Chapter 12 - Chapter Twelve
Submitted January 23, 2009 Updated April 22, 2009 Status Complete | Takes place in the middle of Season Five- right after the Grand Prix tournament, and before they go on the memory journey to Egypt. I hope you guys like it! I'm not used to writing fanfictions! X]
Category:
Anime/Manga » Yu-Gi-Oh! series |
Chapter 12 - Chapter Twelve
Chapter 12 - Chapter Twelve
I could see, from where we were, now, a small cottage surrounded by an enormous field of brightly-colored flowers. The air smelled like roses; it was the type of vibe that could relax anyone. We had followed the other path that led away from the castle and away from the temple. We had been right to think that Cleito lived down this path; she only lived a few hundred yards past where the path forked.
We approached the front door of the cottage; Joey knocked on it. Téa opened the door. “Hey, guys,” she said brightly. We entered the cottage; Téa closed the door behind us.
I looked around the room we were now in. It appeared that everything here was tiny- there was one central sitting room, and then, I could see a few doors leading to what I assumed were bedrooms, bathrooms and the kitchen. There was a warm sense to the house; the lights were low and comforting, and flowers and candles were stuck in a few places.
“Everyone’s in here,” Téa said, leading us through one of the side doors. We entered what I figured was a guest bedroom; Tristan was lying on a bed in the middle of the room. Serenity was in a chair at the foot of the bed, looking less unhappy and scared; a large cat was curled up on her lap, and she seemed focused on looking down and petting it.
Bustling about the bed was a little old woman. She had every sense of the comforting grandmother that I had somehow expected her to have. She wore little gold-rimmed glasses and had a face that was wrinkled from smiles and laughs. This was Cleito.
“How is he doing?” Yugi asked- he was the original Yugi. “I’ve been really worried…”
Cleito smiled. “He’s great!” she said happily. Even her voice was soothing. “Although, I think you-all must know about the kinds of monsters that you might encounter. You don’t want an attack like this to happen again. This was a bit of a close call.”
“Close call?” Serenity asked, quietly, looking up from the cat. “Why… close?”
Cleito pursed her lips for a moment. “I recognize these symptoms… I assume King Dartz informed you of the laser and claw monsters?”
Laser and claw monsters? Is that what those are called? “Uh, I guess,” Joey said. “I don’t know what a claw monster is.”
“I do,” I said. “It’s a monster that uses physical force to attack, instead of a long-range laser.” It was the type of monster that had been in my house last night.
“Precisely,” Cleito said. “There are more types of monsters, too- the one that hurt your friend… what is his name?”
“Tristan,” Duke said.
“Tristan. The type of monster that hurt him is called a beam monster. They are the most dangerous. You know that the laser and claw monsters have a kill time of ten seconds, on average. Beam monsters don’t. Beam monsters judge the size of their target and use just the right amount of power to do in an instant what the other two types of monsters do in ten seconds.” She looked gently at Serenity. “Your friend is alive because the monster didn’t use enough power on him… the monster was aiming for a slightly smaller target.”
“It was trying to hit me?” she asked timidly. Joey went and sat down next to her; she kind of nestled herself against him, cat still on her lap. She looked upset again.
“I think so, honey,” Cleito said. “Your friend saved your life.”
Serenity sniffled. “But, don’t worry!” Cleito said. “I’ve been taking good care of him. I’m sure King Dartz told you about my ability. I was able to restore his normal heart rate. See? Watch this.”
Serenity looked up; all of us stared at Cleito as she held her hands about a foot over Tristan’s chest. A sort of golden light shot from her fingertips and hit him; after another few seconds, his eyelids fluttered.
“Tristan…!” Yugi gasped, as they all moved closer to his bed. He blinked slowly and quietly muttered, “What…”
I was impressed. Cleito had completely restored him- in the temple, he had looked dead. Now, color was in his face and I could tell that he was breathing steadily. He looked, now, merely tired.
Tristan looked up at Yugi. “Did you… did you get the card?” he asked, voice growing stronger.
Yugi held up the magnificent dragon. Tristan smiled and lifted his hand; Joey recognized that gesture and leapt up to high-five him. They both laughed.
“How do you feel,” Téa asked.
“Pretty good,” he said, putting his head back down. “Not bad. Are you guys alright?”
