Worldbuilding!

I feel like this is one of those things I wouldn't have known how to approach back when I was first starting this story. This isn't to say that I'm fully a master at it now or anything, but I do think the years have added something to my toolkit, here.

If that makes sense.

Basically, I'm trying to work some real life into the Duel Monsters' … lives.

You know?


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At the foot of the queen's mountain was a settlement. This crescent-shaped community built atop jagged stone ruins was called Kyanna, and it was home to a wide expanse of monsters who, for the most part, were only marginally humanoid. They tended to have arms and legs, but that was where the similarities ended. Lizardfolk, catfolk, birdfolk, harpies, and a small infinitude of others were milling about, lugging buckets of water and lumber and bundles of cloth, going about the business of living, and only a handful took note of the newcomers except to step out of the way. The other Yugi had taken over, and he strode into Kyanna like he owned the place; like he was here to collect taxes.

Children noticed them, as they progressed into the heart of the place, pointing with wing and claw and mandible at the pink-skins; their guardians shushed them and kept them along on their way. Sotaro, for his part, was studying every individual he happened to notice. Yuki did not reprimand him for staring, mostly because she was doing the same thing. It was impossible to move through a place like this and pretend it was normal in any capacity.

Except for Kohaku, who was nibbling on a strip of dried meat and keeping his eyes on the path in front of them, leisurely strolling like he was navigating nothing more unique or noteworthy than a farmers' market. He found himself wondering just how long it would take them to climb the Mountain of Furious Lights.

Now that they'd arrived at its foot, he found himself staring up at it and marveling at how it seemed to just rise up into Heaven itself. He had no idea where the Sacred Reed Fields were, or even if they were a physical space, but if someone told him they were at the top of this mountain he would have believed it.

Would they even be able to climb the mountain?

Was their journey over? Would they die on that huge rock?

Kohaku stopped this line of thinking before it went down a spiral; don't borrow trouble from the future, he scolded himself. There was already plenty to worry about now, and adding to the pile wasn't going to help anybody.

They had a job to do.

A son to save.

At the center of Kyanna's curve was a huge set of marble steps, so wide and so perfect that they seemed carved by the hand of a god. Before the steps was a squadron of scaled, dragon-like monsters in plate armor, with long sinuous tails, spines, horns; some even had wings. Over their armor they wore tabards marked with a lightning bolt.

The queen's personal guard, perhaps?

Yugi pulled up to a stop just as two guards crossed their heavy halberds in front of him to block his path.

"Halt, stranger," one of them said in a loud, declamatory voice that sparked in the cool air. "State your business."

Yugi held out his hands, palms out, in a gesture of surrender. "We come bearing a message for the queen of the mountain."

The guards looked at each other, amused and irritated in equal measure. One looked back at Yugi. "Is that right, now," he said. "Message for the queen, you say." He turned back to his companion. "What say we just step aside and let the fleshling go about delivering his message for the queen, shall we, K'thax?"

The other guard growled. "Enough, Izh'val." He turned to Yugi. "You will not be carrying secrets past us, traveler." His slitted eyes narrowed. "State your business."

Sotaro shuffled up next to Yugi, with Kuriboh floating near his shoulders. "Please, sirs," said the boy, carefully. "We're here from the Great Arcade. Mahad the Dark Magician pointed us this way. He says the Warden sent a squad from the Outer Guard to him with a warning. We think this has to do with me and my family. We hope the queen will be able to help us figure out what to do."

Yugi favored Sotaro with a smile. "You listen carefully, don't you?"

Sotaro flashed a glance at Yugi but didn't respond with words.

K'thax and Izh'val looked surprised, then suspicious. Something stopped them short. They leaned down, sitting on their haunches, and studied Sotaro like they'd just seen him for the first time. This they did for a full, uninterrupted minute. Yuki put a hand on the pommel of her knife; Kohaku put a hand on Yuki's wrist.

