Chapter Twenty – Legendary Fire, Legendary Ice

Two flares of power, one purple and the other red, floated in a velvet darkness. Unlike the other time they conferred with each other here, a window showed what was happening in the realm of physical reality. Both watched as Yugi, his aura stained with a brush of purple, slotted the Flameblade into the side of the Point that faced the Firelands.

"It is time. The Hero performs the ritual," the purple light noted.

"Must it be so harsh?" the red light replied.

"Trials must be overcome to discern one's true strength. If everything is easy, or too comfortable, there is no challenge. You know that."

"Yes, but..." the red light fell silent watching the unfolding events through the reality-spying window.

The lights watched as the returning energy drew the dragon through the portal and the lord followed. At that same moment, a yellow ball of light appeared in the formless place. It shivered in place for a long moment before darting over.

"What? The chances of you becoming aware during the transfer of control are..." The purple gleam managed to convey a chuckle. "Chance. Ever your strength, Joey. I shall no longer rail against your surprising facility with chance. Instead, I shall seek to enlist your help."

"What's goin' on?" the yellow light, who answered to the name 'Joey', demanded. "What's happening to me? Where's my body?"

"Here, in this place, I am the supreme power. This is not only a realm of the spirit, but it is also a spiritual realm that I myself created."

"Does that mean you expect me ta bow down ta you as a god? That is, if I could even figure out how to do so..." The yellow light squirmed and shivered. "I can't even figure out what the heck I am right now."

Again, a strong sense of mirth flowed from the purple light. "No, I am no god. What it means is that I am able to do some pretty incredible things here. Like place your soul into the care of another."

"What?"

"How best to explain... What if you were to climb aboard your dragon's back, but not take up the reins? Let him decide where you fly?"

"I trust Red-Eyes."

"This would be the same, but in a spiritual way. Your actions will be guided by this one." The red light flared. "All will be explained satisfactorily - in time," the purple light promised.

"Why?" Joey asked.

"Why what?"

"Why do you need me? Why not just have red over there do whatever it is you need? Why do you need me to try to ride on a ball of light...?"

"That's not exactly what... I suppose the image is appropriate enough, though. Your place in the adventure from this point forward has been set. For everything to work out properly for Yugi, it must be this way. You were not supposed to even be aware of this part of it, but now that you are, I am hesitant to simply cast your spirit into unconsciousness. However, if I must..."

"So you're sayin' I really don't have a choice in the matter." A sulfurous stain spread across the yellow light.

"No, you do have a choice. What I need to happen will happen no matter what, but you, Joey, can decide if you wish to be aware of what happens. I can send your awareness to sleep, if you prefer."

"I don't 'prefer'!"

"I understand your trepidation and anger, and normally I would not do anything of this nature to anyone, but, for Yugi's sake..." the purple light began.

"Okay," Joey abruptly agreed and the yellow glow softened.

"What?"

"If it's for Yugi - look, I don't know what's going on. I never met the guy until a few days ago, but it seems as if I've known him all my life, or maybe in a past life. Even if I didn't, he's a friend. If this is for him... If it has ta be this way..."

The yellow light shivered in place, for a long moment. A pulse from the purple light stopped the movement. "There is no need to be fearful. It is not my wish for you to suffer; indeed no harm will ever come to you here. Your deep friendship has always done you honor, and is a source of strength for him. There is a need for those that Yugi trusts to be cold to him. Far easier for one I hand-picked for that to accomplish this than one who cares for him as much as you do. Sleep."

"But, you said I could choose!"

"You have. You will sleep - but you will dream. What happens while you are not in direct control of your actions will unfold as a vivid dream while your soul sleeps."

The yellow light dimmed.

"Now. I leave the next part in your hands," the purple light directed.

The red light flowed over and tethered the faint yellow one before speeding toward the window focused on the physical world, and through its margins. The purple light left behind watched, as in the reality window, a flash of red on the side of the Point indicated that the transfer had been successful.