“Yes,” Serenity said, smiling at him, warmly- “Thank you… thank you…”
He smiled at her, back. “How could I do anything else,” he said. “I’m glad everything worked out.”
“Take it easy, and you’ll be fine,” Cleito said happily and busily.
I remembered the other reason we had needed to see Cleito. “Is Thalas here?” I asked. “May we speak with him about weapons?”
I didn’t think that it was possible for Cleito to frown; she surprised me when she did, at my question. Her lips parted for a moment as though she wanted to talk, but she didn’t; she remained silent. I was confused.
“What’s wrong,” Téa asked. “Is everything okay?”
Cleito looked at her, and said, “Thalas…is not here.”
The way she said it immediately told me what had happened; I didn’t have to ask any more questions, but I was not surprised to see that Joey Wheeler was too dumb to get the idea.“He’s not here? Where is he? Can we see him when he gets back?”
Cleito swallowed hard. “A little less than a week ago, Thalas was… out, giving weapons to people, in the south… he gave out his last weapon, and then Donno showed up.”
I frowned. I knew it.
“I have another friend who lives on the southern tip of the island… she saw the Seal become activated, and went to investigate… and… she brought his body to me…”
My lips parted. I felt bad for her.
“I am keeping him alive,” she sighed, trying to keep herself composed. “I have the power to keep him in suspended animation for… a few days.”
“I’m so sorry,” Téa said; Joey looked a little bit ashamed, like he knew he had asked too many questions.
Cleito forced a smile. “It’s alright,” she said. “That’s why I’m so happy to help you kids. Thalas would want it.”
I frowned. I was in this mess in order to protect my brother and company… but, when it came down to it, we were helping a great deal of the world, too.
“But,” Cleito said. “I know he has more weapons here. I would be honored to give them to you. I’m sure there’s enough for everyone.” She left the room.
I sat down in an armchair as Téa and Duke asked questions about what else we had done in the temple. I looked out of the window. It was late in the afternoon, now; I was hungry. I listened to Joey and Yugi explain the stone doors and how the temple had rumbled when we had removed Slifer from the pedestal. Yugi guessed it was because the Leviathan had a burst of weakness. I agreed.
Cleito re-entered the room, holding what looked like eight large sticks in her arms. I stared at them. There was a diamond-shaped, light green crystal stuck to the top of a glass rod- they were each about a two and a half feet long. Strange. Cleito handed one to everybody; I turned mine over in my hands. It seemed so plain. Had Thalas put a spell on the crystal at the top? I assumed you were supposed to stab the monsters with them?
“These are great physical weapons,” Cleito said, once everybody was holding one. “But, they have a secret. All you have to do is touch a monster with the crystal at the top… just touch it, and you’ll pull the life right out of it. Very handy… but, be careful getting that close to the monsters!”
Well, better than nothing, I supposed.
“Can we do that to Donno or Adella?” Duke asked. “Maybe we can go right to them and just beat them like that, right?”
Cleito chuckled. “My husband is talented, but he’s not that talented! I suppose you could use these like a knife against them… but, no, it only works on the monsters to pull the power out of. Although… I’m glad you’ve mentioned Donno and Adella. I must warn you about them.”
I set my scepter down and looked at Cleito. “They are powerful people,” she said. “They have manipulated the power of the Orichalcos so far that they, themselves, hold in their hands the power to feed the Leviathan. They still sometimes choose to duel, playing the Seal… I suppose they think that’s more effective or more certain of their victory… but, I have heard that they will simply lay a finger on the neck or chest of their victim… and that’s all that need be done.”
“Damn,” Tristan said. “That’s scary.”
“Yes,” Cleito said. “Be very careful. Keep your duel monsters at hand and watch each other. I have faith in you kids.”
I stood up. Something inside of me didn’t want to disappoint her… she somewhat reminded me of the grandmother that I’d never had.
“Goodnight, Seto,” Mokuba said, disappearing into his room, later that night. We had returned to the castle; during dinner, nobody had mentioned Slifer; I was glad. Mostly, Tristan and Joey talked loudly and braggingly about the monster that had attacked Tristan; Dartz didn’t ask about the card. Part of me wondered why… but, part of me didn’t want to tell him, anyway, so it was all for the better.
“Goodnight,” I responded. I clicked open the door to my room; I heard Yugi say goodnight to Téa and then walk past me. I turned around. “Yugi,” I said.
