Chapter 49

Duke's head felt weird and his vision was somehow brighter than normal, almost as though someone had turned a thousand watt light bulb on behind his eyes. Everything was at once hazy and yet incredibly crystal clear. Sounds were sharper too, so sharp in fact they became strangely distorted. He knew the others were talking, but beyond the occasional word or sentence here and there he had no idea what any of them were saying.

Somewhere above the confusing din of noise in his close surroundings was another sound altogether; the sound of someone calling out to him. Not with words or even with a voice, just with this strange pulling little sound, at once so quiet and yet so incredibly loud. He stared round at the others, all of who appeared to be oblivious to the sounds of distress he could hear. Something told him they couldn't hear it. They couldn't hear it but he could. He could and he needed to do something; something to help the person in distress.

He took a step forward, but that just made his too bright and disorientating vision make him feel sick. He closed his eyes against it and instead tried to concentrate on the sound. If he knew what it was... if he knew who was making it... then he could find them and help them. He had to find them and help them. He had to. His mind slowly began to focus in on the noise. The source was closer than he thought; much closer and getting closer still by the second.

His eyes flung open as he realised with absolute certainty where the person in distress was. They were in Kama Traydon and they weren't alone.

From the second they'd set foot in the garden Crovell had started chirping like some crazed bird. The sound was as irritating as it was unwanted and since they were aiming for a sneak attack it had to go.

'If I didn't know better, I'd say he was signalling to someone,' Re curled his lips in disgust.

'Well I can't guarantee he's not, I told you I can't be sure if I have enough influence over him for this yet.'

'And I told you if we didn't move out now I was going to seriously hurt that little boyfriend of yours instead of just knocking him out. It was your choice to make.'

'It was hardly much of a choice,' she glared at him, 'I simply went with the less reckless option.'

'Come now little sibling, there's nothing wrong with being a little bit reckless. It could really get a person going.'

'Yes, but there's very little that doesn't get you going,' Gan narrowed his gaze. 'I'm starting to think I should get you neutered.'

'I wouldn't let you live long enough to try it,' he met and held her gaze. 'Now get the brat to shut up already, I'd rather our plans weren't ruined because of him.'

'If our plans are ruined it won't be because of him,' she turned away, 'it will be because we moved too soon. It will be because of you, brother.'

The palm of Re's hand made a sharp and bracing connection with her cheek.

'You even dare say that again and I'll do a lot worse to you,' Re's voice was deathly serious. 'You're not so important that you can ever, ever talk to me like that. I am the eldest. I am the leader. That's the way it's always been and that's the way it will always be, do you understand.'

'Yes, sibling.'

'That's better, now shut the brat up.'

Gan rolled her eyes and turned her attention back towards the infant she was carrying. Without warning his eyes became covered in a dark blue glow, which made the babyish smile on his face appear hauntingly eerie. As she continued to watch a matching translucent blue aura began to swirl around him.

'What the hell?' Re's voice a mixture of anger and alarm. 'Does that mean he's on our side or theirs?'

'I… I don't know,' Gan shook her head, 'I've never seen an aura this colour before.'

'Single colour auras mean God Class,' Na clapped his hands together. 'He's God Class, right, if we worship him would that make him a god?'

'We're not going to worship him Na,' Re glared, 'he's a tool, nothing more.'

'A God Class tool for God Class beings,' Na laughed. 'Black for the Reganna and blue for the Chaos.'

Without any explanation Crovell's chirps and squeaks died away to nothing, leaving them in a momentary silence.

'Well at least he's back to working for us now,' Gan cocked her head to one side.

'How can you be so sure?' Re glared at her.

'Call it women's intuition.'

'You're no woman Gan,' his lips curled with disgust.

'Don't give me that look when we both know you've accepted your host's gender.'

'I had no choice; it was the only way to stamp her out.'

'How many times did you have to tell yourself that before you actually believed it?'

'You're already on thin ice with me Gan; do you really want to be plummeted head first through the water?'

'Oh I do love it when you talk dirty,' she mocked, 'that vile little tongue of yours gets me every time.'

Her words brought Re to a halt, forcing her and Na to do the same. The look on his face said more than words ever could and she knew without a doubt she was well beyond his tolerable limit now. But she could take anything Re was willing to dish out. In fact a part of her was just dying to see what he would do.

'If this goes well I may have to take you up on that,' he smirked as he turned away from her, 'but we have bigger fish to fry right now.'

'So you're really going to leave me cold and wanting like that,' she filled her voice with fake tones of pouting. 'A girl has needs you know.'

'You're a lot of things Gan, but a girl isn't one of them. And, like I said, if this goes well I'll take you up on it. But right now I'm gagging for a fight and the only way I'm going to get one is if we keep moving forward. So you just work on making sure that brat's on our side and I will make it worth your while.'

Even though the chamber had been quiet for some time he continued to lie there with his eyes closed, just in case they came back. He didn't know what had happened exactly, but a split second before Yugi's attack had made contact with him, a thin, barely visible shield, had formed around him cushioning the blow. Not willing to chance another attack, Covo had fained unconsciousness and had waited patiently for the cost to be clear.

The problem was he'd reached his boredom limit, not to mention the fact the ground beneath him was becoming more and more uncomfortable by the second. Unable to lie there any longer, he slowly opened his eyes and stared cautiously around the room. Once he was certain he was safe, he pulled himself up from the ground and dusted himself off.

'So now what the hell am I supposed to do,' he sighed heavily, 'if I'm right about who led me to this chamber, than that same person probably saved me from Yugi's attack. So... I guess I should work on repaying the favour somehow.'

He found his gaze scanning around the room several times. As it did it was repeatedly drawn back to the Ode letters which inscribed the Face of Friendships name. Just above it rested her symbol.

'An upside down seven with three lines running through it,' he didn't know why he was describing it to himself like this, but he felt a strange compulsive need to, 'each line getting shorter as it goes down, linked at the base to a normal seven with a single line running through it. Whoever came up with that design had a real artistic flare,' he rolled his eyes. 'But even so there has to be more to it than just a bunch of lines.' His eyes darted towards the symbol of the First. 'Five lines, another upside down seven connected to a normal seven; three lines on the normal seven getting longer going up.' His gaze moved quickly towards the Pure's. 'Two Z's stacked and linked at the base, each with a line running midway through it.' He pressed his lips together in thought. 'Three symbols. Three bunches of nonsensical lines, but... I feel like I missing something here.'

His eyes scanned back over the three symbols; what were they even there for anyway? After all, each Mistress had their Etean name carved in Ode beneath these so called symbols, something which would never happen to a god symbol. In fact the gods' names were never written in Ode lettering, people always used the symbols to represent them. So why give the Mistresses their own symbols, if you were going to treat them differently? Unless you were deliberately trying to call attention to the fact these three symbols existed in the first place because... Because there was a fourth symbol.

Gasping in realisation, he quickly made his way towards the door and opened it. Embossed on the other side was the combined symbol of the three Mistresses. At least that's what everyone called it despite the fact it didn't resemble any of the other three symbols. It was still just a bunch of lines, but it was a bunch of lines with four parts to it and not three. It was also a bunch of lines which meant a fourth symbol for three Mistresses.

'But it's not because there's a fourth Mistress,' the cogs in Covo's brain slowly clicked into place. 'It means there are three Mistresses and Win,' he shook his head from side to side in amazement. 'But Odraians completely deny his existence; they won't even accept him as some kind of fable or myth. So why would an Odraian deliberately create a symbol for Win and hide it in plain sight? Unless…' he closed his eyes and swallowed hard, 'Chaosa, Chaosa, Chaosen.'