While Yugi, Seto, and Yami, along with the Purple Knight and the dragons, stared on with dawning and uncomprehending horror, they noticed movement and something coalescing within the red miasma of power. A huge flash stabbed across the Point and stained each one of them with the color of blood. A figure walked through the portal, and the side of the Point immediately settled into a blank, featureless wall of inert stone once more.

"I- I remember!" The Purple Knight exclaimed. He turned and looked up at the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, who nodded vigorously at him.

"Remember what?" Seto demanded.

"It's been a long time," the figure that had emerged from the Point approached and nodded in recognition toward the Purple Knight.

"Joey!" Yugi exclaimed and darted forward, delighted to see the Lord of Warriors return unharmed. To his surprise, the lord was now garbed in full red armor, complete with cloak and helm, markedly different in appearance to the gleaming gold armor he had worn before. To his greater surprise, the Purple Knight held up one hand, to stop his progress. "He is not Joey. Not anymore," the Purple Knight told Yugi as he stepped between Yugi and the newcomer. "My memory has been unobscured. I know you, now - my lord Hermos," the Purple Knight greeted, as he dropped to one knee to offer homage.

"Good. Then you must realize we don't have any time to waste. The Dread Lord will surely sense that I have returned and try to stop us. We must recover the others before it is too late." The lord stared for a long moment at Yugi, an oddly wondering expression on his face.

"Recover?" Yugi said, nonplussed by the stare and by how strangely Joey was acting.

"These two are unworthy of standing near me." The lord glanced with extreme distaste toward Seto and Yami. "These vessels served their purpose, I suppose, but it is time for these puppet lords to fill their destined roles and for true power to be released."

"But, Joey!" Yugi protested.

"I'm not Joey." The new lord let loose an exasperated sigh. "Explain it to the Hero, Knight of Shadows. Quickly. We have no time to lose!" He stalked off to gaze off the edge of the mountain toward the Firelands.

"What's going on?" Yami demanded.

"Why is Joey acting so - odd?" Yugi asked.

"He is not Joey. Not any longer. He is Hermos..."

"He looks like Joey, except for the new armor, and sounds like him. He's just not acting like him," Yugi interrupted.

"It is hard to understand, Hero, but Joey is - rather, was, a - oh dear. It sounds so dismissive to put it the way my Lord Hermos did, but it is accurate. Joey was born to be a vessel. His soul, as so many others before his, carried a remnant of Lord Hermos' power. He was born into this time, to be on hand for the coming of the Hero. His soul's destiny was always to become part of Lord Hermos."

"What sort of mystical nonsense are you talking about?" Seto demanded coldly.

"It is for this that each of you had been born - your souls are the conduits the True Lords may use to re-enter our world. It is for this that each of us, your swords, knights and dragons, is here. We power the gate that permits the souls of the True Lords - the Legends - to rise once more."

"I am no one's vessel!" Seto shouted. "My destiny is what I decide to make of it!"

Hermos stalked back at the raised voice and stared at the Lord of Ice and Dragons. "Despite your pathetic power, you are so like your true self. Critias never does see the need for unity until it is nearly too late. If you stay as you are, my power will forever outstrip yours, and annexing your lands will be an easy matter - assuming either of us has lands once the Chaos Lord has his way."

"Is there - nothing - of Lord Joey in you now?" Yugi looked up into Hermos' harsh features and asked.

"Of course he's in me - as are all the other vessel souls of all the other Kindly Lords of Fire and Warriors that have lived in this world during all the aeons I was hidden. I know you, Hero. I have traveled alongside you, I've worn wings granted to me by this one's power, and slept in the shadow camp provided by the other one. Perhaps I am being too harsh with them - for they have achieved what countless numbers of vessel-souls before them have failed to do - bring all of us to this Point, in the company of the Hero, so that we might break the hold the Dread Chaos Lord has held over our world for far too long."

