Me: I'm a really happy person!
Yusei: Why's that?
Me: I have two people that have constantly updated for *checks something* three chapters!
Sky: That's good news! Do they like me?
Me: One of them said so in their first review.
Sky: Awesome!
Me: I know! Okay then, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh 5ds and whatnot, but I do own Sky and her deck. Please don't try to do anything with them if you don't have my permission.
Sky: Have people tried using me in their stories?
Me: I don't know, but I'm being careful. On with the chapter!
Chapter 25
I've been in the Spirit World for almost a week now. I ventured out of the forest once to visit a town I saw. There were strange looking staffs that were causing everything to go in reverse. I would have stayed longer, but these monkey guys tried to capture me. I've stayed in the forest since.
"I wonder when Luna will come," I say out loud. From my deck, Celestial Priestess appears next to me.
"She will come when the Spirit World calls her," Celestial Priestess says.
At that moment we hide behind a tree as four of the monkey guys run past. They stop right in front of the tree I'm behind. "Little girl run this way. Old man follow," the monkey says.
They race off in pursuit of the 'little girl and old man'. "That was close," I say. "Would you mind staying in my deck, Celestial Priestess?" I ask.
"Not at all mistress," she says, returning to my deck. I wonder, could that little girl be Luna? I think. Just to be sure, I race off after the monkeys. Sure enough, Luna and some little boy are trapped in a circle of monkeys.
Time to cause a distraction, I think. I pull out a Spell card, Celestial Bow, which becomes real. I notch an arrow. Letting it fly, the arrow hits a tree right next to one of the monkeys. I shoot another one into the ground, just barely missing another. I wasn't trying to hit them, just scare them off.
My strategy works, as all four turn tail and flee. I walk into the open and return the bow to its normal form as a card. "You two okay?" I ask.
"Um, I-I think so," the little boy says.
"What are you doing here Silver?" Luna asks.
"First off, my name is Sky," I say. "I've been waiting for you so that we can free Ancient Fairy Dragon."
"We have to find Regulus first," says the little boy. "He should be around here somewhere." Behind the boy a white lion appears and growls.
The boy turns around. "Tha-That would be Regulus," the boy says.
"Regulus, please calm down," Luna says. "We are here to help you free Ancient Fairy Dragon and save the Spirit World. See, I'm a Signer." Luna rolls up her sleeve, revealing her Mark.
"I thought so," Regulus says. "I will stop you from harming this world!" Regulus pounces on Luna, but she jumps out of the way.
"You've got it wrong, we want to help!" I say. Regulus swipes a claw at me and I duck, the claw barely missing.
"Be gone from here!" Regulus shouts. As he does, I notice one of the staffs that had been around the town strapped to his leg.
"No need to tell me twice," the little boy says. He runs into the forest, and Luna and I follow him. Regulus doesn't follow us, but we still put a good distance between us.
"Did anyone else notice that Regulus was hearing the opposite of what we were saying?" I ask.
"I told you that Regulus wasn't in the right mind," the boy says.
"Well there wasn't a point in not trying," Luna says. The two start arguing.
"Hey!" I shout, breaking up the two. "Well? Did you notice that?" I ask.
"I think it was that staff on his leg," Luna says. "Those staffs make everything go backwards."
Regulus appears again. "If he hears everything backwards," the little boy starts. "Hey Regulus, you're so stupid and weak that my housecat could take you on!" the boy shouts.
"Do you expect such flattery to work?" Regulus asks. Then he turns around, having heard something. We duck behind a fallen tree, after which four monkeys appear.
"You again?" Regulus asks. Are they the ones that put that staff on Regulus' leg? I think.
"We get you now," one of the monkeys says. "Zeman will be happy." The monkey then points his staff at Regulus.
"You twit!" another monkey says, knocking away the staff. "Minus Curse already on Regulus. You put more Minus, it turn Plus," he says. Regulus charges at the monkeys, whom separate and let Regulus bound off into the forest.
The monkeys chase after Regulus and we follow them. After a few minutes, the monkeys stop in a clearing. "He get away," one of the monkeys says.
"We find him, bring him to Zeman," another says. The four leave the clearing.
"They're going the wrong way," I say. I had seen which direction Regulus had gone. "Regulus went this way." I lead the boy and Luna in the right direction. Soon enough we catch up to Regulus.
The lion is standing on a fallen tree that had formed a bridge across a fast-flowing river. "I warned you to leave," Regulus says. I snatch one of the staffs from the base of a tree.
"The monkey said two Minuses make a Plus," I say. "That should free Regulus." I carefully walk onto the bridge, the little boy and Luna following me.
Regulus pounces on me as I cross the middle. I hold the staff up, and it collides with the one on Regulus' leg. There is a small explosion, and the tree breaks. The river's current easily grabs us. We are pulled downstream, and soon reach a waterfall.
As we begin falling down the waterfall, Celestial Dragon-Sol appears and catches us. My dragon deposits us on the riverbank. "Thanks Sol," I say.
Don't mention it, Sol says before returning to my deck. The little boy coughs up a large amount of water. Regulus stands up and shakes himself off.
"Thank you for freeing me from the Minus Curse," he says.
"Regulus, will you help us free Ancient Fairy Dragon?" Luna asks. Once again she holds out her arm so that Regulus can see the Mark of the Dragon. Regulus sees it for what it really is.
"Ah, young Signer, I have waited for the moment you would come to this world," Regulus says. "And you," Regulus says, looking at me. "Thank you for helping this young Signer find me."
"Torunka helped out too," Luna says. "Without him, those monkeys would have captured me back in that town."
