Hey guys, so I've been on a bit of writing kick recently. Fortunately, this means I have been putting plenty of work into this fic which means more reading for you guys! Due to this, I should have another chapter up by the end of the week. If you are enjoying the fic, please give it a favourite or follow so that you don't miss any new chapters as they come out. And as always, I hope you enjoy.
Chapter 24 – Darrien's Determination
Tanion lost track of how long it took for the transport to reach Stromberg Castle. On the way, Felirae had been on the coms talking with Yugi, Yusei and Jorann about what the next plan of attack should be. However, when they finally touched down in the hangar bay, it was Elise, not Felirae, who welcomed them, along with many other faces who were eager to see two of the Three in person.
"It's an honour to meet you in person, Yugi," Elise said as they exited the transport. "I've been sent by Felirae to accompany you to the command centre."
"Are all these people here to see me?" Yugi asked, bewildered as he looked over the growing crowd.
"They are," Elise nodded, before turning to the crowd. "Yugi will address you all later. For now, he has important business to attend to, so please go back to your work people."
The crowd was not happy at this, but with support from Jorann Elise managed to soon disperse the crowd. Deciding to take charge of the situation, Jorann told Elise that he would lead Yusei and Yugi to Felirae, leaving her and Tanion to follow behind them.
"I'm so glad to see that you're okay," Elise said softly. "Many of us were sure that you'd been captured or killed when you guys went Dark in Eravand. Hearing from Jorann a few days ago was the best news we had had in months."
"Do you know what happened to the other Synchro users that accompanied us?" Tanion asked.
"None of them came back," Elise said grimly. "We can only assume the Order has them now, for whatever reason."
"All that for nothing," Tanion sighed. "I can't believe Yusei went through with it."
"He was doing what he thought was best for others, I'm sure of it," Elise replied. "But Theta was never meant to be actually used. It was always seen as a one-way trip. We're just thankful anyone got out of that city at all."
They wandered through the winding corridors of the castle, many different people and duelists stopping and staring at the two legendary duelists as they did so. Yusei was used to it, but Yugi seemed a little sheepish about all the attention despite the fact that he used to be a duel monster champion. It would seem all those years alone in the Himalayas have had an effect on him after all, Tanion thought to himself. Mind you, it would affect most people really.
The company soon reached the command centre where Felirae and a few of the other leaders of The Coalition were waiting for them. As Tanion entered, he glanced around the room to see that many of the screens were currently focussed on the city of Eravand, with only a few showing areas throughout the American East Coast.
"It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Yugi Muto," Felirae said diplomatically, extending a hand which Yugi took. "It is good to hear that you have decided to join the war and fight for us."
"I'm here because the Gods have decreed it," Yugi answered. "I wish to speak to you all about a vision I had. There is much that we must discuss."
"Agreed," Felirae nodded. "Jorann, please get Yusei and Yugi settled in. Elise, Tanion, there is something that you need to be shown."
Ignoring the fact that Felirae had not acknowledged him at all yet besides this statement, Tanion grudgingly turned to watch one of the screens as it brought up an image of some sort of temple carved into a rock face. At first, he didn't recognise it, but then the answer came to him bringing only confusion.
"Why are you showing us an image of the Petra ruins in Jordan?" Tanion asked.
"You may recall that a little while ago Darrien decided to take a leave of absence," Felirae reminded them.
Elise's eyes lit up with hope. "You've found him? Is he there?"
"After going over the research materials he covered at your behest, we learned what he was researching before he left," Felirae answered her. "Around the world, there are certain 'Places of Power' where Duel Energy is extremely concentrated. In ancient times, people felt this energy and believed it to be a place close to the Gods, and so would build temples and cities around these places. Of course, there are only a few cases where this is the reason for such temples or cities' existence, but the city of Petra is one of them."
"So what does Darrien want with this Duel Energy?" Elise asked eagerly.
"We aren't sure," Felirae admitted. "We sent a few days ago, and it does show that he is indeed there. What he intends to do there we do not know. He may not even be there anymore."
"I don't care," Elise said fiercely. "He's been gone nearly two weeks and he hasn't made any contact with me. I – we have to find him."