Yami's expression cleared a bit at this, and he considered Hermos thoughtfully with considerably less hostility than before.

"Still, their power is but a drop compared to the oceans contained in the souls of my fellow True Lords. Their existence is merely a construct meant to bring us to this place. Their souls were crafted to be vessels to call forth the souls of the True Lords from their place of waiting - and our power has been held by our swords, knights, and dragons until the reawakening. No one is dying here, Hero." Hermos shrugged. "Everything is happening according to the grand plan."

"It's a stupid plan!" Yugi shouted.

"It was the only way we could find to defeat the Chaos Lord. We tried everything else! Should we just give up and let that him destroy all we hold dear?" Hermos rounded on Seto and Yami. "Could you 'Kindly Lords' turn your back so completely on your people that you will cling to your selfish existence out of some misbegotten sense of self? Surely you feel the urging to be complete, become whole, once more - even as the Kindly Lord Joey did."

Yami and Seto surprised Yugi by nodding.

"If it is the only way to save our lands..." Yami began.

"...and the people who depend on us..." Seto continued.

"NO!" Yugi shouted. "You can't!"

"Yugi - we - you have no choice. It's - destiny." Yami said.

"Don't use that word," Seto ordered.

"What word should I use, then?" Yami asked.

"No word. The time for words is over - it is time for action."

"No! No!" Yugi cried out and shocked everyone by flinging himself at Seto and hugging him tight. "Hermos doesn't seem like a bad person, but he's not - he's not Joey! You always seem so grumpy but I know that there's a kind and caring heart under it all. It's bad enough we lost Joey, and the sword that used to be the Red Knight, and Daire, but I don't want to lose you and Tekhenu, too!"

"Yugi." Seto carefully returned his embrace, then gently pushed him back. "The Harsh Lord is right. I can feel it within me, a pulse that I will have to answer. I don't feel like some sort of vessel or tool, but there is something powerful and grand I can sense just beyond my reach. Maybe Joey screwed it up and that's why Hermos is such a jerk." Seto smirked at Hermos who merely looked bored at the insult. "All that aside, if this is the only way anyone can defeat the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos, we have to do it. I don't believe in fate or destiny, but I do believe in duty. It is my duty to protect the people of my lands - of all the lands - and if this is the only way to gain the power to do so - it is what I must do."

Yugi stared up at Seto's face for a long moment, then walked off. His shoulders were slumped, mutely showing everyone how defeated by this turn of events he felt.

"With your leave, my lords," the Purple Knight murmured, bowing toward them before Yami nodded once, granting his permission.

The Purple Knight found Yugi with the dragons. He was stroking the massive front paw of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. "Yugi..."

"It's not fair," Yugi said tonelessly. "It hasn't been fair since the start."

"I'm not denying that."

"It's really unfair to you and Tekhenu, here. You aren't lords who get to decide, you just have to follow what they say. Like I do," Yugi said.

"That's not how it is. Tekhenu and I," the Purple Knight reached forward himself to touch the paw in front of him. "we chose to follow our respective lords. We could leave, if we wished. We don't wish. Isn't that right?"

The Blue-Eyes White Dragon nodded deliberately.

"This turn of destiny is hard, Hero. It is hard for us, and hard for our lords, and hardest of all on you. There is no need to fear the True Lords, though. Hermos seems harsh, but he is dedicated to defeating the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos. Not for glory, or fame, or power, but because that is what he must do to save the people of this world. Lord Seto and Lord Yami understand that. As do Tekhenu and myself."

"I understand it too," Yugi admitted after a long moment. "I don't like it, but I do understand it."

"It will be easier. I think, with Lord Hermos, it was - startling. You know what to expect this time."

"I don't think that will help," Yugi said slowly.

Seto walked over. "I guess I shouldn't call him Lord Flamebrain, but Hermos is becoming more and more insistent. I'm not at all wild about this, Hero, but, I think it's time."

