/ Duel Universe
/ Author: The Cowboy of Oklahoma
/ Ch 28: A Chosen
/ word count: 1988
Castle of Rulers:
Every human was milling about the protected encampment. It's been two days since any of them had tried to go through any of the duel courses. Even the ones that have completed the course and just need to test their endurance. The humans have started to lose their motivation, and are unwilling to even begin to participate in even completing the construction of the device. Many of the monsters began to question why they should even consider continuing working on the device. Dark Magician Girl and her mentor, Dark Magician, were in discussion about what to do about this predicament.
"My student, have you not sensed it?" He asked her. "There seems to be an evil energy permeating the entire area. Humans seem more susceptible to its effects than we monsters." Dark Magician noted.
"Yes master, but what are we supposed to do?" Dark Magician Girl asked. "The energy isn't being generated from any of the known sources of evil we have been watching, and it's not being generated by any monster in the proximity of the human encampment."
He thought for a bit about the situation. "What if one of the humans themselves is doing this?" He questioned.
"A human!?" She questioned. "No human has that sort of power to generate this sort of evil essence." She noted.
"Not alone, they do not. But they are here in the monster world, our energy permeates everything, it could be having a negative effect with some of them, or maybe they have gotten a hold of some dark cards." He suggested.
"What must we do master?" She queried. "We cannot continue the device construction without them, and we need to cleanse the area of this affliction. The only human capable of it has left on a 'self-doubt and rediscover' journey. And even I cannot find him amongst the wilds of our world. He's done something to block my ability to locate him." She explained.
"Then we must choose another to wield a god card." He motioned.
"We cannot! The cards themselves must choose their wielders! Even I am unable to force them to accept a duelist they did not deem worthy." She explained. "They are too powerful to force on another, and if the person is unworthy or incapable of wielding them, it could cost them their…!!" She began to explain but was interrupted.
"Mana!" His tone was flat and piercing.
Hearing her counterpart's name, after so many millennia, shocked her out of her rant. She looked to her mentor, letting the worry show through. Leaning against his form and letting a few quiet sobs out. He gently rubbed the back of her head, letting her know he was there for her.
"There, there, my student, you're not alone in this endeavor. You may be the ruler of the realm, but you are still one of the spellcaster clan. And you have true friends amongst other clans, you do not have to carry all the burden yourself. We are here for you." He comforted.
She sat there for a few moments, letting her woes out into his form. Her eyes were puffy and red when she was done. She straightened up and cleared her throat, waving her wand over herself to clear up her appearance.
She finally stood and walked over to the huge double-iron doors. "Okay, let's see what they have to say." She said, waving her wand at the door.
There were the sounds of clanks, clunks, bumps, and finally groaning metal of metal as the doors began to swing inward. A gasp of air and nearly overwhelming energy escaped first, Dark Magician Girl let the energy wash over herself. If a human had stood here, they would have been completely overwhelmed and most likely would have died from the sheer suffocating presence of power. She, however, was not human, she is the ruler of this realm and she must be strong to endure this small test of the gods.
"Let's do this." She resolved and entered the chamber.
Human Encampment:
Many humans sat in their tents and sleeping quarters, unmotivated to do anything. Only a few were milling about, having some semblance of life in this area. People were just unwilling to get up, some refusing to even move to get food for themselves. Only a few that had strong wills were able to move about regularly, Shelly was one of these people. She was looking for food from a food store to take back to her adopted sister and to try and motivate her to eat something. She couldn't understand why almost everyone was acting this way. There wasn't any reason she could think of that would put everyone here into a sort of stupor and complete lack of want to move. She made her way back to their shared quarters and ran into Sergeant Brier, who was not looking so good.
"Brier!? Wow, ya' look like most everyone else here feels." Shelly said.
"Ugh, I know. I wonder if we're becoming sick from something here in the monster world." Brier suggested.
"Hm, I doubt it. Too many of us are still functionin' at 100% for it to be some sort of disease. It has to be some sort of magic that's affectin' everyone." Shelly noted.
"Then how come you don't seem affected?" Brier noticed Shelly looking like always. "You don't appear to be bothered by this magical, whatever it is, thingy."
Shelly looked at herself then her duel disk, "wait, now that ye' mention it, the ones I saw movin' about were some of the stronger duelists." Shelly noted.
"Maybe their strength in the duel is like a layer of protection against this weird magic." Brier speculated.
"I don't know, but it's somethin' to go off of for now. Will ya' be alright on yer own?" Shelly asked.
"Yeah, I'm just headed back to my quarters now to get some rest. I can't stay standing for too much longer." Brier answered.
"Okay, ye go on to bed. I'm gonna go check on something after I get this food to Aki." Shelly said.
"Be careful Carson, whatever's affecting everyone, you won't have much in ways of backup," Brier warned.
