After The End
- Chapter1
On the Shoulders of the Chosen One
Disclaimer-
I do not pretend to own Yu-Gi-Oh or anything else that will get me in trouble. I do occasionally pretend that I�m a zebra
World of Duel Monsters The Upper Cosmos Anxiety had swept over the plane. Even the most reclusive of the Duel Monsters had crept out of their prospective lairs to the river, where the Spellcasters were scrying into the crystal clear waters. It was quite a sight to see Monsters of all types and sizes together, each huddled about a different Spellcaster, so everyone could see. No matter which circle of Monsters, they were all looking into the same projected image. It was the Ceremonial Duel between the Nameless Pharaoh and his vessel, Mutou Yuugi. The fate of them all rested on the duelists� shoulders. Whether they remain in their realm, or return to the minds of humans: their original place. This plane has existed long before the humans began imprisoning the Monsters into stone tablets. It was the realm of the Monsters whose human hosts had perished, and it was where they would stay until their host reincarnated. It was only when the Monsters were forced to leave their hosts and into stone that this realm became what it was now: a plane for the humans to summon Monsters through the tablet mediums (and later, through the cards). Since the humans never managed to entrap them all, some Monsters still lived in hosts and came to the Duel Monster�s World at their death. There wasn�t a single Monster who didn�t long to become one with their host again. The bond between them was a special one, whether the human realized the Monsters� existence or not. That was why no one was cheering for the Nameless Pharaoh. Most of them were fond of the Pharaoh, it was true, but that didn�t stop their wish to leave this plane and return to the mortal one. So they all placed their hope in the vessel instead. For his victory would lead the Pharaoh to the land of the dead, and the Sennen Items and their magic would vanish along with him. The magic disappearing was the important point. With the spell trapping the Monsters there gone, they could go home. Not a pair of Monsters was more anxious than the Black Magician and Blue Eyes White Dragon. For their fate was different from the rest. Both of them were partly human, and neither knew what was in store for them if Mutou Yuugi won. They had a very good hypothesis, though. Their guess was that their human souls would be allowed to continue their journey, perhaps reincarnating into another lifetime, and their Duel Monster part would remain here until that time came. Black Magician, who was scrying into a patch of river like the other Spellcasters, allowed a momentary lapse in his concentration to glance over his shoulder. Blue Eyes White Dragon rested on the fresh green grass beside him, lying down so more of the Monsters could see. Despite her frightening appearance, Blue Eyes was quite even-tempered when she wasn�t in battle, and she even allowed some of the Monsters to climb on her back. Black Magician was sure that this was due to Kisara, the human inside of the dragon, and he felt the same pity for her as he did for himself. If things turned out as they should, and he was almost certain they would, then he was just as sure they would leave. They would go to the Nameless Pharaoh and the Priest Seth in Hades. And even though their tasks would be complete, they would both be leaving a soul they cherished unguarded in the mortal realm. Kaiba Seto and Mutou Yuugi (the precious ones to Blue Eyes and Black Magician respectively) would continue to live without the silent guardians they had since their birth. It was then that Blue Eyes tilted her head towards him, a pleading written plainly across her face. She didn�t need words to tell him what she wanted: to say good-bye to Kaiba Seto. Black Magician nodded understandably. He directed the Monsters watching to the area where Black Magician Girl was scrying before changing the image in the water to Kaiba and following them. He could hold the image easily enough without being there, and to be bluntly honest he wasn�t all that fond of the idea of watching Kaiba. As he walked away, he could hear Blue Eyes unleash a cry of pain to the blue skies. He didn�t need to turn around to know that there were tears streaming from her eyes, because they were flowing from his as well. �Good-bye Mutou Yuugi�� he thought as looked past Black Magician Girl�s shoulder, �the Chosen One, and my Master.