The two lizardmen looked back at each other. Back to Sotaro. Back at each other.

They rose, wrapped one fist behind their backs and placed the other squarely to the ground as they took to one knee, heads bowed low. "By your leave, Highness," they said as one. "The mountain is yours."

Yugi, Yuki, and Kohaku watched as the other guards followed suit and knelt before Sotaro.

Yugi took a moment to collect himself, then bowed with a flourish. "My apologies, gentlemen. In my haste to see this business done, my senses took leave of me. I have neglected to introduce my charge. This boy is Seto, son of Yuki and Kohaku Yagami, chosen child of your Lady of Lightning."

K'thax lowered his head even closer to the ground, nearly scraping the stone with his snout. "Ever is His Highness welcome in Kyanna. By Your Highness's grace, we shall summon an escort for you and yours, that you may parlay with Our Lady in safety."

Sotaro smiled. "Thank you, K'thax. Izh'val. That would be wonderful."

The small company watched as the guards went about in a frenzy, restructuring their phalanx as K'thax and Izh'val vanished into a squat stone building that probably served as a barracks. Sotaro hummed.

"A quick study, is your son," Yugi said to the Yagamis.

"I guess he really is important to her," Sotaro murmured. "That went better than I thought."

"Not just him," Yugi said. "You are also her chosen. You must understand: here in the Barrier, there is little difference between your world and Seto Kaiba's. There is an infinite distance between dimensions for you and him, but for the monsters here it is as simple as moving through a hallway and glancing through different windows. You are just as much her champion as your counterpart is."

"That's why you needed him to be here," Kohaku said. "We aren't her chosen. He is."

"Precisely." Yugi nodded. "Connected to him though you are, by blood and by bond, you are not the custodian of her power. The Lady of Lightning is one of the oldest and most powerful dragons to have ever lived in the Barrier. All here, eventually, are granted mortal champions. It is a great ceremony and considered a rite of passage for any young monster. For her, though, it took a great many centuries. Millennia. She cannot simply grant her blessing to any pilgrim. The champion of any dragon is a rare breed, and for an ancient wyrm? Suffice to say that I think even young Mokuba would struggle to convince her. But Sotaro here is another matter entirely."

"I always knew our boy was special," Yuki said, flashing a grin at her husband while she ruffled Sotaro's hair.

Sotaro, for his part, blushed.

"Being family isn't enough," Kohaku guessed, "otherwise Gozaburo Kaiba could have asked for her strength. And I can only guess how that would have turned out."

"Indeed," Yugi said. "Blood only matters so much in a place like this. Family only matters so much in a place like this. When a monster selects a champion, that pact is as strong as a god's thread. But it is only a thread. The queen's grace does not extend past her prince."

Yuki was rubbing her chin. "You know a lot about this place," she said, "and how it works. Do you have a champion? Or, rather, has a monster chosen you as their champion?"

"Yes," said Yugi. "You have met him. Mahad, the Dark Magician." He gestured to little Kuriboh, flitting about Sotaro. "Kuriboh, here, has chosen my host. We have worked together, we three, against many troubles."

"What about Mokuba?" Kohaku wondered. "Does he have a monster who's chosen him?"

"I believe so," Yugi said. "I would not venture to guess who that might be, but I cannot imagine that young Mokuba, who has faced so many extradimensional threats at his brother's side, could have escaped the notice of the monsters here."

Kuriboh bounced around, trilling excitedly.

"Oh?" Yugi raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

Sotaro immediately made for his cards again. When he couldn't find the card he wanted in his main deck, he rummaged around until he found the rest of his collection. It took the boy two minutes of digging and sifting before he finally found his prize.

"Here it is!"

Yuki and Kohaku looked at the card together.

"Vengeful Sword Stalker," Sotaro announced solemnly.

"'A monster formed by the vengeful souls of those slain in battle,'" Kohaku recited.

Yuki studied the artwork, took in the hulking demon and its wicked blade, and grinned.

"I like him."