Chapter 51

In the time since he'd learnt he was dead, SK had come to understand two fundamental truths about Giya. The first was that it was the oldest and biggest Plain in existence and the only one connected to every other Plain, Realm and reality which made up the current multiverse. The second was that it classed as both a higher and lower Plain, but not as a Mortal Plain meaning all gods and higher beings were free to move around on it without consequence. Although from what little of it SK had seen he wasn't sure why anyone would want to.

Giya appeared to be nothing more than a large, desolate wasteland. Thanks to Jay he was aware there were cities dotted around somewhere which house all Nethher Herin and Vii Sen not working and living in the heavens, but in SK's head they became like metal Meccas in the middle of a baron dessert. This place was grim and boring and lifeless. Okay the heavens might have been bland beyond belief, but at least they were comfortable and hi-tech.

They hadn't arrived directly at the Yatnuh, but they'd been close. Close enough for Duke to lead them towards it without any trouble. Although how and why Duke knew where it was mystified SK more than a little. Somewhere in the back of SK's head he found himself going over the conversation Win and the First had when Duke was first given his powers and he couldn't help but wonder exactly what Win had meant about filling a hole.

Once they reached the Yatnuh, SK suppressed all other thoughts in order to study the so called Circle of the Mistresses. It was made up of two circles, a large one divided into thirds which sat around a smaller one in the centre. In each third of the outer circle there was a symbol and in the central circle there was a fourth.

'Let me guess,' he licked his lips nervously as he studied the symbols, 'the First, the Pure, the Face of Friendship and Win.'

'Got it in one,' Win flashed him one of his winning smiles.

'So how exactly are we going to let the Reganna know we're here?'

'Ler dros ti cam, al chaosa shan reno,' the Etean words once again rolled out of Duke's mouth. 'When the time comes, all chaos shall return.'

'And what's that supposed to mean exactly?'

'He means that it was the Ch…'

'Win,' Joey cut him off.

'But…?'

'No.'

Win gave a heavy sigh and threw SK an apologetic look.

'I guess that means I'm not going to get an explanation then,' SK rolled his eyes.

'It's not like we have the time for one,' Kaiba folded his arms, 'we have to be ready for the Reganna.'

'Yeah I know,' he licked his lips again, 'but an explanation every once in a while would be nice.'

'You shouldn't need to have things explained to you,' Joey narrowed his gaze on him, 'as our Helper it's your job to know things.'

'I...'

'They will be here soon,' Duke cut him off. 'Ler dros ti cam, al chaosa arla reno.'

'Will you stop saying that,' Joey turned on him.

'No,' Duke calmly shook his head, 'beto whi sai juchk yie en tono, sai part yia Chaosaion; sa pa atta lectay.'

'Okay, why the hell does Duke keep speaking in Etean?' SK frowned in confusion.

'Because he's smart enough to know no one wants to hear what he has to say in English,' Joey glared at the Pseudo-Mistress.

'No, I'm speaking in Etean because Etean is your native tongue and you need to hear the truth in it,' Duke's voice was calm, 'because what I've said is the truth.'

'No, it's can't be.'

'Why, because it involves the Chao...?'

'Finish that word and you won't live long enough to regret it. Saying it once in my presence is bad enough, I will not hear it again.'

'Okay...' SK's tongue skated across his lips as he cocked an eyebrow, 'I have no idea what the hell you're talking about, but I doubt any of you are going to tell me. So why don't we all back away from this conversation whilst we still can and just concentrate on getting ready for the Reganna.'

'So for arguments sake let's say this chamber was built by one of the mythical Chaosen,' Covo's eyes slowly scanned the room, 'why? Was it just so their memory wouldn't be completely erased? I guess that's possible but I think I'd be more than a little disappointed if that's all there was to it. Come on Covo, you're the Interpretive twin, you can figure this out.'