"I got it. Take care, Brier." Shelly said then went on her way.
"Good luck Lieutenant," Brier said under her breath.
Shelly made her way back to her quarters but found the door ajar and she knew Akiza didn't get up, not with how everyone's been acting. She steeled herself and grabbed the door and swung it open with the intent to do battle with whoever was daring enough to endanger her sister. She almost yelled out a demand when she saw who was sitting in their quarters. She sat there in a less than regal fashion, but she was somewhat surprised at the sudden way the door was opened.
"D...Dark Magician Girl?" Shelly stuttered out, trying to keep her voice from going to different levels of pitch and volume.
"Lieutenant Commander Shelly Carson I presume." Dark Magician Girl said in a serene tone.
Shelly, almost didn't think to even enter her quarters for a second, then finally stepped in and closed the door behind her.
"Just Shelly is fine. Ma'am, whatcha' doin' here?" Shelly asked.
"I came to see you. And to check up on the humans in this strange condition." Dark Magician Girl gestured to the sleeping form of Akiza.
"Do.., do ya' know what's going on?" Shelly asked, sitting down across from her at the table.
"An evil magic has invaded into the human encampment. We can't pinpoint exactly where it is yet, but we do know it's only been here for a few days. As evident by everyone having no motivation to get up and move." Dark Magician Girl stated.
"Or eat, it seems," Shelly noted. "It took me two hours yesterday to get Akiza to even eat three bites of food, and she hasn't eaten since. I don't think anyone, except a few of us, is still awake and movin', have done anythin'." Shelly said.
"And you'd be correct in that assumption. So I have decided to take a chance with you, Shelly. I'm going to give you something I hope will be enough to help you settle this crisis and resolve whatever is causing this to happen here." Dark Magician Girl said.
"Give me somethin'?" Shelly asked. "Wait, are ye' the one that gave Ka'an that beast that nearly killed me?" She asked incredulously.
Dark Magician Girl let her eyes fall a bit and a sad look on her face. "I am sorry about that. I didn't know that events and circumstances would reveal themselves to endanger the lives of the people he most cared about. It may have been the catalyst for him to use the god card in such a manner." She explained.
"God card!? Such a card exists!?" Shelly exclaimed.
"They are a rare kind, few exist, and only very exceptional duelists can even hope to wield them." Dark Magician Girl explained. "And I believe you are one such duelist."
Shelly sat there dumbfounded. "Wait, what!? Me!? Ya' want me to hold one of those cards!?" Shelly exclaimed.
Shelly sat alone at the table in her quarters, looking at the cards she just received from the ruler of this realm. She was holding one, one of them, a god card. She wasn't sure, but it almost seemed to shine with an unnatural golden light.
"What am I supposed to do with ya'?" Shelly pondered to herself. "How am I supposed to even use such cards?"
Shelly sat there longer than she had realized, and it wasn't until a small voice cracked to her side that she broke out of her stupor.
"Sis.." Akiza squeaked.
Shelly nearly dropped the cards in her hands at the sound of her sister's voice. "Aki!" She placed the cards on the table as she turned to her adopted sister. "Aki, ye're awake!"
"Sis? Where am I? What's going on, and why am I so hungry?" Akiza asked.
"Aki, I have food for ya'. Yu've been asleep for almost two days. Yer in our home." Shelly explained.
She was almost shocked by her last words. She had never thought of this place as home before, it just sort of slipped out.
"Sis, where's the food?" Akiza said weakly.
"Oh! Right! Here, here it is." She came back to her senses and got the MRE ready for her sister and gave her some water to drink.
After Akiza had eaten and was more energized by the food, she had a few more questions.
"What do you mean I was asleep for days?" Akiza asked.
"Somethin' has been affectin' the entire human encampment, most everyone is asleep, weakened, or looked like death had taken hold. Up until a few minutes ago, ya' were sleepin' too." Shelly explained.
Akiza pondered a bit, and then asked, "Then why am I awake now? What's different?"
Shelly didn't have an answer herself, she hadn't done anything differently from before, she hadn't… "Wait a minute!" She reached for the cards given to her by Dark Magician Girl. "I have this now." She showed Akiza the cards.
Akiza looked at the cards, "the Winged Dragon of Ra, looks powerful." She handed them back to Shelly. "So how will you use them?"
Shelly took the cards and looked at them, a question in her eye, and an uncertain look on her face.
"You don't know how to use it?" Akiza questioned.
"No, I ain't sure I even deserving of such a card," Shelly said.
"Don't give me that sis! You're a great duelist! And you've proven yourself many times over!" Akiza stated. "Now you should use this card to continue to grow and help our cause!"
Shelly was still unsure, but she decided to place the cards in her deck.
"Okay, Aki, I'll try. I promise." Shelly said.