Felirae simply nodded. "You can take one of the stealth jets. Tanion, I want you to go with Elise and provide back up just in case something has gone awry."
"Just the two of us?" Tanion asked warily.
"We don't exactly have many resources to spare right now," Felirae counted. "You've just come back from the dead. You're all we've got."
I wonder if he knows how true that statement is. "Alright, I'll go with you," Tanion agreed. "We can't lose you as well."
"Thank you, Tanion," Elise said genuinely.
Following Elise out of the command centre and leaving the higher-ups to do their thing, Tanion struggled to keep up with Elise's stride as they headed to get some equipment for the trip. She is really determined to find Darrien, Tanion noted. I get that they've worked closely with each other for years now, but I somehow get the feeling that there's more to it than just that.
"How close are you and Darrien anyway?" Tanion asked.
Elise sighed as she strapped on a belt. "Darrien joined us about two years ago, after the incident with his father," Elise explained. "I was already in the position then that I am now, but Felirae saw that I had opportunity to grow. When Darrien arrived, he saw it as a perfect chance for me to practise my skills as a leader and teacher, and so I took him under my wing. He was quite weak at first, barely able to summon a Level 4 by his own strength."
"He's grown a lot since then," Tanion noted.
Elise nodded. "I still refer to him as my student sometimes because that's what he is, technically speaking," she continued. "But he's so much more than that too. After working together in this hell for two years, he's not my student. He's my partner, my best friend."
"Perhaps even something more?" Tanion asked riskily.
Elise sighed. "You know, the first person to suggest that got a punch in the gut," she said ominously. "You're lucky I'm used to being asked that now."
"Ah, right," Tanion said awkwardly.
Fully ready for the trip which would take an entire day, Tanion followed a determined and slightly mad Elise to the hangar bay, where a stealth jet with autopilot capabilities waited for them. Throwing their equipment in the back, Tanion couldn't help but ask something as Elise went through the taking off sequence in conjunction with the hanger operators outside the craft.
"I'm sure you don't want to think about this, but what if something has happened to him?" Tanion asked her.
"It's simply really," she said gruffly. "Be it man, machine, or spirit, if anything has hurt him, I'll kill them with my own hands."
Little sleep was had on the flight to Jordan and the ancient city of Petra. Elise seemed to not need any as her drive to find Darrien kept her awake. Tanion tried to rest, but found himself unable to do so in the cold confines of the jet. By the time they landed near the old visitors' centre on the outskirts of the city, he couldn't tell whether his body was trying to get him to sleep or to run for ten kilometres. Nevertheless, he stepped out of the jet behind Elise to see that the visitor centre itself was little more than rubble now.
"The monastery of Ad Deir where the Duel Energy is concentrated is on the far side of the city," Elise told him. "We're going to have to go the rest of the way on foot. Keep your guard up. We've no idea what's waiting for us in there."
Readying his duel disk, Tanion put on his head torch as Elise did. Although they had left around midday from Stromberg Castle and it had been roughly a day's flight, due to the time difference the city before them was under the blanket of night. Fortunately, this mean the weather was quite cool, but it also meant that their vision was extremely limited. The torches were all they had to go boy in the foreign, and potentially dangerous, ruins of Petra.
Elise, however, seemed unperturbed by this. As the minutes ticked by and they moved through the ancient ruins, she seemed as focussed as ever on reaching the monastery of Ad Deir, and potentially Darrien as well. She failed to stop and take in the views around them, the city bathed in the bright light of the moon and stars. Even though Tanion knew what world he was in, he couldn't help but be in awe of the buildings of stone that he now wandered through.
A couple of hours passed, and they soon made it to the base of the eight hundred steps that led to the monastery itself. They had been fortunate in the fact that Elise had been able to track their position and lead them to the climb, but now it was all that lay between them and the monastery itself.
"Do you think it's still safe to climb?" Tanion asked, noting how even the first steps didn't seem in the best condition.
"I'm not about to let some old steps stop me," Elise replied, ignoring the question and beginning her climb.
