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 10: Ancient God
They walked for a couple minutes before a lit up tunnel appeared. Akiza paused and stated, "I sense something down there."
They looked where she was looking. Crow commented, "It might have something important down there."
"Or at least something interesting," Leo added.
"Should we go down there?" Jack asked Paul.
"Perhaps," Paul agreed. "But we must be careful and be wary as to what we find." They nodded and began their walk down. It took them a few minutes as they headed down several flights of stone stairs.
Soon, they reached the bottom which had a doorway leading into what seemed like a cave system. There was a notice on the wall:
IF THIS WARNING STANDS, WALK NO FURTHER.
IF THIS WARNING STANDS, OUR RITUAL FAILED.
IF THIS WARNING STANDS, THE SEA-THING GATE REMAINS SEALED.
"I don't like that," Luna commented.
"But now I'm curious as to what exactly is down here," Crow stated. "I say we check it out." The others gave a small nod of agreement and they slowly walked into the cave system. There were candles everywhere that gave off light.
They neared a crossroads where they heard a swinging lantern along with its creaking and noticed something coming. They immediately backed up and hid behind some rock ledges. They looked warily and saw what looked almost like an old, zombie man with a lantern. He paused and looked around a bit before he walked into the wall of the crossroads and vanished into nothing.
The six humans slowly came out of their hiding spot. "We'll need to be extra careful about that guy," Akiza commented.
"Yes," Paul agreed.
They slowly pressed forward, keeping a vigilant eye out. They walked around a bit before they came across a large, tall cavern. It had a spiral path up to the top of a giant stone pillar. At the foot of it was a rotten, dead body surrounded by candles and a note beside it.
They slowly walked in and looked around. They saw something on a ledge across from the top of the pillar that seemed almost like a gate of some kind. They slowly walked up to the body.
Paul kneeled down to expect it, but it turned into a light similar to where they were putting events together and went up to the top of the pillar. Akiza turned and picked up the note while everyone went to check it out with her. The top was burned with only two strange symbols from each end being able to be read at the top. The rest of it said a passage of some kind:
He is not dead, but eternal lie.
The god of strange aeons cannot die.
We open the gate, the gate of old.
Its guardian eyes have long grown cold.
The name of our god: our truth, our key.
He that which is, which should not be.
"That's kind of bizarre," Akiza commented.
"Why don't we check out what happened with that light," Jack suggested.
"We'll need to remember those symbols, too. They seem to be similar to the symbols on that gate up there," Paul added. They nodded and walked up to the top of the pillar.
When they reached the flat top, they found a ghost-like hologram of the body standing on a square with a strange symbol on it in a field of squares with different symbols. And around the man's feet was a symbol of some kind.
Paul stepped onto a round stone with circles on it. It glowed a bit and he held his hand out. As he moved it up and down, certain sections of the gate runes glowed. When he stopped at one, he flipped his hand to the left and the rune wheel shifted to the left onto another rune.
He turned and looked at the apparition and then thought of the symbols on the paper. He then realized it and stepped off the platform, making its glow cease. "To open this gate, we need for apparitions of the dead to find the right runes that match each one."
"Well, we know this guy's and the first and last one," Akiza stated.
"Which means we need three more," Jack stated.
"We won't be able to locate all of them as fast if we stick together," Crow commented. "Should we split up again?"
"If we do, it would certainly speed up the process. But we must be careful, especially if that strange man. Considering we only need three more, once you've found one body and make sure it turns into light and heads to this room, meet back at this cavern. We will each join back here," Paul planned.
"Sounds good," Jack agreed. "We should probably just go with the same groups with had for that one house." They nodded and walked out. "Be careful of that man." They nodded again before going in their own directions.
Jack and Crow went to the left with Leo and Luna as there were only two directions to go. Akiza and Paul went to the right.
They soon came up on a crossroads. One went to the right and then straight to another path while the other went just forward. Leo and Luna decided to go forward while Jack and Crow went to the right.
The two men walked for a bit before they saw a body appear. They kneeled down to it, a bit disgusted by the remains.
"Think this is part of that sleeper cult?" Crow asked as the body turned to light and went towards the room.
"At this point, I don't know what to think," Jack replied as they went towards the room as well.
. . .
Akiza and Paul walked around for a good four minutes, silent and keeping an eye out for the man with the lantern. But for some reason, he was quiet and there was no sign of him. Not that they weren't relieved of that, but it still concerned them.
They walked around a corner before noticing a dead body, rotten and seeming like the others. They looked it over and it turned into a light and went towards the room.
"Alright, ours is found," Akiza stated. "Let's go ahead and head back."
Paul nodded and they went that way.
. . .
Leo and Luna walked around the cave system for a couple minutes after they separated from Crow and Jack.
"I'm worried, Leo," Luna stated.
"Don't worry. I'll protect you," Leo vowed.