Instinct made Covo get as close to the nearest wall as possible. He narrowed and un-narrowed his gaze several times, straining his eyes for something... anything... It took a while, but his eyes eventually began to pick out almost invisible markings on the surface of the wall. Markings which stretched out and formed incredibly faint pictures. Covo pulled himself back and studied the rest of the room, keeping this idea in mind. Suddenly the dull walls around him didn't look so dull anymore. For half a second he felt pleased with his discovery, then a twist of fear moved through his stomach; what if his mind was just showing him what he wanted to see?

Covo closed his eyes and took several deep breaths in. He then tried to calm his mind as much as possible so that when he opened his eyes again he would see what was really there. Or at least that's what he was hoping.

'A light born from shadows, a shadow born from light,' it took him a second to realise he was talking and even then he wasn't totally sure where the words were coming from. 'What once was day, will now be night. What once was night, will now be day. And all the shadows shall run away. The time has come, the time has passed. What once was first, shall now be last. What once was last, shall now be first. And all the heavens shall take the Earth. And I that once before you stood, shall know you through your cloak and hood. You may hide, but never far. And I who know you, know who you are. For you are the shadow and I am the light. Though we may quarrel, we'll never fight. For I who know you, shall know you then. Chaosa, Chaosa, Chaosen.'

The black backs of his eyelids suddenly turned a crimson red as the room around him filled with light. Flinging his eyes open he stared around the room. It was now covered in a series of glowing primitive style paintings which appeared to chart all events from the destruction of Win, to the birth of the Tenth Order and a little beyond. It was incredible, in both its detail and its beauty and for a long time Covo wasn't quite able to take it all in. When he had certain things started to make a lot more sense to him.

'The Mistresses didn't like them,' Covo felt a strange feeling of sadness stir inside of him, 'not because they were evil, but because of what they represented. Having said that they weren't exactly good either,' he found himself pulling faces at a number of the pictures, 'they really could be violent beyond belief at times, much worse even than some of the stories would have us believe. But they weren't all bad, in fact there was a lot of good in them too, so the fact that the Mistresses came to hate them so much... It's no wonder the Odraian don't want to acknowledge the truth about their past; they're the daughter race of an unloved people.'

He moved closer to the wall as he continued to study the paintings. After a few minutes he spotted something which was at once incredibly familiar and yet he knew he'd never actually seen it before.

'The Yatnuh,' he gave a strange half smile as he fingered the image, 'so the Odraians didn't destroy all depictions of you.'

Almost as soon as he said this the small, finger painted Yatnuh flashed blinding white. Alarmed, Covo took a step back and suddenly wondering if the Chaosen who'd created this chamber might have been from the eviler side of things. As he thought this everything in the room around him, apart from the Yatnuh, fell into darkness. The Yatnuh then pulse three times, covering the wall in front of Covo with an almost disorientating moving image. An image which contained a dark skyline and the shoulder of a person very, very nearby.

'I almost can't believe we're back here again,' Gan took a moment to survey their surroundings. 'It's strange, it feels like what happened then was a lifetime ago, but it really wasn't so long.'

'Must you dwell on the past,' Re rolled his eyes.

'I'm not dwelling, I'm just remembering how all this really began,' she indicated towards the child she was holding. 'Do you think they'll ever get the chance to meet?'

'They will if I have anything to do with it,' Re folded his arms, 'so you should stop talking like we've lost already.'

'I'm not talking like we've lost,' she started forward, forcing the other two to follow after her, 'I'm just... remembering.'

'Like I said before, stop dwelling on the past and concentrate on the future. Our future. The one where we have everything and they have nothing. It will happen. We're so close to achieving it now I can almost taste it, can't you?'

'Maybe,' she lifted her head up towards the sky, 'I can certainly taste something in the air.'

'You'd better not be going soft on me Gan,' Re narrowed his gaze. 'All this wistful thinking is so... unnatural.'

'We are unnatural Re,' Gan smirked at him, 'and it will take a lot more than wistful thinking to make me soft.'