Regulus murmurs a word of thanks to the little boy, Torunka apparently. "We must not waste time," Regulus says. "Ancient Fairy Dragon is trapped in a crag that resides in Zeman's castle. We must go there."
"But how are we supposed to sneak in?" Torunka asks.
"I have an idea!" I exclaim. I share it with my friends.
"That just might work," Luna says.
XXX
I tug the last piece of cloth over my face. "That should do it," I say. The Minus Staff from earlier is wrapped in cloth, making it look different. Torunka and Luna are both in the same type of disguises that I am in. We're posing as a family of traveling magicians.
"So remember, when one of us says 'O power to control all spirits… come to rest in my hand' and then something else, do whatever that command is," Luna says to Regulus.
Regulus nods and the three of us walk towards Zeman's castle. There is blue lightning flashing everywhere. Torunka then trips over his clothes. "But they were the right size a few minutes ago!" I exclaim.
"It's the Minus Curse," Torunka says. "It's stronger here than in the forest and it's reversing us aging! I used to be a wise old spellcaster, and now I'm just a boy!"
Luna is also affected by the curse, but for some reason I am not. "Stay close to me," I say. Maybe it would slow the effects of the Minus Curse.
As we approach the castle, the lightning grows stronger. "That lightning is creeping me out," Torunka says.
"Ignore it, we're almost there," I say. A minute later we are at the door to the castle. Two monkeys block our path.
"Who you?" one of the monkeys asks.
"We are a family of traveling magicians and we have a solution to your master's dilemma," I say.
The monkeys see Regulus and point their staffs at him. Regulus makes no movement. "He is under our spell," Luna says. "There is no need for that."
"Come this way," the other monkey says. One monkey leads us to a large room while the other takes Regulus away. Zeman is on his throne looking a bit bored. Along the wall are many imprisoned Duel Spirits, including some of Luna's monsters.
"Who are these people?" Zeman asks. I nudge Luna and we kneel down.
"We are just a family of traveling magicians, great Monkey King Zeman," I say. "But we do have a solution to your problem with Ancient Fairy Dragon."
This catches Zeman's attention. "What exactly would that be?" he asks.
"You must unseal Ancient Fairy Dragon and reseal it along with Regulus, her servant," I say. "Then you will be able to fully Minusmize Ancient Fairy Dragon."
Zeman pauses, probably getting his thoughts together. "That might work, but my monkeys have tried and failed to catch Regulus multiple times," Zeman says.
"We already solved that problem," Luna says. The monkeys bring Regulus into the room. Regulus is in a cage, pretending to sleep. "O power to control all spirits… come to rest in my hand, Regulus awaken!" Luna chants.
Regulus opens his eyes, stands up, and growls. Some of the monkeys jump backwards. "Be quelled," I say. Regulus returns to a lounging position.
Zeman seemed impressed. "If this works, then Ancient Fairy Dragon's powers will be mine, correct?" Zeman asks.
"Most definitely," Torunka says.
"If it doesn't, then you three will face dire consequences," Zeman says.
"O power to control all spirits… come to rest in my hand, Regulus come forward!" I chant. Zeman would probably want to start right away. Regulus stands up and leaves the cage that the monkeys had opened. He stops in front of Zeman.
"Very well then," Zeman says. He raises his staff and points it at the crag. "Cursed Needle, release Ancient Fairy Dragon!"
A faint glow appears over the crag. From the glow comes a skeletal Ancient Fairy Dragon. The skeleton begins to regain color. "It's working! He's falling for it!" Torunka says. He does this little victory dance and ends up tripping. He knocks down Luna, removing their disguises, and also revealing the staff was just another one of the Minus Staffs.
Zeman notices this. "That is one of my own staffs," he says. "You three are no magicians!" He returns Ancient Fairy Dragon to her prison.
The monkeys then point their own staffs at us. Regulus then stops his act and growls at the monkeys. "Since Plan A failed, we need to go with Plan B," Regulus says. "Luna, give me the Minus Staff."
"What are you going to do?" Luna asks as Regulus holds the staff in his mouth.
"The same thing you did to free me," Regulus says. He pounces on Zeman, activating the Minus Staffs. A huge explosion occurs, sending fire everywhere. It obliterates the monkeys, but Luna's Mark protects us.
After the light dies down, we can see that the room was destroyed. "Ah, I'm literally back to my old self," a voice says from behind me. I turn around and where Torunka had been, a Dark Sage was standing.
"Wait, you're Torunka?" Luna asks. The Dark Sage grins.
"I wasn't lying when I said I was old," he says.
"Okay, Torunka is back to normal, but why are the Duel Spirits still in tablets and this place is still shrouded in darkness?" I ask.
"Zeman transferred the Minus Curse to the real world just before I destroyed him," Regulus says. Suddenly the Mark of the Monkey appears in the sky and begins absorbing the spirits in the tablets.
"A Shadow Duel has been going on this whole time?" I ask.
"It seems you two should return then," Torunka says. "You've freed the Spirit World, now you have to aid your own world. I can send you back."
"Will we be able to come back?" Luna asks.
"Maybe when this is all over," Torunka says. He raises his staff and both Luna and I are engulfed in light. "Good luck!" Torunka calls.
XXX
Me: I think I'll end it here.
Luna: You did a pretty good job with what happened in the Spirit World.
Me: I think I nailed the monkey speech.
Sky: Meh, you probably could have done better.
Me: Even professional writers can do better. Do you expect me to be perfect?
Sky: Not really.
Me: Then leave it alone! Anywho, this chapter is the longest so far. Six pages on Microsoft Word.
Yusei: You seem to fit more into a chapter each time.
Me: I think it's because I get more confident or something… Well, please review and all that. Especially if you haven't before!