Chapter 4
Orichalcos
A/N: Hey everybody! Guess who's back (momentarily, but still) Just thought I'd give you a heads up that I should be getting internet back by the end of this month. You'll just have to grin and bear it until then. Sorry. But hey, enjoy the chapter. :D
In the beginning, Kayla was doing fairly well with the duel. Over the summer, she'd had a chance to upgrade her deck and find some cards that actually worked for her. She'd gone from a mismatched monster deck that only had few compatible spell cards, to an entire deck built around angel and fairy type monsters. Some spell cards she had kept, but others were long gone. "Good riddance." Bakura thought to himself.
It only recently occurred to him that he didn't grow bored when watching her duel. She always did something to change up her strategy. Sometimes they weren't good changes, but they were changes nonetheless.
With her current tactics, Kayla was able to get her opponent down to 2,000 life points, and keep hers at 3,500 with trap cards, and handy spell cards like Dian Keto the Cure Master.
On the thief's turn, a wicked grin crossed his face.
"You know, you have the crappiest poker face ever." Kayla said, gaining a snicker from Bakura. The man's eyes narrowed. "You won't be laughing for long, Priestess."
Kayla's eyes widened. Only a few people ever called her that, and one of them had been banished into the Shadow Realm. The other two people rarely used it anymore. Acting as innocent as possible, she said, "What are you talking about?"
"Don't play stupid! I know all about you and your little spirit friend. Why else would I steal this?" He held up the bracelet again, reminding her what she was dueling for.
"Good point." Kayla muttered. "How do you know all that then?"
"I have my ways." The man said, prideful. "My Order is more than familiar with ancient magic, which you will now see." He slid the card onto his duel disk.
The moment he did, his disk began to glow with green runes surrounding the edge. A strange electric feeling thickened the air, and the sky grew dark with clouds. Thunder and lightning crashed across the sky. The thief laughed hysterically. "Prepare yourself for the most powerful magic in all creation. Behold! The Seal of Orichalcos!"
Among the darkness in the sky, a bright green ring or runes appeared. Inside the ring, a star formed, and the light lowered itself on the playing field. A great sense of power lingered in the air. The same seal that sat below their feet appeared on the thief's forehead.
"Kaia, what is that thing?"
"I… I don't know. It's an old source of power. Older than I am. That's all I can tell."
"And if you don't know what it is, then Bakura most likely won't either."
The thief took notice of Kayla's confused gaze, and laughed. "Confused are you? Allow me to explain. This card is an ancient source of magic. One that dates back farther than your bracelet. In this game we're playing, whoever loses this duel shall lose their soul to the Seal."
"So it's like a Shadow Game." Kayla concluded.
"Yes, but much more powerful." The thief added. "With the power of the seal, I can summon as many creatures as I wish, increase their attack power by 500. Oh, and the card cannot be negated, destroyed, or removed from play by any means."
Kayla bit her lip. Shadow Games were a pain in the ass by themselves, and with the Seal of Orichalcos supposedly being even more powerful was more than enough to prove this was going to be difficult. She glanced at Bakura, trying to find some comfort. But her stress levels were slowly rising.
"Come on Kayla, you can do this." Kaia said. "Just keep focused on your own strategies. Don't worry about his."
Kayla nodded, returning her mind to her hand.
Throughout the next round of turns, Kayla struggled to keep her life points up. All the time that she had spent away from the game had made her rusty. She'd slipped up a few times, placing cards that were completely useless against the Seal on the field. Those mistakes had cost her a large chunk of life points.
Even with her set back in life points; Kayla was still ahead by 200. Her opponent had 1400 life points, and three monsters on the field, all with different amounts of attack points. One of them being Bountiful Artemis. A card with 1,600 attack points, and Kayla was familiar with. Kayla had 1600 life points and two monsters.
On her turn, Kayla drew the card she was looking for. A card that had come in handy back in Noah's virtual world.
"Alright, get a load of this. I sacrifice my two monsters in order to summon Angel 07!" Bakura smirked, recognizing her move. A smirk formed on Kayla's lips, and sweat formed on the thief's forehead. "And I have my monster attack Bountiful Artemis! Bringing you're life points straight down to zero."
The thief's eyes widened as the counter spun. He dropped to his knees. "No, it' wasn't supposed to end this way. I was supposed to win."
"That's what happens when you decide to mess with me." Kayla said. "Now give me back my bracelet."
A sharp cry escaped the thief's lips. He clutched his head, the Seal upon his head glowing brightly. "No, please! My lord, I promise I'll do better! Please, give me another chance! I'll defeat her this time… I….I…." A tunnel of green light crashed down on his body. Screams of agony echoed across the sky.
Then, it was over. Almost as quickly as it had begun. The man collapsed to the ground, his cards spilling out of his Duel Disk, and Kayla's bracelet rolling out of his shirt pocket. Kayla bent down and snatched it up.
Bakura had joined her again, throwing one arm around her shoulders. "Kayla that was incredible!"
Kayla smiled, thanking him. But soon her eyes trailed back down to the unconscious thief. "Is… Is he….?"
Bakura knelt down, rolling over the body. The thief's eyes were distant and lifeless, but there were faint shallow breaths entering his lungs. "His soul is gone. Just like he said."
"I can't believe it… I… I thought he was bluffing… I didn't think it would end like…. Like this…."
"Relax." Bakura said quickly. "He was a fool to think he could win against you. He should've backed out when he had the chance."
Kayla's eyes shot to the ground. She wasn't so convinced.
"Come on." Bakura took her hand, and began to lead her out of the alley way. "Let's get you home."
That night, Kayla had awoken to nightmares of the Seal of Orichalcos. The panic stricken thoughts of what would've happened if she had lost plagued her dreams.
But in the midst of her cries, she found herself being pulled into a gentle and comforting embrace, reassuring her everything was going to be alright. Eventually, his comforting words had lulled her to sleep again.
It was the first time Bakura had come to her room at night, and it would certainly not be the last.