"Seto, we can find..."

"Don't, Yugi. There isn't any other way. I'm not happy to find I've been manipulated to be here at this time, for this purpose, but I meant what I said. If this is the only way to save people from the Chaos Dragon, it's what I must do." Seto looked up to meet his dragon's gaze. "Tekhenu agrees with me, so you can rest assured that neither of us is being forced against our will - not really. It's not what I would have chosen - I agree with you, it's a stupid plan - but seeing as it's the only way we have to fight the Chaos Dragon, I will go along with it. So, let's get this over with before I cool 'True Lord Hermos' down - literally - as only I can."

Yugi smiled at that. Yeah, Seto would do just that - which Yugi thought might not be the best thing to do with the even more arrogant than Kindly Lord Seto (who'd have ever thought it?) True Lord Hermos...

Only moments later Yugi looked on stoically as the massive blue-white beam returning from the heart of the Dragonlands picked up the unprotesting Blue-Eyes White Dragon and stuffed him into the dimensional maw the side of the Point had become. The Frostblade had summoned that beam with the mystic power of the Point, focused through the Pendant, and sent it forth. As with Lord Joey, Lord Seto's eyes washed into a blank, pupil-less stare, but blue-white this time, and he walked, under his own power, and without any evident reluctance, into the howling ice-driven dimensional storm that had already devoured his dragon.

Yugi shook his head as the Lord of Ice and Dragons disappeared from sight. "Oh, Seto... Forgive me!"

The purple light focused away from Yugi's distress as displayed by the reality window in time to realize another had arrived. A pure white ball of brilliant light floated serenely nearby waiting to be noticed.

"My time grows short, my old friend. If not for my place in your adventure, I would have faded completely away by now," the white light said.

"Is there nothing I can do?" the purple light asked.

"You have done all you could - more than I could have ever asked. Just grant me one final favor, and give me one final promise. Allow me control of the young one, you know the one I mean, and I will ensure this coil of the adventure unfurls as it is supposed to. Place him in my power and my care."

"That would be most helpful - if you are certain." The purple light hesitated. "After all, he is the one who..."

"I know. But, the evil that cost me all is gone from him. I want to do this for you, and for him, but mostly for myself. It is the closest I will come to that 'might have been'."

"Done. And the promise?"

"Do no grieve when I am gone."

"That will be difficult. I..."

"How well you know me." The white light managed to convey affectionate amusement. "The form you first gave me here suits me perfectly. But, I know you as well. Do not grieve. It will pain me to think that you do."

"I can only promise to try not to."

"That is enough. Now, what do you need me to do?"

"I think this will be easier on you if you get to manifest the kindest one. More amusing for me as well, given who he is under the trappings of the adventure." The purple light bobbed as if chuckling. "This will be a smoother transfer than the last one now that I know what to expect. It will be possible to keep him unaware through the whole thing."

"I will take care of him. And, in case there is no time when this adventure is over - farewell, my friend."

A blue-white ball suddenly flared into being.

"Wha-?" the newly arrived light exclaimed.

"Ready?" the purple light asked.

"Ready!" the brilliant white light replied. The white energy stooped to pounce on the newly-arrived ball of blue-white light, before scintillating then winking out of the spiritual place.

Through the window to the other side, the Point flared again.

Yugi wasn't surprised this time to almost recognize the being who stepped through from the other side. The planes of his sharp features, the distinctive color of his eyes, and the bearing of the man were identical to Lord Seto, but this transformed lord wore deep blue armor distinctively different from the non-armor attire the Kindly Lord had worn.

"My lord Critias." As before, the Purple Knight offered overtly respectful homage to the newly arrived True Lord.

"No need for that, Knight of Shadows," Lord Critias reached a hand down to encourage the Purple Knight to rise. "There is no reason to stand upon ceremony between us." He turned, with a faint smile on his face. "Hero Yugi, permit me to introduce myself. I am Critias, the True Lord of whom the Kindly Lord Seto was the concealing key. Unlike my hot-headed counterpart, Lord Hermos, I do not hold the Kindly Lords in contempt. In many ways, theirs was a harder task than ours - one they fulfilled admirably - with your help, of course."