He turned around. “Yeah?”
“I think we should not tell Dartz that we found the card,” I said.
“Really?” He asked, surprised. “Why not?”
“Just, trust me. Keep the card hidden, okay?” I said firmly.
He frowned. “I guess I don’t see why not…”
“Good. It’s the right thing,” I said, before entering my room, flipping a switch on the wall that illuminated the room from a large chandelier in the middle of the ceiling, and closing and locking the door behind me. I took my trench coat off and tossed it carelessly over the back of one of the armchairs to my right. My suitcases were on the ground; I opened my largest one and removed my white button-down nightshirt and long white pants before changing into them.
After dressing, I frowned and took a look around my room. It was fairly large and empty, but elegant-looking. The canopy bed was against the wall to the left; the linens appeared to be made of silk. There was a sort of crystal bedside table near it; in the middle of the room was a floor lamp, and two armchairs in front of a coffee table loaded with books about Atlantian history.
I raised my eyebrows. Interesting.
I turned off the wall light, sat in an armchair, turned on the lamp, and picked up a very old book. I opened it; it was somewhat dusty.
I scanned the table of contents. One of the last chapters was one about the Orichalcos. I frowned and opened the book to that chapter.
I read the book, interested, despite myself. I learned that the Orichalcos Stone had landed on the island of Atlantis ten thousand years ago, and that it had revealed the corruptness of the Atlantian people. Dartz had been the last king before eventually the island had self-destructed and sank to the bottom of the ocean.
I knitted my eyebrows. Yugi had said he was a 10,000-year-old man. How did he survive all this time, then? How did Chris and Ironheart …and Donno and Adella, and basically everyone else in Atlantis? Had the Orichalcos sustained everyone, somehow? Or, was Yugi just an idiot for believing everything that Dartz said.
It went on about the Leviathan, and how Dartz had used the power of the Orichalcos stone to revive it and destroy all of the world’s people who seemed to be evil. The three Atlantian Knights- Timaeus, Critias and Hermos- had weakened and imprisoned the Leviathan in the depths of the Earth. Using his last bits of power as the island was destroyed, Dartz turned the three men into dragons and imprisoned them in an ice temple. The island had then crumbled, and Dartz had taken to roaming the Earth for ten thousand years, feeding the Leviathan with his collection of human souls.
I wondered how much of this to believe. Dartz had told all of this during our last duel with him. I yawned. It was still early, but I felt tired from reading. I closed my eyes and leaned back in the armchair.
We approached the front door of the cottage; Joey knocked on it. Téa opened the door. “Hey, guys,” she said brightly. We entered the cottage; Téa closed the door behind us.
I looked around the room we were now in. It appeared that everything here was tiny- there was one central sitting room, and then, I could see a few doors leading to what I assumed were bedrooms, bathrooms and the kitchen. There was a warm sense to the house; the lights were low and comforting, and flowers and candles were stuck in a few places.
“Everyone’s in here,” Téa said, leading us through one of the side doors. We entered what I figured was a guest bedroom; Tristan was lying on a bed in the middle of the room. Serenity was in a chair at the foot of the bed, looking less unhappy and scared; a large cat was curled up on her lap, and she seemed focused on looking down and petting it.
Bustling about the bed was a little old woman. She had every sense of the comforting grandmother that I had somehow expected her to have. She wore little gold-rimmed glasses and had a face that was wrinkled from smiles and laughs. This was Cleito.
“How is he doing?” Yugi asked- he was the original Yugi. “I’ve been really worried…”
Cleito smiled. “He’s great!” she said happily. Even her voice was soothing. “Although, I think you-all must know about the kinds of monsters that you might encounter. You don’t want an attack like this to happen again. This was a bit of a close call.”
“Close call?” Serenity asked, quietly, looking up from the cat. “Why… close?”
Cleito pursed her lips for a moment. “I recognize these symptoms… I assume King Dartz informed you of the laser and claw monsters?”
Laser and claw monsters? Is that what those are called? “Uh, I guess,” Joey said. “I don’t know what a claw monster is.”
“I do,” I said. “It’s a monster that uses physical force to attack, instead of a long-range laser.” It was the type of monster that had been in my house last night.
“Precisely,” Cleito said. “There are more types of monsters, too- the one that hurt your friend… what is his name?”
