Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL.
Chapter 8: The Grudge of Kul Elna
The break between duels was nearing its end, and while Michael was introducing Stacy to his brother and the rest of the gang the audience members were calmly returning to their seats. The mood up in the stands was very light. Most of the audience members were expecting the next duel to be yet another fun and entertaining battle between two ordinary competitors. Down in one of the dugouts though, Yuma and most of his friends knew that the duel that was about to take place was going to be far from ordinary. Gauche was about to go up against one of the worst enemies they had ever faced since Don Thousand and Morphia.
"Hey Yuma, you okay?" Gauche asked, getting the young duelist's attention. "Ever since the break started, you've looked down in the dumps."
"…Gauche, there's something we have to tell you about your next opponent." Yuma revealed. "Heck, we should've told you about this sooner. Alnia's a Barian."
"Say what?" Gauche responded. "If this is some weird attempt at a joke…"
"It's true." Kaito told him. "Alnia is a Barian. So are Samantha Warren and Chitose Amamiya. The three of them make up a trio called the Barian Death Queens."
"Are… are you serious?" a completely shocked Thomas asked.
"Yeah we are." Shark confirmed. "I guess we just blew your mind there, huh Thomas?"
"Chitose… or rather Anitak, is the one who sent that Team Arcadia gang to kill us former Barians a while back." Alit revealed.
"Um, excuse me. But what are all of you talking about?" Stacy asked.
"It's kind of a long story." Hikari told her. "But you should know that there's a bit more going on than just a simple tournament."
"So what are these Death Queens after?" Michael asked.
"They wish to steal the Numeron Code from me." Astral answered. "But for what purpose, we don't know."
"Maybe they're trying to revive Don Thousand." Michael assumed.
"Don who? I must be missing something, because I'm totally lost here." Stacy cut in.
"What's going on here is a little beyond you." Cleo told Stacy. "Right now it would be best to keep your mouth shut and save your questions for later."
"We don't know what the Death Queens want with the Numeron Code, but Alnia pretty much said that it's not to revive Don Thousand." Yuma answered. "In fact it seems like she and the other Death Queens think that Don Thousand was weak."
"Well whatever they're after, it looks like they'll have to go through me first!" Gauche declared.
"If you were smart Gauche, you'd back out of this duel right now." Kaito told him. "You're no match for Alnia."
"What the hell did you just say?" an angered Gauche asked.
"Droite and I both dueled Alnia a few days ago and she walked all over us." Kaito told him. "She walked all over us."
"Yeah? Well just because Alnia managed to walk all over you, doesn't mean that she'll be able to beat me!" Gauche shot back. "And why the hell did you drag Droite into this anyway?"
"The duel is about to begin!" the referee announced. "Both competitors please report to the stage."
"We'll talk about this more after I win." Gauche told Kaito. "If we face each other in the tournament, I am gonna kick your ass all over that stage!"
With that, Gauche stormed out of the dugout. Kaito sighed and leaned back against the wall.
"Kaito, weren't you a little hard on Gauche just now?" Yuma asked. "I mean who knows? He might actually be able to beat Alnia."
"It sure would save the rest of us a lot of trouble." Shark pointed out.
"Trust me, Alnia is no ordinary opponent." Kaito told them. "If I'm right, she'll walk all over Gauche in this duel."
Gauche meanwhile walked up onto the stage. Alnia was already on the opposite end of the stage looking at him with a wicked grin.
"You know what I hate about prelims?" Alnia asked. "They're all full of wimps. I can see I drew one of those wimps right now."
"Don't think for a second that I'm a pushover." Gauche told her. "I know exactly what you are, and I can tell you that you're no match for me!"
"If you really knew what I was, you'd be pissing your pants right now." Alnia responded with a short dry chuckle.
"The final duel of today's preliminary round will now begin!" the referee announced.
Gauche activated his D-Gazer tattoo and duel disk. Alnia's red eye turned green and her left forearm changed to its Barian form. Appearing on Alnia's transformed arm was a golden blade-like duel disk. As soon as the other spectators activated their D-Gazers, the color of the surrounding area changed.
"I'll go first." Alnia announced as she drew her first card. "I summon Cursed Canopic Jar in Defense Mode!"
Appearing on Alnia's side of the battlefield was a ceramic jar that was painted black and gold with ornate designs. The lid of this jar looked like the skull of a goat with large curved horns wearing an Egyptian headdress.
"I'll end my turn there." Alnia announced.