"I am pleased to meet you, Lord Critias. Still, I could wish that the circumstances had been..." Yugi stammered.

"I do regret that we did not have the foresight to realize what effect our plan would have on you, Hero. I can only assure you that causing you any distress was not our intention."

"I already told him that," Hermos said peevishly.

Critias closed his eyes as if seeking patience and the best way to deal with the situation. "I am sure you did, Hermos, but there are times your attempts to offer support are less than comforting."

Yugi felt drained. He left the two True Lords to their oddly polite argument, and walked over to stare up at the one remaining dragon. Critias did seem nicer than Hermos, but he wasn't Seto, any more than Hermos was Joey.

"What am I going to do?" he asked himself aloud.

"What you have to do," a familiar voice answered, as arms wrapped around him.

"Yami, do you think we might have enough power with those two that I don't have to lose you and the Purple Knight, and Ashelocke, too?" Yugi asked.

"I have a feeling that we won't be able to avoid it," Yami replied after a long moment. "Our powers have always been in balance - certainly for as long as I have lived, and evidently, for countless lives before that. I don't believe the Point will let you go until you have the power of all three True Lords on your side."

"I think you are right," Yugi agreed miserably. "But I'd stay here, for the rest of my life, to avoid losing you..."

"Yugi," Yami's arms tightened around him. "I understand how you feel. But, the task is still the same. The challenge is still there. The Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos is still at large, roaming the lands, destroying everything he touches. He must be stopped, or none of our lands will ever be free, or the people safe."

"I know." After a long moment, Yugi asked, "Do you think, when this is over, and the Lord Dragon of Chaos defeated, that maybe, well, the True Lords might go back to wherever they were, until they are needed again, and Joey, Seto, and you might be able to return?"

Yami released him at that, and turned Yugi around to face him. "There's a thought. I don't know the power of a True Lord, but perhaps it can be done. I'll promise you that. In as much as I am able, I will return to you, Yugi."

Yugi smiled at the promise. "Along with the Purple Knight, and Ashelocke, and Joey, Seto, Tekhenu, the Red Knight..."

"Of course! Everyone. If it is within the power of a True Lord, your wish will be my command." Yami placed his right hand over his heart and bowed toward Yugi. "Shall we find out if the True Lord I am to become has such power, Hero?"

"Let's."

Bless you, Yami, for trying to make this as easy on me as possible. I know that's what you were trying to do, by offering me hope you will return, Yugi thought, as he watched the purple shadowed beam sweep Ashelocke and the Purple Knight into the seething shadows behind the dimensional rift of the the shadowside of the Point. Yami didn't watch as his dragon and knight were taken from him. He locked his gaze on Yugi's eyes instead. Yugi could tell some idea occurred to the Lord of Blood and Shadows, but not what it was, from the slight smile that crossed Yami's face just before his eyes changed as Joey's and Seto's had, blanking out into an eerie pupil-less purple. He walked, as the two Kindly Lords before him, with a steady pace, into the portal. Panic spurted in Yugi's heart. He knew, somehow, that this would be the last time he would ever see...

"YAMI!"

Yugi's unthinking dash toward that portal himself was halted by Critias' firm, yet gentle, hold on his shoulders. "He warned me you might try something like this. Hero, beyond the rift is no place for you. Remain calm, and Yami's True Lord self will return."

Yugi stopped struggling at that, and turned to look up into Critias' face. "So there's still a chance he isn't really gone?" The surprise and dismay that flickered through Critias' eyes startled him. "No...? But...!"

Author's note

The path through the rest of the story is clear. Yugi's adventure begins to wind to its end.

Next chapter teaser – Legendary Shadow, Legendary Darkness