Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Do Duel Monsters Dream of Cardboard Sheep? ❯ And Then There Were Three ( Chapter 7 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Features Yugi having a major crisis of faith and acting somewhat out of character in the process. "Gabriel? Gabriel, are you there?"
Gabriel wasn't quite sure where he was or how he had gotten there, but it wasn't all dark like it had been before he had left the deck. "Who is it?"
"It's me."
And as if to add extra emphasis to that statement, a Blue Eyes White Dragon appeared before him. Gabriel stumbled back, then relaxed. Somehow- he wasn't quite sure how, but somehow- he knew.
"Jewel?"
"Yes, it's me."
Gabriel looked at Jewel. He looked at his own hands. Then he looked down at the void that seemed to be everywhere. "I must be dreaming. This cannot possibly be happening."
"In the Shadow Realm just about anything can happen." Gabriel looked at him with wide eyes. "Just about anything, that is. The card can't be put together even in the Shadow Realm."
"The card …"
"It's not so bad having no card, Gabriel. You wouldn't believe how good it is not to have to hear Michael anymore." Jewel smiled, or what passed for a smile. "You wouldn't believe it."
"Maybe I should join you, Jewel. The world of our Masters is much worse."
"Our Masters? I have no Master but myself."
"The one we had…"
"… lost me to the other one. And there is no way I will accept the other one as Master. The one we had, you say? What happened to him? Who is the new one?"
Gabriel shut his eyes for a moment and tried to figure out how to say it. "The one we had passed on the deck to the one we have now. His grandson."
"Is he good?"
"Yes… I suppose so."
"You suppose so?"
"It is hard to explain." Gabriel made a vague motion with one arm. "He is a good duelist, I know that much. But Ailill…"
"Yes?" Jewel's large blue eyes had considerably more interest in them now. "What about Ailill?"
"He thinks… he thinks that Master hates him. Because you see, he tended to become… destroyed quite frequently. His numbers, you see."
"Yes, I see. But that was all?"
"No. I wish it was."
"Then what was the rest of it?"
"Jewel… Master was dueling the one who destroyed your card. He had nearly lost, and his opponent had combined your siblings, and then he called on Amaguri-"
"Amaguri?"
Gabriel remembered that Jewel had gone before Black Jade came; therefore, he couldn't know about Sweet Chestnut. "Kuriboh. He called on Amaguri, and Amaguri says Master multiplied him so he could never be destroyed, then did something to make the dragons go black and rot. Their numbers went down. Then he called Ailill, and Ailill would have won, except…"
"Except what?"
"Ailill had cut off one of the heads, and then Master's opponent played Reborn the Monster so it returned and it was not black and rotten anymore. The numbers had gone back up, too."
"But Ailill could attack before my brother, could he not?"
"Yes, and he would have, but Master called for him to stop. Then your brother… destroyed him."
Silence. Then at last Jewel said, "So this new Master… he actually threw the duel?"
"It happened a short time ago." But was it really such a short time? "It was the only time Ailill came so close to winning."
"Do you think your Master really does hate Ailill?"
"No! I mean, I do not see why he would hate Ailill. Not for his numbers, it couldn't be for his numbers. He likes Amaguri enough, and Amaguri's numbers are even lower." Gabriel shook his head as if clearing it of such a concept. "Ailill was so sure, though, that he persuaded me to take him to the world of the Masters."
"What happened next?"
"I… lost him."
"Oh." Another silence before Jewel spoke again. "Gabriel? What you did for Ailill…"
"I did something I should not have done."
"But you could bring him there. Could you bring me there?"
Gabriel should have expected this request from Jewel, but still, it was quite a surprise. "What?"
"Couldn't you do the same for me?"
"I could not possibly put you in such danger."
"With no danger, there is no progress." Jewel smiled just a bit. "Chihiro said that, a long time ago."
"I see." That Jewel mentioned another Blue Eyes White Dragon did not bother Gabriel; after all they were siblings, and Chihiro was the one most like Jewel himself. "I could not do it. Not so soon."
"I see." Just about anyone else would have turned away either out of genuine resignation or a calculated attempt to make Gabriel feel guilt. But Jewel did not. "I ought to have known. Anything that takes so much power that it cripples those isn't for me." And then he turned and began on his way off.
Gabriel wanted to call out, tell Jewel he was sorry, but then the dark seemed to turn in on itself and fall on him in a fast collapse.