Gauche drew his next card. "Since you have a monster on the field while I don't, I special summon Heroic Challenger – Assault Halberd!"
Appearing on Gauche's side of the battlefield was a warrior clad completely in blue and white armor. His left hand was a weapon with three blades.
"I also summon Heroic Challenger – Spartan in Attack Mode!" Gauche announced.
Materializing next to the first warrior that Gauche had summoned was a warrior with green eyes clad in gold and white Roman armor with a helmet and red cape. In his right hand he wielded a spear, and with his left he carried a large red shield.
"When Assault Halberd attacks a monster in Defense Mode, he inflicts piercing damage on my opponent." Gauche informed Alnia. "Since that little jar of yours has only 200 DEF points, you're about to take 1600 points of damage!"
"If you're so sure about that, then attack me." Alnia dared.
"You asked for it!" Gauche shot back. "Assault Halberd! Break that jar into bits!"
The blue armored warrior charged across the field and struck the jar with his blades. The jar shattered to pieces and a cloud of black mist suddenly burst out of it and hit Gauche and his two monsters like a wave. Assault Halberd's armor had become covered in rust, as did Spartan's armor. Spartan's cape had also become tattered and his limbs had lost all muscle mass. Meanwhile, Gauche's life points had fallen to 2400.
"What the hell!" Gauche exclaimed. "What just happened here?"
"When Cursed Canopic Jar is destroyed by my opponent, its miasma is released and reduces the ATK of all my opponent's monsters by 600." Alnia explained. "That same miasma also negates any effects those monsters have while they're on the field. Plus, any damage I would take in battles involving Cursed Canopic Jar is given to my opponent instead. That's what you get for breaking such a sacred relic."
"Man! That's one nasty card!" Shark declared.
"Alnia has even more cards like that in her deck." Kaito informed the others. "Now you know why I tried to tell Gauche to drop out of this duel."
"I'm sure Gauche still has a pretty good chance in this duel." Yuma declared. "But I have to wonder, what the heck is a canopic jar?"
"Canopic jars were used in Ancient Egyptian mummification to store the organs of the deceased." Stacy explained. "I have to say, from an archeological standpoint this duel is turning out to be quite fascinating."
"Seems kinda gross, if you ask me." Yuma responded.
"You may have sucker punched me just now, but I've still got one attack left!" Gauche told Alnia. "Spartan, attack her directly! Spartan Spear!"
The Roman warrior threw his spear across the field at Alnia. The white-haired duelist was struck in the chest and her life points dropped to 3000. Soon after, the spear vanished and reappeared in Spartan's hand.
"Are you done yet?" an unfazed Alnia asked.
Gauche gritted his teeth in irritation. "I set one card face-down and end my turn!"
"Gauche really isn't doing too well, is he?" Kotori observed up in the stands.
"It'll probably only get worse from here." Droite assumed. "Gauche is starting to lose his temper, which means he'll probably do something extremely reckless before this duel is over."
Alnia drew her next card. "I activate the Spell card, Shifting Darkness! By shuffling three Dark monsters in my hand back into my deck, I can add three new Dark monsters to my hand. Next I summon Slave Mummy in Attack Mode!"
Appearing on Alnia's side of the field was a desiccated Egyptian mummy with tattered brown wrappings and a skeletal face. Around the mummy's neck was a large black shackle with a large black chain hanging down from the back. The mummy's wrists and ankles also had black shackles with chains hanging from them.
"I activate Slave Mummy's effect!" Alnia announced. "By sacrificing him, I can special summon a Dark monster from my hand! I summon Archfiend Scarab Solider!"
The mummy instantly shattered to dust that soon formed into a whirlwind on Alnia's side of the field. The whirlwind soon subsided to reveal a large black insect-like demon that stood on two legs and had a large black beetle shell on its back. The creature had a skeletal face with red eyes, and on its head was a golden helmet. It had four arms, two of which held onto a golden spear. Hanging down in front of the creature's waist from a golden belt was a tattered off-white breechcloth.
"When Scarab Solider is special summoned to the field, I can summon another one from my hand." Alnia announced. A second insect demon appeared next to the first. "And since that Scarab Solider was just special summoned, I can summon a third."
A third scarab demon appeared on the field by the other two. All three Scarab Soliders hissed at Gauche from across the field.
"Alnia now has three level six monsters on the field!" Astral realized.
"Using my three level six monsters, I build the overlay network and Xyz Summon my most powerful monster!" Alnia announced. "Arise, Number 666: Archfiend Pharaoh Lucifer!"