"It's not that," she responded. "I'm… worried we won't find Yusei. Or… we may find something about him that we won't like."
"We'll find Yusei and bring him home, I'm sure of it," Leo reassured. They heard the lantern man coming near and hurriedly hid behind rocks. They looked to see him looking around before walking in another direction and disappearing. "Okay, that was close."
Luna gave a small nod. "Yeah," she answered.
They walked around for another minute before they found a body. They checked it out as Paul did before and it turned into a light and flew off. They sighed in a bit of relief.
"Let's get back to that room," Leo suggested. Luna nodded and they hurried back, being certain to be careful of the lantern man.
They soon found their way to the room where Jack and Crow were waiting with Akiza and Paul.
"We were beginning to worry, but we did see the third and final light go to the pillar," Akiza commented. "Are you guys alright?"
"We almost ran into that creepy lantern guy, but yeah," Leo answered.
"Do you know the first and last rune that was on that note?" Jack asked.
"Let's go over it one more time just in case," Crow suggested.
Paul nodded and looked it over. When he had it memorized, they walked up to the top of the pillar. He stepped on the platform and first changed the first and last runes to the ones on the card. The first was shaped like a incomplete, fancy zero while the last was like a strange "M".
Paul then looked at the apparitions and the symbols that stood on, along with the shapes around their feet. He then looked at the table sections for each area. He then noticed something, for each turntable section, there were shapes that matched the ones around the apparitions' feet.
Paul looked at the one with the circle around its feet. It had something that looked similar to a "Z". With that in mind, he went to the turntable with the circle rune and changed the main rune to the "Z" symbol.
He then looked back to one with the same symbol and had a square around his feet. He turned back to the turntable and switched that one as well.
Paul then looked back again. One with a diamond around its feet had a symbol that was like a "C" with a horizontal line through its center curve. He turned back to the turntable again and found that one.
And then it was the last one. That one had a six-pointed star sitting around its feet. It had a strange symbol around it that was practically impossible to describe, but was easy to remember. Paul turned back and turned the final dial telling his friends, "This may be another story wrote becoming reality. So be prepared for anything." They nodded and he let go.
The gate opened and the cavern began shake, making rocks fall from the ceiling. Water began to flood in front all around them and a giant tentacle like from a squid or octopus reached out. It was almost like the Kraken was being released. Water was quick to surround them completely, and it was a dark grey for a moment.
However, the grey soon made way to a clear blue. Around them appeared to be a grass like terrain with a tree and fence, but they were all underwater. They were a bit surprised they could still breathe in this water. There was a groan from a giant creature and they saw massive tentacles that seemed like from the Kraken itself. Over to the side was an old tractor and a lot of rocks and boulders. However, on a rock by the tractor was a note.
"Considering we're breathing underwater and I feel completely dry still, I say we're in a story made reality," Crow commented. They all nodded in agreement.
They walked over to the note and found it was another story.
"THE CURSE OF THE SEA-THING"
The Enochian Necronomicon! The iron-ore miners had finally found it! But not all of them wanted to perform its ritual and summon the sea-thing Gnaiih. One miner realized the ritual would unleash Gnaiih's flood upon this world. And so the miner had no choice but to stab the others with shards of magick Eltdown. Gnaiih, in response, cursed the miner, who now wanders the mine, doomed to prevent others from summoning the sea-thing and flooding the world forever.
Suddenly, they heard Dale's voice, "Yusei, I told you to stay out! Goddammit - look, it's dangerous in here. I'll read your story later! Okay? And please don't tell your mother I'm in here, alright? Okay, now you go. Get back home!"
There was a flash of light like normal and they found themselves in front of a locked gate, three pieces of paper on the ground. One paper was the story, the other two were new. One was an old email to Dale:
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
Re: REQUEST FOR CLARIFICATION
Dear Mr. Carter,
The United States Patent and Trademark Office has received your January 27, 1999, letter requesting "further explanation" as to why your recently submitted patent 527F2d was rejected by this office. As we explained in our previous letter, the patent was rejected for infringing upon a previously existing patent.
We have on record from you more than four dozen requested patents submitted in the last sixteen months. None has been successful, and all have been met with challenges by you. Mr. Carter, we would like to consider this matter, and future matters, administratively closed.
Sincerely,
James Maki
They set the letter down and went to the note.
Dale:
GET YOUR SHIT OUT OF OUR BASEMENT. BRING IT TO THE GODDAMN DUMP.
I'm so sick of stepping over your lifetime of failure on my way to the washing machine.
I'm not kidding. Either you move it or I burn it.
-M
"Was Dale trying to be an inventor, then?" Leo asked.
"It would seem so," Akiza answered. Paul nodded.
"Let's get to that boiling water room and get out of here," Crow suggested. "We still have to find out where Yusei went and what happened even more." They all nodded and turned to go down the rest of the tunnel towards the room of boiling water.