“Tristan,” Duke said.
“Tristan. The type of monster that hurt him is called a beam monster. They are the most dangerous. You know that the laser and claw monsters have a kill time of ten seconds, on average. Beam monsters don’t. Beam monsters judge the size of their target and use just the right amount of power to do in an instant what the other two types of monsters do in ten seconds.” She looked gently at Serenity. “Your friend is alive because the monster didn’t use enough power on him… the monster was aiming for a slightly smaller target.”
“It was trying to hit me?” she asked timidly. Joey went and sat down next to her; she kind of nestled herself against him, cat still on her lap. She looked upset again.
“I think so, honey,” Cleito said. “Your friend saved your life.”
Serenity sniffled. “But, don’t worry!” Cleito said. “I’ve been taking good care of him. I’m sure King Dartz told you about my ability. I was able to restore his normal heart rate. See? Watch this.”
Serenity looked up; all of us stared at Cleito as she held her hands about a foot over Tristan’s chest. A sort of golden light shot from her fingertips and hit him; after another few seconds, his eyelids fluttered.
“Tristan…!” Yugi gasped, as they all moved closer to his bed. He blinked slowly and quietly muttered, “What…”
I was impressed. Cleito had completely restored him- in the temple, he had looked dead. Now, color was in his face and I could tell that he was breathing steadily. He looked, now, merely tired.
Tristan looked up at Yugi. “Did you… did you get the card?” he asked, voice growing stronger.
Yugi held up the magnificent dragon. Tristan smiled and lifted his hand; Joey recognized that gesture and leapt up to high-five him. They both laughed.
“How do you feel,” Téa asked.
“Pretty good,” he said, putting his head back down. “Not bad. Are you guys alright?”
“Yes,” Serenity said, smiling at him, warmly- “Thank you… thank you…”
He smiled at her, back. “How could I do anything else,” he said. “I’m glad everything worked out.”
“Take it easy, and you’ll be fine,” Cleito said happily and busily.
I remembered the other reason we had needed to see Cleito. “Is Thalas here?” I asked. “May we speak with him about weapons?”
I didn’t think that it was possible for Cleito to frown; she surprised me when she did, at my question. Her lips parted for a moment as though she wanted to talk, but she didn’t; she remained silent. I was confused.
“What’s wrong,” Téa asked. “Is everything okay?”
Cleito looked at her, and said, “Thalas…is not here.”
The way she said it immediately told me what had happened; I didn’t have to ask any more questions, but I was not surprised to see that Joey Wheeler was too dumb to get the idea.“He’s not here? Where is he? Can we see him when he gets back?”
Cleito swallowed hard. “A little less than a week ago, Thalas was… out, giving weapons to people, in the south… he gave out his last weapon, and then Donno showed up.”
I frowned. I knew it.
“I have another friend who lives on the southern tip of the island… she saw the Seal become activated, and went to investigate… and… she brought his body to me…”
My lips parted. I felt bad for her.
“I am keeping him alive,” she sighed, trying to keep herself composed. “I have the power to keep him in suspended animation for… a few days.”
“I’m so sorry,” Téa said; Joey looked a little bit ashamed, like he knew he had asked too many questions.
Cleito forced a smile. “It’s alright,” she said. “That’s why I’m so happy to help you kids. Thalas would want it.”
I frowned. I was in this mess in order to protect my brother and company… but, when it came down to it, we were helping a great deal of the world, too.
“But,” Cleito said. “I know he has more weapons here. I would be honored to give them to you. I’m sure there’s enough for everyone.” She left the room.
I sat down in an armchair as Téa and Duke asked questions about what else we had done in the temple. I looked out of the window. It was late in the afternoon, now; I was hungry. I listened to Joey and Yugi explain the stone doors and how the temple had rumbled when we had removed Slifer from the pedestal. Yugi guessed it was because the Leviathan had a burst of weakness. I agreed.
Cleito re-entered the room, holding what looked like eight large sticks in her arms. I stared at them. There was a diamond-shaped, light green crystal stuck to the top of a glass rod- they were each about a two and a half feet long. Strange. Cleito handed one to everybody; I turned mine over in my hands. It seemed so plain. Had Thalas put a spell on the crystal at the top? I assumed you were supposed to stab the monsters with them?