The sky rumbled with thunder and quickly became covered in thick dark clouds as a massive vortex in the form of a red galaxy appeared in the center of the battlefield. Alnia's three scarab warriors changed into balls of red energy that were pulled into the vortex. Rising out of the vortex a moment later was an object made of brown stone and had three balls of golden light orbiting it. The object looked similar to the lid of a sarcophagus. Carved into this lid were strangely shaped holes made to fit seven unknown objects.
"Wait a second! I've seen a drawing of that tablet before!" Stacy recalled as she looked at the object from the vortex.
"You have?" a surprised Michael asked.
Stacy nodded. "It was a drawing my father did based on lots of research he did. One of the names for it is the Tablet of the Underworld. The legends behind it say that the person who fits the sacred objects made for the holes in the tablet can either open a door to the afterlife or make a contract with a demon that could engulf the world in eternal darkness."
The tablet that Stacy identified exploded and spread a cloud of dust over the battlefield. The dust quickly settled to reveal a humanoid demon clad almost completely in black armor with gold trim. He had a dark-grey skull-like face with sharp yellow teeth, and his right eye while red while his left eye was a piece of gold that looked like a strange version of the wadjet eye. On his head, the demon wore a gold and black headdress of a pharaoh, and on his chin was a gold and black fake beard that was also sometimes worn by the Ancient Egyptian kings. Hanging from his neck by a silver chain was a gold ring-shaped pendant with a triangular piece in the center that bore a symbol similar to the demon's artificial eye and five pointed ornaments hanging from the lower half. On the demon's back was a pair of large red-feathered wings, and in his right hand he held a gold scepter with a ball at the top that had two blades on the side and the same eye-like symbol as his artificial eye. Glowing in red alien writing on the demon's left shoulder plate was the number 666.
"That's Alnia's Number?" a stunned Shark asked.
"It sure looks pretty tough." Yuma observed.
"I don't believe it! Alnia's monster has three of the relics related to the Tablet of the Underworld!" Stacy observed.
"It does?" Thomas asked.
Again, Stacy nodded. "The monster's artificial eye, the pendant hanging from his neck, and his scepter are all three of the seven relics made for the tablet. They're called Millennium Items."
"And these items you speak of were used as keys for that tablet?" Mizael asked.
"That was one of their purposes, yes." Stacy confirmed. "The other purpose was to allow their users to cast magic and summon monsters to do battle. In fact those very battles are said to be the inspiration for Duel Monsters."
"Stacy, just where is this tablet you're talking about supposed to be located in Egypt?" Kaito asked.
"Well the tablet's gone now." Stacy revealed. "It was supposedly destroyed when the shrine it was housed in collapsed many years ago, along with the Millennium Items. But originally it was said to be in a little village called Kul Elna."
"Kul Elna? Alnia mentioned that village when Droite and I dueled her!" Kaito recalled.
"I activate one of Lucifer's effects!" Alnia announced. "By detaching an overlay unit, I can look at my opponent's hand and pick a monster from it to equip to Lucifer! Millennium Eye, reveal the secrets of this loser's hand!"
One of the balls of light orbiting the demon pharaoh entered his golden eye. Suddenly large images of the three cards in Gauche's hand appeared in the air behind them. One of the cards showed a warrior covered completely in thick blue armor and carrying a large iron hammer in both his hands.
"Not bad I guess." Alnia remarked. "Okay, I pick Heroic Challenger – War Hammer to equip to Lucifer!"
A beam of gold light shot from Lucifer's Millennium Eye and struck the large card showing War Hammer. A gold shield with a tablet of tan stone fitted into the front appeared in the demon pharaoh's left hand. The War Hammer card changed into a ball of gold light that flew into the tablet on the shield. Appearing on the tablet was a carving that looked like War Hammer.
"What the hell was the point of that?" Gauche asked. "Equipping Lucifer with War Hammer didn't seem to do anything!"
"It'll become clear soon enough." Alnia told him. "Then again, it looks like this duel may just end before you can find out. Lucifer, attack Spartan! Millennium Ruin!"
"Not so fast! I activate my Trap, Negate Attack!" Gauche announced.
The demon pharaoh took aim at Spartan with his scepter and fired a massive ball of black energy that crackled with golden electricity. Before the attack could hit though, a vortex appeared in front of Spartan and sucked the blast in.
"Ah well. I'll set one card on the field and end my turn." Alnia announced.
