactly?" the man asked.
Young Yusei sighed. "Nothing."
"You need to stop leaving your stupid stories around. They're freaking everyone out," the man stated.
There was a flash and the six investigators found themselves now in what seemed like a home brewery room. Over on a barrel was a newspaper clipping:
BLAZE REVEALS MOONSHINE OPERATION
BAYFIELD COUNTY - Ashland Township volunteers discovered an apparent moonshine still while battling a blaze in the woods off Old Ogden Road.
According to authorities, the still comprised a propane stove and four-gallon stainless steel pot, which was used to hold the whiskey mash. Based on the size of the still, Bayfield County Sheriff Hank Shafel believes it may be part of a small operation, though he admitted "there could be other stills" in the county.
Officers on the scene recovered a half-gallon of apple pie moonshine and one gallon of unflavored moonshine. Apple cider and cinnamon sticks were found adjacent to the still.
Police have been unable to determine who owns the still. Sheriff Shafel said a cigarette butt tossed at the scene likely caused the fire.
He flipped it around to what seemed to be a totally different article:
NASA LAUNCHES ATS-6 SATELLITE
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla -
NASA launched what has been called the world's first educational satellite in Florida today, giving the United States a powerful edge in telecommunication technology.
The Applications Technology Satellite-6 will directly broadcast educational programming to several countries, including the United States, Canada, India, and Australia. NASA believes the satellite will remain in constant contact with earth for at least the next five years.
"It seems like Yusei's stories came from inspirations of his surroundings," Paul commented.
"Yeah," Crow agreed.
"Let's leave this place and head out to find more ideas," the professional detective suggested. They nodded and walked out of the building, which was now a bit different than before.