Shadgirl2: I've had this idea in the works for years, so I'm glad to finally have it out there.
Midna Azusa: Yep, and, as always, I'm along for the ride, co-writing with her!
Shadgirl2: Sorry, there wasn't room for you in the summary.
Midna: It's cool. There wasn't room for a lot of things in the summary. Anyway, this is just a short little prologue, some world-building, I suppose you'd call it. In case it wasn't obvious, this is an AU story.
Shadgirl2: I hope you like this. The real story starts next chapter.
Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh, Yugioh GX, or Yugioh 5Ds.
Warning: There are mentions of several religions throughout this story, mostly Christianity and Islam. The information included is based on research I did regarding people's testimonies about their experiences with the religions as well as general religious information. I've done my best to represent each religion in a respectful manner. Please note that this is NOT a religious story, so religion will not be the main focus of the story at any point.
The legend of Yin and Yang was a chilling tale, to say the least. No one knew where they'd come from, but everyone knew and feared them, regardless. They had mysteriously appeared above the skies in Japan during the 13th century, battling in an attempt to end each other. Yang, a mighty force of light, struck at its counterpart, Yin, a deadly shadow that retaliated with overwhelming force. This fierce battle caused vicious storms throughout all of Japan, nearly destroying the nation completely.
As light and dark clashed, pure chaos erupted everywhere, threatening to implode in on itself. Fortunately, the two forces seemed to discover they couldn't eliminate each other, and took off in two different directions, restoring the balance their deadly fighting had disturbed.
The tale didn't end there, however. Yin quickly became a serious threat the world over, causing unnatural wind and rain storms, blizzards, and other disasters across the earth. It possessed people, driving them to attack and kill others, took on a human form to commit acts of arson and other misdeeds, spread deadly diseases that medicine couldn't cure, and more. The spirit could even plague people with nightmares so bad that they could drive a man insane or even end his life entirely, and there was nothing anyone alive could do to stop it.
Yin was known to take on three main forms but appeared capable of taking the shape of anything dangerous. It was most frequently seen as a small male child with black hair, dark skin, and crimson eyes; a black shadow-and-ice-breathing dragon; and a variety of greatly over-sized birds of prey. Its true form was the massive shadow from the legend with glowing red eyes, but even when it was in disguise, there were ways to recognize it. Yin, being the embodiment of darkness, always had a black body in any kind of animal form or dark skin when in a human form and black hair or feathers in addition to its signature crimson red eyes. If a person saw those eyes, regardless of any other factors, they were advised to run for cover.
Only one force on earth could stop it—holy light. From what the people had gathered, it had a weakness to one very specific type. Talismans, charms, and rituals had no impact on the creature, except possibly making it stronger. It could absorb the darkness from anything natural or magical and make itself stronger and, for unknown reasons, often seemed capable of doing this with any non-Christian light energies or spells, leading some to wonder if the practices that helped Yin were really darkness in disguise.
The only things that seemed to deter it were Christian prayers and the other spirit—Yang.
Yang always came to the aid of mankind when it could, healing the sick or dying, blessing those in need of money, food or love. It could enter a person's heart, similar to Yin's possession, but it never took control of anyone, just encouraging them to want to help those who were less fortunate and leaving the choice up to them. It could calm severe weather, given enough time; put out fires and redirect lightning strikes; and could even stop the flow of lava with ease. The spirit also performed exorcisms and was the only known cure for a Yin-induced illness or nightmare.
Like Yin, Yang could absorb holy light and natural or man-made light to increase its powers. It even absorbed light from some of the same spells which Yin absorbed darkness from, leading the world to wonder if such things could really be classified as either good or evil since they seemed to contain elements of both.
The light spirit tended to latch onto the weak and answer their prayers for help in any way it could. The most needy could even call for the spirit by name and receive an immediate reply. It most often appeared as a beautiful teenage girl with wavy white hair, fair skin, and captivating pale blue eyes; a white phoenix; or a dove. At times, it was seen as other gentle animals or those seen as pure. Its true form was a massive ball of blinding light with white blue eyes, which usually glared angrily at Yin. The only time it appeared in this form was when fighting its other half.
The light spirit could be identified by its snow-white color or, in human form, pale skin, white hair, and extremely pale blue eyes. Seeing Yang was either an answer to an unheard prayer or a warning that Yin was somewhere nearby. As the spirit tended to follow its dark side, its unprompted appearance was almost always a sign of impending danger.
Over the centuries, many had tried to stop the evil spirit Yin, but all had failed. The world still depended on Yang as they tried to rid the world of the demon once and for all.
This legend was taught to all the people of the world from a very early age for their own good as Yin wasn't known to discriminate based on age. Yang could often reach the potential victims before Yin could do any serious harm as long as its victims were smart enough. Training sessions and classes on surviving Yin attacks were a mandatory part of school curriculum world-wide—it was the only reason the populace hadn't been wiped out long before.
The two spirits continued roaming the world, terrorizing or assisting, for nearly a thousand years, before anything changed.