"Alnia!" Astral called from the dugout, getting the Death Queen's attention.
"Well hey there, envoy. Enjoying the show?" Alnia mockingly asked.
"Just whom is Alnia talking to?" Stacy asked.
"I told you before to be silent and ask questions later." Cleo told her.
"Kaito said that you mentioned the name of an Egyptian Village to him when he dueled you." Astral continued. "The village of Kul Elna. Is that where you lived in your past life as a human?"
"So you wanna know about my past life, huh?" Alnia responded. "Well… I guess it's only fair that I tell you since Anitak and Mitaka spilled their guts about what they were before. I was indeed a simple peasant girl that little village, a village stained in blood and now forgotten about by the people of this world."
"Stained in blood?" Astral repeated with a quirked brow. "Are you saying the village was massacred?"
At this question, Alnia's expression darkened. "Originally my people were the builders of the royal tombs. But we fell on hard times, so to survive my people began to loot the very tombs they helped to construct. Kul Elna quickly gained the reputation as the Village of Thieves. Everyone in the kingdom looked down on us as vermin. Then one day the pharaoh ordered the forging of mystical treasures for the protection of the kingdom, but there was a cost to make those treasures. Ninety-nine human lives had to be sacrificed, so the pharaoh picked a village that nobody would miss, mine.
"In a single night almost every man, woman and child in my village was slaughtered. Their flesh was transmuted into the molten gold that was used to forge the great treasures that would be called the Millennium Items. The pharaoh who ordered that atrocity was the father of the pharaoh whose likeness is on that damn tablet we were shown before this tournament started! The very same pharaoh whose spirit used Yugi Muto as a vessel! The blood of my people is on the hands of him and his whole damn family, and yet he's remembered as a freaking saint!"
"So… you were killed to make those Millennium Items you're talking about?" Yuma asked.
"…Actually, in a way I was a little luckier than the rest of my people." Alnia replied. "Being a pretty young thing, a couple of the pharaoh's soldiers decided to try and have their way with me before killing me for base material. I managed to get away, though not before one of those two bastards managed to cut me pretty badly with his sword. I was still able to run as far away from the village as possible. I wandered through the desert a while after that, but eventually the blood loss got to me and I died alone and quickly forgotten. Before I did though, I came across the very Number card that I'm using in this duel. Later on I was reborn as a Barian and gained knowledge of what came after my people were slaughtered."
"Oh man… that's pretty messed up." Shark declared.
"I actually feel sorry for Alnia." Hikari admitted.
"So that's my story, envoy. What do you think?" Alnia asked.
"Alnia… the story of your past life saddens me." Astral admitted. "In many ways, it is more tragic than the former lives of the Seven Emperors. But it does not excuse the actions you and the other Death Queens have taken! I must ask you now, why do you wish to possess the Numeron Code? Is it so you can change the outcome of your former life for the better, or something else?"
At this, Alnia burst out laughing. "Change my past life? I'll admit that's an interesting idea. But I don't give a shit about my past anymore! The only thing my comrades and I want now is vengeance! Vengeance against that damn pharaoh and the whole human race! And to get that, we're going to use the Numeron Code to revive the great demon god that Millennium Items were forged to make a contract with! Zorc Necrophades!"
"This Alnia girl's nuts!" Stacy declared. "At the very least she's delusional!"
"You're actually a bit wrong about her being delusional, but you are right about one thing. She really is nuts." Kaito declared.
"Unfortunately, Zorc was defeated by that damn pharaoh many years ago." Alnia continued. "But once I have the Numeron Code in hand, I can bring him back to plunge this damn world into eternal darkness!"
"You really are one screwed up bitch, you know that?" Gauche spoke, regaining Alnia's attention. "There's one big problem with this plan of yours. You'll have to go through Yuma and Astral to get the Numeron Code, and before you can get to them you have to go through me first! And that's not gonna happen!"
"Please, a duelist like you is nothing before my power." Alnia declared. "You'll be lucky not to come out of this duel a corpse!"
Author's Note: I'm actually a little surprised that no one reading seemed to pick up that Alnia was from Kul Elna in her past life. She even mentioned it in the final chapter of The Heartland Witch. Anyway, when I came up with the concept of the Barian Death Queens I wanted them all to have past lives that were far more tragic than the past lives of the Barian Emperors in order to make them more vengeful. The idea of one of them being a Kul Elna "survivor" seemed perfect.
Please review and let me know what you think.