� CEO Office Kaiba Corporation Domino, Japan Kaiba Seto knew what was going on in Egypt right now, even though he did everything in power to deny it. He knew Yuugi was dueling that thing that �lived� in the miniature pyramid necklace he always wore. He knew that thing�s fate lied in the outcome of this �Ceremonial Duel� as well. He knew because that was what he had been told, but he also knew for other reasons. It was like some instinct, or a collected pattern of thought had somehow nestled inside his brain. He also knew from this �feeling� that Yuugi was going to defeat his alter ego, and that thing was going to disappear, and take all the black magic nonsense that had plagued Seto since the night he�d lost his first duel. But Kaiba Seto knew something else, and that was that he never ever accepted such mystical ramblings. How could he? He was an older brother, a first rate duelist, the CEO of Kaiba Corporation, a billionaire, and the adopted son of Kaiba Gozaburo (although that was a fact he tried to repress, rather than deny). And as far as he was concerned, none of these roles allowed any room for spirits, accursed jewelry, or the occult. For that matter, anything spiritual was useless to him. So Seto did what he always did. He refuted what he �knew,� and stood firm in the most scientific belief possible. Yuugi wasn�t �dueling� a ghost that inhabited his necklace, in fact, he wasn�t dueling at all. He was in Egypt to visit that witch Ishizu, to try to get treatment for his split personalities. Mutou�s sidekicks tagged along as usual, making up some dumb story to explain why Yuugi was acting differently when he returned to Japan. And if his dueling skills were lacking later on, it was actually because the treatment had screwed with his head, not because the spirit that had always dueled for him was enjoying the after life. Mokuba didn�t say anything when Seto ranted his reasoning to him. Instead, he left Seto�s office with an excuse to go play video games. Because Seto had more work to do than he could possibly finish with three days of uninterrupted privacy, it was for the best. It bothered him that Mokuba didn�t believe a word of his �logical reasoning� (his little brother never actually had to voice his opinions. His train of thought was an open book to anyone with enough sense to read him, and Seto knew him well enough to predict those thoughts). But he didn�t have to. All that mattered was that Kaiba Seto was acting and thinking like Kaiba Seto should, and that Mokuba left such silly tales behind him if he ever took over the company. For reasons unknown, even to Seto himself, he wasn�t working. He tossed his jacket and tie aside, undid the first few buttons of his blue dress shirt, and told his secretary he was not to be disturbed. Along with an order of scotch on the rocks, he had his metal briefcase brought up from the company vault, and placed them both on the coffee table. After fishing out his deck from the briefcase, Seto lounged comfortably on his couch. With his scotch in one hand, and his deck in the other, he lost himself to memory. He thought over the strategies he�d used in the past, all the changes his cards had underwent� and all the changes he had underwent as well. The duelists that had faced him flashed over his head: Amelda, Noah, Ishizu, and that fuck-head Jounouchi to name a few, but he especially thought about Yuugi. Mutou Yuugi was the only person to ever truly defeat him in Seto�s way of thinking (anyone else had cheated). He was his rival. And in many ways, Seto lived to prove himself better than the midget with bad hair. Plus, no matter what he told himself or others, Seto knew deep down that everything about Yuugi�s Ceremonial Duel was true. The person who had defeated him was not Mutou Yuugi, but a spirit that existed inside the Sennen Puzzle. As Seto flipped to the Blue Eyes, he began to trace its outline with his thumb and realized what he was doing. He was mourning. He was mourning, because his truer rival (the thing, spirit, ghost, or whatever the hell you wanted to call him) was going to disappear, and Seto would never get another chance to prove himself. Always and forever he would be the man who would�ve been the king of kings, had it not been for an ethereal being. Shooting to his feet, he threw his deck to the ground. He downed half his scotch in one gulp, and stood before the window, ignoring the cards fluttering about behind him as they fought a loosing battle against gravity. It wasn�t supposed to end like this. That bastard couldn�t vanish until Seto reclaimed his titles. Had he not thought about what the effect of his decision on others? More importantly, had he thought about the effect on Seto? Where the hell did it leave him? Was Seto supposed to duel Mutou Yuugi to reclaim his honor? That sounded boring at least and a waste of his time at best. Yuugi wasn�t a thing like �his other self.� There was no way he could ever be a challenge to Seto. He was about to remind himself about his �true, scientific reason� behind it all when he noticed the aurora borealis dancing in the sky, and Seto would realize that the magical happenings in his life had not ended. To Be Continued
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