Does this fit with Yugioh! canon? Probably not.
But I like to think that Takahashi-sensei would appreciate that I'm doing what I can to serve the spirit of the story I aimed to tell, when all those years back I decided I wanted to know how Seto and Mokuba would react to their parents showing up on their doorstep.
I had no idea where this would lead.
That's part of the fun, I think.
.
The world flipped in too many directions, reached inside itself and pulled until the whole thing was inside out, whirled and swept and crashed against them like a hurricane of lights. An eternity hid curled up in a microsecond, six miles wrapped around an inch, and nothing meant anything anymore. Yuki Yagami saw her entire life pass across her vision in half an instant, then ten-thousand futures buffeted against her in the next half.
God flinched, and she was sitting on soft, springy grass in the open air.
She watched, stunned, as a little dragonfly flitted past her face. Then she looked around and saw her husband on his knees, holding himself up by his arms as he retched. Sotaro, little Sotaro, was on his feet. He was turning around and around, eyes as wide as saucers as an awestruck grin spread wide on his face.
Yuki blinked, shook her head, and stumbled as she tried to stand.
All around her was sweeping fields of green, with stone pathways cutting through like veins. People of so many different shapes walked along these roads. Some rode in carriages, some on horseback. Humans, elves, imps, dragons, centaurs and minotaurs and demon men. Sprites, sirens, harpies, pixies, faeries, drakes.
All going about business, gathering supplies and sharing conversation, laughing and arguing, just like folks.
Happy as you please.
Yugi Mutou was speaking to a tall man with bluish purple hair; the man had an official look about him, wrapped as he was in stately black robes cinched together at his waist by a gleaming silver belt. He carried a sweeping staff beside him. It was clear from the way they spoke to each other that Yugi knew this man, and it was equally clear that the spirit of the king had left his host in charge.
The man in black turned to Yuki as she approached. "Ah," said he, "hail and well met." He bowed as Kohaku and Sotaro joined her. "I hope the journey was not overly taxing?" This he said with an apologetic glance at Kohaku. He reached into a pocket and handed out a kerchief.
Kohaku wiped his mouth. "I get seasick," he said, "and I guess getting thrown into the astral plane is kinda the same thing?"
The man in black laughed. "Close enough for government work, as they say." His icy blue eyes sparkling, he tapped his staff four times against the stone where he stood. Attendants came up from just outside their peripheral vision, as though conjured from the air itself, each bearing a little stool for them to sit. Kohaku all but collapsed onto his, while Yuki sat more carefully. Sotaro looked like he didn't want to settle down, he wanted to go exploring, but he glanced at his mother, then his father, and sat.
He patted Kohaku's shoulder.
Yugi wiped at his pants. "Thank you," he said to the attendants, who seemed quite flustered to be addressed directly. They bowed several times as they stepped away. "I'm, ah. Not going to pretend I understand everything that went into sending us here, or even where here is. This was mostly Atem's plan, and he handled the magic."
The man in black nodded. "Of course, of course. Permit me, then, to explain." He swept his free arm about him, directing their attention to the expanse of tables, benches, pools, and statues in the immediate area. They sat beneath an open-air roof wrought of circular stone, held up with columns wider than redwood trees, and it seemed as though the people all around were headed here for their various doings. Not every road led to this place, but most of them did. If the roads were veins of some great body, then they sat in its heart.
"This," said the man in black, "is the Great Arcade. 'Tis here, in this space, that the High Court conducts its public business, ensuring a peaceable connection to your living world."
Sotaro perked up. "What's the High Court?"
"The High Court is an administrative council of twenty-four, representing the major civilizations of what you would know as Duel Monsters. You may think of us as this world's standing government." The man in black bowed low at the waist. "I am Mahad, the Dark Magician. I represent the spellcasters here."
Wide-eyed, mouth agape, Sotaro asked breathlessly: "Is the Blue-Eyes White Dragon part of the High Court?"
Mahad favored the boy with a gentle smile. "She is not." So, there was confirmation. Seto's prized monster was female. "Trishula, the Keeper of Ice, is our draconic representative. The White Wyrm, as the Blue-Eyes White Dragon is known to most . . . well, let us say that she is retired. We will get to that." Mahad cleared his throat, turning his attention to Sotaro's parents. "Now, then. A squad from our Outer Guard has reported a disturbance in the Boundless Dark, which we believe is connected to your reasons for coming here. I surmise, thus, that we are on borrowed time." He glanced here at Yugi, who nodded. "Please, if you would, describe the nature of the trouble which has led you here to us."
Yugi offered a heavily truncated version of recent events in Domino City, every once in a while helped by Yuki and Kohaku. Mahad listened carefully, with thunderous gravity, and did not interrupt.
"I see," he said, when they had reached the end of their story. "There is wisdom in His Highness's plan. Yes, yes. It is no small feat, entreating the Queen of Dragons for aid. But I think she would serve your cause quite cleanly, and you may rest assured that you have my assistance."
"Where can we find her?" Kohaku asked, trying and failing to hide his sense of urgency.
"The Queen rests in her lair, high atop the Mountain of Furious Lights, far to the east of here." Mahad gestured with his staff. "I see that you have come with your own supplies. This is good. It speaks to your sincerity. However, you will need more specialized kit if you are to travel in this place. I will see to that personally. Before we attend to such matters, however, I see that there are many questions lit in your eyes. It would not do for you to leave the relative safety of the Arcade unarmed by knowledge. You have answered my question, and so I shall answer yours."
Mahad set his staff aside; it floated in the air a foot away. Both hands now free, he spread his arms out in front of him, welcoming.
"Please, travelers. Speak freely."