Sighing to himself, Tanion followed behind her once more, making sure that he was ready in case one of the stairs crumbled under her forceful steps. He noted the diverging pathways that they passed as they claimed, remembering slightly that these led to smaller places of significance, although the exact details escaped him. However, after passed through a natural arch some twenty minutes later, in the true dead of the night that reached the monastery of Ad Deir.
"Why won't you open!" they heard a voice cry in the distance.
Elise gasped softly. "Darrien," she whispered.
Even at a full sprint, Tanion couldn't keep up with Elise as she broke ahead of him, tearing toward the monastery at breakneck speed. Once the monastery finally came into view, he noted the entrance was lit up by torches, and he got there just in time to see Elise throw her arms around Darrien, the man's surprise clear to see even from this distance.
"Elise?" Darrien said, stunned. "What are you doing here?"
"Where have you been?" Elise demanded as Tanion approached. "You been completely off the radar since you left Stromberg, not even thinking to tell me you're alright?!"
"I'm sorry, okay, I've just been really focussed," Darrien protested.
"The entire planet is swarming in The Grand Order's forces," Elise reminded him. "I had no idea whether you were alright or not. You could've been captured or dead for all I knew!"
Tanion stepped in to help Darrien. "We're just glad to see you're okay," he said thankfully.
"Tanion? What happened with Operation Theta? I thought you were on it?" Darrien asked, bewildered.
"It's a very, very long story," Tanion said, scratching the back of his head. "I'm sure Elise can get you all caught up once you tell us what's going on here."
"Please do," Elise added sternly. "Felirae looked through that research you did and found out that you were researching what he called 'Places of Power'. Care to elaborate?"
Darrien sighed. "See the wall over there?" he said, pointing at the far wall within the monastery. "You can see how there seems to be some sort of entranceway carved into the rock, but it's currently blocked off. However, I know the truth behind this place."
"Explain then," Elise said.
"When I saw you and Felirae face off against Yusei, and get beaten so easily, I could feel that something was about to change about the war," Darrien said, his eyes wandering to the blocked doorway. "I knew that, in order to properly serve The Coalition and protect the people I cared about, I needed to get even stronger than I was already. I needed to become better, more powerful, or risk being swallowed by the tide of war."
"So you found a Place of Power in order to strengthen yourself," Elise realised.
Darrien nodded. "Not just any Place of Power, though," he continued. "Through my research, I found out that these concentrations of Duel Energy are present throughout the world, most tied to spiritual lands throughout cultures in time. However, this Duel Energy can also be harnessed to improve the person, to strengthen them. To this end, I found one of the more unique Places of Power. One where Fusion Energy is concentrated."
Elise's face suddenly went serious. "Darrien, no."
"Elise, I have to do this," Darrien protested.
"No, I will not allow it," Elise said firmly.
"Can someone explain to me what's going on?" Tanion asked.
"Allow me to finish laying out Darrien's idiotic plan," Elise said, obviously hurt. "His intention is to harness the Fusion Duel Energy here in order to gain the ability to Fusion Summon, isn't that right?"
Darrien nodded determinedly. "I've grown as much as I can within my own nature. I need to grow more in order to have any say in the outcome of this war."
"This all sounds awfully familiar…" Tanion noted.
"It should. Remember the Duel Energy ghoul you faced?" Elise reminded him. "The way in which the ghoul gained its power is the same here."
"But it's not!" Darrien protested desperately. "The ghoul took the power by force. Here, the spirits themselves will grant it to me."
"What are you talking about?" Elise asked, baffled.
"Beyond this closed door, spirits guard the Fusion Duel Energy," Darrien explained. "If I get win their favour, I will be able to obtain this power with mutual agreement. I won't become a ghoul. I won't."
Elise's mind seemed to be furiously taking in all this information. "You're willing to risk such a thing happening to you just so you can become stronger?" she asked him. "Even after what happened to your father?"
"Elise, this is something I have to do," Darrien pleaded. "If it means I can protect everyone I care about, then I don't care what risk is involved. I will do it, and I will succeed."
"Darrien, I…" Elise trailed off as she saw the look in his eyes. "You're committed to this course, aren't you?"
"There's nothing you could say to make me change my mind," Darrien nodded.