“These are great physical weapons,” Cleito said, once everybody was holding one. “But, they have a secret. All you have to do is touch a monster with the crystal at the top… just touch it, and you’ll pull the life right out of it. Very handy… but, be careful getting that close to the monsters!”
Well, better than nothing, I supposed.
“Can we do that to Donno or Adella?” Duke asked. “Maybe we can go right to them and just beat them like that, right?”
Cleito chuckled. “My husband is talented, but he’s not that talented! I suppose you could use these like a knife against them… but, no, it only works on the monsters to pull the power out of. Although… I’m glad you’ve mentioned Donno and Adella. I must warn you about them.”
I set my scepter down and looked at Cleito. “They are powerful people,” she said. “They have manipulated the power of the Orichalcos so far that they, themselves, hold in their hands the power to feed the Leviathan. They still sometimes choose to duel, playing the Seal… I suppose they think that’s more effective or more certain of their victory… but, I have heard that they will simply lay a finger on the neck or chest of their victim… and that’s all that need be done.”
“Damn,” Tristan said. “That’s scary.”
“Yes,” Cleito said. “Be very careful. Keep your duel monsters at hand and watch each other. I have faith in you kids.”
I stood up. Something inside of me didn’t want to disappoint her… she somewhat reminded me of the grandmother that I’d never had.
“Goodnight, Seto,” Mokuba said, disappearing into his room, later that night. We had returned to the castle; during dinner, nobody had mentioned Slifer; I was glad. Mostly, Tristan and Joey talked loudly and braggingly about the monster that had attacked Tristan; Dartz didn’t ask about the card. Part of me wondered why… but, part of me didn’t want to tell him, anyway, so it was all for the better.
“Goodnight,” I responded. I clicked open the door to my room; I heard Yugi say goodnight to Téa and then walk past me. I turned around. “Yugi,” I said.
He turned around. “Yeah?”
“I think we should not tell Dartz that we found the card,” I said.
“Really?” He asked, surprised. “Why not?”
“Just, trust me. Keep the card hidden, okay?” I said firmly.
He frowned. “I guess I don’t see why not…”
“Good. It’s the right thing,” I said, before entering my room, flipping a switch on the wall that illuminated the room from a large chandelier in the middle of the ceiling, and closing and locking the door behind me. I took my trench coat off and tossed it carelessly over the back of one of the armchairs to my right. My suitcases were on the ground; I opened my largest one and removed my white button-down nightshirt and long white pants before changing into them.
After dressing, I frowned and took a look around my room. It was fairly large and empty, but elegant-looking. The canopy bed was against the wall to the left; the linens appeared to be made of silk. There was a sort of crystal bedside table near it; in the middle of the room was a floor lamp, and two armchairs in front of a coffee table loaded with books about Atlantian history.
I raised my eyebrows. Interesting.
I turned off the wall light, sat in an armchair, turned on the lamp, and picked up a very old book. I opened it; it was somewhat dusty.
I scanned the table of contents. One of the last chapters was one about the Orichalcos. I frowned and opened the book to that chapter.
I read the book, interested, despite myself. I learned that the Orichalcos Stone had landed on the island of Atlantis ten thousand years ago, and that it had revealed the corruptness of the Atlantian people. Dartz had been the last king before eventually the island had self-destructed and sank to the bottom of the ocean.
I knitted my eyebrows. Yugi had said he was a 10,000-year-old man. How did he survive all this time, then? How did Chris and Ironheart …and Donno and Adella, and basically everyone else in Atlantis? Had the Orichalcos sustained everyone, somehow? Or, was Yugi just an idiot for believing everything that Dartz said.
It went on about the Leviathan, and how Dartz had used the power of the Orichalcos stone to revive it and destroy all of the world’s people who seemed to be evil. The three Atlantian Knights- Timaeus, Critias and Hermos- had weakened and imprisoned the Leviathan in the depths of the Earth. Using his last bits of power as the island was destroyed, Dartz turned the three men into dragons and imprisoned them in an ice temple. The island had then crumbled, and Dartz had taken to roaming the Earth for ten thousand years, feeding the Leviathan with his collection of human souls.
I wondered how much of this to believe. Dartz had told all of this during our last duel with him. I yawned. It was still early, but I felt tired from reading. I closed my eyes and leaned back in the armchair.
Comments
You are not authorized to comment here. Your must be registered and logged in to comment