Chekov's Ghost.

Okay this isn't Act 3 of the story. We're probably in Act 2 still. But … I mean.

I wasn't gonna bring Shadi up in the first chapter and not have him show up again.

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Noa made a mistake of looking into the stranger's eyes—saw the fear in them, felt the fear in them—and it sent him somewhere. He didn't know where; it looked just like his home. Everything seemed the same, but . . . the way it all faded in and out of focus, the way everyone looked like paintings being smudged into new images whenever they moved; it was wrong. There was something wrong about the house, and he didn't understand.

Somehow, though, Noa knew what he was supposed to do.

He stepped out of the drawing room, into the hallway, and there were too many doors. Noa Kaiba knew his home; he knew it better than his parents did. He'd been in every room; he knew every secret hideaway; he had so many little treasures hidden in so many little pockets of the house that nobody would ever find because they simply didn't know Kaiba Manor like he did.

Noa knew exactly how many doors there should have been in this hallway.

There were far too many.

"Um . . . hello?"

He couldn't hear anyone. He couldn't hear any voices at all. He knew his mother was talking right now; he knew Seto was talking right now; he couldn't hear them. If Noa turned around and went back to where he'd been standing, he could watch them speak and still not hear them. Somehow, instinctively, he knew this.

The thought that he must be dreaming crossed his mind, only for Noa to dismiss it. It came back around to him many times over, and every time he ignored it again.

Noa walked down the too-long hallway, looking at the too-many doors, wondering where and when his instincts would guide him; what was he supposed to do in this dreamscape? He walked, and walked, and walked; his cane clacked, and clacked, and clacked with him. It was like an eternity passed, folded over itself, started over, passed again. All he could hear was his cane; he wasn't even consciously aware of his footfalls on the carpet.

Years later, decades, a moment, Noa found an open door.

He stepped inside, and was confronted by another person.

A person he could hear.

Wrapped in write robes, holding a set of golden scales in one hand, the figure had blinding bright blue eyes; Noa was sure that, whomever this was, those eyes could look directly into his soul. The figure's dark brown skin was lit by those eyes, casting off a glow that lit the room.

"It is good that you have found me," said the figure.

"Who . . . are you?"

"I am called Shadi."

Staring up at Shadi, wondering why it felt like he knew him, Noa frowned. "All right, Shadi. I suppose you're the one doing . . . all of this. You're the reason everything is twisting and folding around me." Shadi didn't answer, but Noa was quite sure that he did. "What is it you want from me?"

"I wish for you, child, to listen."

". . . I'm listening."

Shadi went on: "There is a threat on the horizon which will cremate this world. You have a part to play in its unmaking." He paused. "The Leviathan's slumber is light. In its attempts to right a ship it cannot right with its current strength or conviction, the cult of false light risks its waking. You must be prepared for what will come to you."

Noa's frown deepened. "I'm going to pretend this makes any kind of sense," he said, "and ask you to keep going." He leaned on his cane and slipped his free hand into a pocket. "What, exactly, do you expect me to do against something called a 'leviathan?' I don't know if you missed it, but I'm ten years old and my joints are probably never going to heal properly. I'm hardly what you'd call a prime candidate for a world-saver."

Shadi's face didn't shift. "The gods do not choose their champions so frivolously."

"I'm not talking about frivolity," Noa said, "I'm talking about responsibility. If I'm among the best that 'the gods' can pick for this job, do we even deserve to win? I'll do what I have to do if it means protecting my family, but I hope you understand how stupid this makes your gods look." He paused. "Before you tell me they aren't just your gods, they're mine too, don't. They are not. Nobody who uses children as soldiers gets my respect."

Shadi closed his eyes, and the ghost of a smile rose on his lips. "And lo, you prove your worth and quality." He gestured with his scales. "I offer you a simple warning, then: the Leviathan is leashed by a man whose name you will have heard this day, and he will target you."

"Dartz," Noa guessed. "The leader of Paradius."

Shadi offered a curt nod.

"So that's why you're talking to me," Noa said. "This Leviathan is a threat to me."

Another nod.

Noa rolled his eyes. "You could've led with that." He shook his head. "All right. Fine. I'll fight this battle. But you can't expect me to believe that you went and broke reality just to tell me Dartz is a threat. I already know that. There's something else, something you think I need to know, that I have no other way of knowing."

"You will face beasts of all breeds," Shadi said, "many familiar, many alien. It will be your instinct to treat them equally as enemies. It is your prerogative. I warn you know that you will not succeed, and you will not wrest victory from the Unworthy King, if you resist making allies of your enemies. Seek out those who will hear your voice, man and creature both, and know that they will fly your banner if you offer it."

". . . Find allies among my enemies." Noa hummed. "I guess I can see why you would think it's necessary to tell me that. It's not exactly something Chichiue will have taught me." His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What else, Shadi?"

Shadi's free hand, the one not holding the scales, rose up from the folds of his robes, bearing cards. "The Leviathan ought not be roused. This is not the way. The scales have been tipped and must be rebalanced." He paused. "These will serve you and yours. Carry them with you."

Noa took the offering. "Magic & Wizards cards?" he asked, incredulously. "Seriously."

"There is power in the smallest talismans," Shadi said. "You will understand when the time comes."

Noa sighed. "Fine," he muttered.

"Your lack of faith is no concern of mine or the gods. Rely on what faith you do have. It will see you through this darkness."

"If you say so."

Noa turned away from Shadi and headed back toward his mother.