"We heard yelling as we approached," Tanion recalled. "What was that about?"
Darrien looked at the closed entrance again. "I've been here for over a week now, trying to figure out how to open that blasted door," he explained. It also explained to campsite that was set up inside the monastery. "Nothing I've done has been able to budge it. You probably just heard me taking out some frustration."
"Let's give a fresh set of eyes a look at this entranceway, shall we?" Elise said, much to Darrien's surprise, which Elise noted. "You're committed to this, and I know you better than anyone, Darrien. I may as well make sure you don't kill yourself in the process."
"Thank you for this, Elise," Darrien said with a smile.
As they approached the door, Tanion noted the intricate symbols that he hadn't noted before hidden beneath a player of dust. What surprised them all, though, was that as they approached, these symbols began to glow a very faint purple, almost as if reacting to something.
"It… it's never done that before," Darrien said, bemused. "What could've…?"
"You said this was the door to a Fusion Energy sanctuary of sorts, right?" Elise said, seemingly ahead of the two males. "Maybe someone who already knows Fusion needs to be the one to open the seal."
Darrien stopped and blinked a couple of times. "You're a genius," he said finally. "Place your hand on the door. Hopefully something will happen."
Following his instruction, Elise placed her hand on the door, and much to Darrien's satisfaction, the symbols began to glow a deep purple, more vibrant and full than before. Suddenly, the room around them began to shake, and the three of them stepped back as the rock closing the entrance began to fall away. After about a minute, the entranceway was completely clear, revealing a stairway that they could only presume led deeper into the temple and to the prize Darrien had come there for. Much to Tanion's surprise, though, torches littered the walls inside the entranceway, and they sprung to life as the rumbling finally stopped.
"The spirits have been waiting for us," Elise realised. "Also, can you feel that?"
Darrien nodded. "There's a power lying in wait down there. It has to be the Fusion Energy."
"Lead the way then," Elise instructed him.
Tanion headed down the steps behind both Elise and Darrien as they headed deeper and deeper into the monastery of Ad Deir. As they went further down, he noticed that atmosphere around them almost seemed to become thicker, as if something was permeating the very air itself. Is this the Fusion Duel Energy that Darrien was talking about?
"I can feel the Fusion Energy in the air," Elise said in awe, answering Tanion's question. "This is crazy."
"It's believed that when in the presence of such a strong concentration of Fusion Energy, a duelist can perform a Fusion Summon even if they don't possess the ability themselves," Darrien explained. "There are similar instances for Synchro Summoning, although those are believed to be much, much rarer."
"So this is how you plan to win the spirits' favour then? By using the Fusion Energy to perform a Fusion Summon?" Tanion asked.
Darrien nodded. "It is one of the ways, yes."
As they headed further down for what seemed like an eternity, Tanion could feel the Fusion Energy getting more and more prevalent as they went further down. Eventually, the stairway emptied out into some sort of vestibule, with torches lighting the outside of the room. In the centre, however, was a huge ball of purple energy. However, Tanion could sense that something was different about it. The ball of energy was constantly moving, and he couldn't help but feel as if it were alive.
"Spirit guardians of Fusion, I have come with but a simple request," Darrien said to the open room. "I wish to use the power sealed away here to help aid my allies and protect the ones I care about."
"… there is but one way for you to prove your worthiness," an ethereal voice said from everywhere and nowhere at once.
"Tell me, and I will fulfil whatever it is you ask of me," Darrien answered.
"… prove to us that you have control over the energy," the voice told him. "Prove that you can control it, and we will grant you its true power."
The ball of energy emitted a ray of light, and before the altar a being of purple energy seemed to form. It was humanoid in shape, but it appeared to be genderless and it floated above the ground, only its upper torso and head materialising. However, all three of them noted one important detail about the apparition; the duel disk on its arm.
"Guess you will have to perform a Fusion Summon after all, Darrien," Elise said. "We will be watching from the side. Good luck my friend."
"Thank you," Darrien said with a nod, and as Elise and Tanion moved to the side, he readied his duel disk.
DUEL!
Coming Soon - Angel and Demon