Ailill tipped his head back and stared up at the ceiling. Solid stone as far as he could see, and it wasn't as if he was a Niwatori or one of the Harpy sisters-
(and if I were I'd have a serious crisis)
-and could fly up and tap them and see. It was safe to assume they were indeed stone.
Something black embedded among the stones caught his eye. He squinted, trying to see more of it and wishing some of the sharpness of his ears would transfer to his sight. After a while he ascertained it was like another eye, looking straight at his. Like a stray part of Wall Shadow-
(though I wish Brendan's friend was here, with that Kunai Whip Chain)
-it was watching, though lacking the capacity to reach out and destroy him. At least, he hoped it lacked that capacity. It was probably just there to see, to make sure he didn't try biting the chains or something-
(it's not like I have teeth like Jade has got in seeing duels no Jade wouldn't be stuck here for a minute)
- and when he thought of Black Jade Ailill thought of Jewel, of something he had said once -
(You know, my sister told me stories once about the humans who came before Masters-)
(There were people before Masters?)
(Must have been, because these hadn't got decks. They couldn't call on us to rescue them like Masters do. Whenever these people got shut into something with a locked door and chains and such all they had to do was, whenever someone came in, all they had to do, see, was knock out that someone-)
(How could they do that if they were chained up?)
(Chihiro didn't say. I think they kicked them in the leg and then hit them when their head came down. Or grabbed their necks. Or something. So, see, to get in, that person had to have a key, so these people would take the key and let themselves out. Just like that)
(And it was that easy?)
(Well, not really, but it worked something like that…)
-and Ailill smiled, casting his eyes back down to hide it from the eye that couldn't know everything.
(Jewel, you really are a friend)

Mokuba groaned softly and stretched all four limbs to their fullest extent. Another groan was liberated as he noted the progress the sun had made. He hadn't intended to nap for so long after he'd dragged Gabriel to someplace where Yugi & Co. would have no reason to visit.
Then again, that meant they probably would visit. He just had to make sure they didn't do it when Gabriel was around. He wasn't sure why Gabriel was scared of Yugi, but there was no way Mokuba Kaiba was going to see him without first convincing Gabriel. If he just left, it would mean he didn't mean it when he said, "thanks for saving me." It would mean that he thought whatever reason Gabriel had for being afraid was stupid, even though he hadn't even heard that reason.
But how was he supposed to actually hear that reason? Excuse me, but I noticed you're scared of Yugi, so could you please tell me why, even though I'm a stranger? Fat chance.
What else was there to do?

"Yuge, mind tellin' me why ya skipped out on the finals?"
"I never said you had to come with me."
"Someone's gotta make sure ya don't run offa cliff considerin' yer really whacked-out logic."
"You don't understand, Joey."
"How can ya expect me ta understand somethin' that's so incredibly dumb?"
Téa Gardner, Tristan Taylor, and Ryou Bakura stood before the conversing pair, fulfilling their role as audience. Joey was pacing around Yugi, periodically flinging his arms into the air and performing similar gestures. It could be compared to the orbit of the Earth around the sun, except for the facts that the Earth does not talk with an accent, the Earth does not have arms to fling, and, of course, the Earth is smaller than the sun.
"But without the Dark Magician-"
"Then use da Summoned Skull already! Ever looked at that card? Twenty-five hundred attack! Just like the Magician!" Joey stopped his orbit (another thing the Earth does not do) and walked straight up to Yugi. "I can't believe you've broken down like this just 'cause your favorite's on vacation. Have ya listened to yourself? Ya oughta trust in da heart of da cards an' all that!"
"But what happened to the Dark Magician could happen-"
"But, it hasn't! So get back to that castle an' kick some-"
"But- without the Dark Magician, I can't use-"
"Yuge, da heart of da cards isn't gonna get a heart attack just 'cause you can't use some hats an' a box."
Silence. "I don't know. I don't know what's gotten into me…"
Téa decided she was tired of acting as audience. "Yugi, we're your-"
"Friends. I know. But how am I supposed to duel Pegasus if the Dark Magician hated me so much he didn't even leave a picture?"
More silence. "Oh my," said Ryou at last, "I suppose 'heart of the cards' has its flaws."