Chapter 9: Legend of the Sacred Sword
It was a calm day on Astraea Island. Jaden found himself continuing his search for the Wicked Gods more or less alone once again. Most of the students on the island were taking a special two-day trip to a resort off the island, and Chikaru’s entire God Hunter club was among that group. At least Jaden had a better idea of what to look for. He learned from his trip to the cave where The Wicked Eraser was once hidden that the other two cards were each in a small chest. The big question though, was where each of those chests was. As Jaden pondered that question just outside of Miator, he ran into a familiar silver haired girl.
“Shizuma, I certainly didn’t expect to run into you.” Jaden greeted.
“Hello Mr. Yuki.” Shizuma greeted back.
“Um, would you mind calling me Jaden?” the wandering pro-duelist requested. “Being called Mr. Yuki sounds weird.”
“If you prefer.” Shizuma replied. “Not that it’s any of my business, but what exactly are you still doing here on this island?”
“I’m doing some work for Mr. Pegasus.” Jaden answered. “I’m afraid I can’t tell you what that work is though. I’m actually a little surprised to see you here though Shizuma. I would’ve thought that you’d be on that trip with the other students.”
“I have Etoile duties to perform.” Shizuma explained.
“Wow, being the Etoile must be a real drag.” Jaden observed. Jaden’s words made Shizuma pause.
“…You know Jaden, there was a time when I really enjoyed being Etoile.” Shizuma said with a sad look in her eyes. “But now I’ve lost all passion for the position. In fact, I’ve lost my passion for a lot of things. Well, I should be going now. It was nice seeing you again.”
With those words, Shizuma left. Jaden thought about Shizuma’s reaction to his comment about being the Etoile. It was something that he didn’t quite expect.
“What was that about?” Yubel asked as she appeared next to Jaden. “It looked like the girl was going to tear up.”
“She did seem real sad about something.” Jaden agreed. “Whatever it is, I think it explains why she didn’t even try to beat me in our duel.”
“You think that something’s caused her to lose her thrill for dueling?” Yubel asked.
“For awhile I thought that Shizuma just didn’t like being Etoile.” Jaden answered. “After our little conversation though, I’m thinking that something really bad happened to her. Something that just caused her to no longer enjoy dueling.”
“You want to help her get her passion for dueling back, don’t you?” Yubel asked knowing very well what her human partner’s answer was.
“If I can.” Jaden replied.
“I’m not sure if there’s too much you can do about it.” Yubel theorized. “But there might be a certain redhead who might be able to do something.”
* * *
Meanwhile, on the bus taking the Miator students to the beach resort where they would be spending the next two days at, Nagisa looked thoughtfully out the window at the passing scenery. She found that for some reason, she could not get Shizuma off of her mind. It wasn’t because Nagisa felt that she hadn’t properly thanked Shizuma for helping her pass her French exam however. The day before the trip, Nagisa had baked Shizuma some cookies as a thank you gift. Not that Nagisa was very good at baking, and she dropped the basket that the cookies were in just before giving them to Shizuma. Shizuma seemed to like them anyway though.
There was another reason why Nagisa was thinking about Shizuma, but she couldn’t figure out what that reason was. One thing was certain however; Nagisa wished that Shizuma could’ve gone on the resort trip with her. Earlier, when Nagisa asked her friend Tamao if she knew why Shizuma wasn’t coming with them, she was told that it was because Shizuma had Etoile duties to perform. Nagisa didn’t like the fact that Shizuma had to work while the rest of them were having fun, not one bit. Mostly though, Nagisa just wished that Shizuma was there with her.
“Nagisa, we’re here.” Tamao said from her seat next to Nagisa as the bus pulled up to the resort where they would be staying. “Nagisa?”
“Huh?” Nagisa asked as she snapped out of her trance and turned to Tamao. “I’m sorry Tamao, did you say something?”
“I said we’re here.” Tamao said with a chuckle. “Is something wrong Nagisa?”
“Uh, no, nothing’s wrong.” Nagisa answered with an innocent smile. “What’re we waiting for? Let’s go start our vacation!”
With those words, Nagisa got up and left the bus, with Tamao following close behind. Even though she couldn’t get Shizuma off her mind, Nagisa was determined to have a good time on their trip.
* * *
Back on the island, Jaden decided to check out the church where the St. Spica choir sang to see if there was a Wicked God card hidden there. Jaden had no idea why the idea didn’t occur to him before. It seemed to him that a church would be a good place to hide something like a Wicked God. Jaden entered the church, and as he expected, it was more or less empty. There was one person in there however, a red suited man with long grey hair. Jaden knew that it could only be Pegasus.
“Mr. Pegasus, what are you doing here?” Jaden asked as he approached the creator of Duel Monsters.
“Ah Jaden, this is a surprise.” Pegasus greeted as he noticed Jaden’s arrival. “I’m guessing that you’re here looking for one of the Wicked Gods.”
“Yeah, and I’m guessing that there isn’t one here.” Jaden assumed.
“You guess correctly.” Pegasus replied. “This was one of the first places that my men searched. Obviously they found nothing.”
“Well, so much for that theory.” Jaden said in a disappointed tone.
“Don’t be discouraged my boy. I know you’ll find where those cards are hidden.” Pegasus said encouragingly. “Now, to answer your original question, I came here to investigate this old relic.”
Pegasus gestured to a large stone tablet that was mounted to the wall. There was an image carved into the tablet. Though it was greatly worn with age, Jaden could tell that the image was of a sword of some kind. There was also some sort of writing engraved into the bottom of the tablet. Jaden knew that the writing had to be the language of some ancient culture.
“What exactly is this thing?” Jaden asked.
“This tablet, which is about 8,000 years old by the way, depicts an ancient and powerful sword.” Pegasus explained.
“Where did it come from?” Jaden asked, a bit more intrigued.
“That, my boy, is the oldest legend on the island.” Pegasus began. “Once upon a time, a pair of young lovers had earned the wrath of a powerful witch. The identity of this couple and what they did to anger the witch has sadly been lost to the sands of time. What is known is that the lovers fled the kingdom where they lived to escape the witch’s wrath. The witch was relentless however. She sent an army of demons and creatures of the undead after them.
“Eventually, the two young lovers came to this very island. They lived in peace for a time, until the witch and her army of darkness found them. The young couple, realizing that they could no longer run away, stood ready to face their pursuers. They swore to each other that they would stand together, even in death. It was then that a miracle happened. Somehow, the strong love that the couple had for each other had created a powerful sword. Uniting their power, the lovers used the sword to slay the witch and her evil army in a single stroke.”
“Wow, that’s quite a story!” Jaden exclaimed. “Why are you so interested in this sword though?”
“Because I think this sword might be just what we need to destroy the Wicked Gods.” Pegasus answered.
“You’re using this sword tablet to make a card, aren’t you?” Jaden asked in realization.
“That’s correct.” Pegasus replied. “Unfortunately, I haven’t made much progress in completing it. I’ve been having trouble translating the text on the tablet.”
“What kind of language is it?” Jaden asked as he looked at the tablet with a raised eyebrow.
“I’m not sure, but my theory is that it’s some form of Atlantian.” Pegasus answered. “My top researchers have been analyzing this text for months and have come up with nothing. I haven’t had this much trouble with translating ancient text since I created The Winged Dragon of Ra card.”
“Well, we probably won’t need this card if I can find the Wicked Gods before anyone else does.” Jaden said as he pondered the tablet.
“I certainly hope that making this card will end up being unnecessary.” Pegasus agreed. “However, if the Wicked Gods do end falling into the wrong hands, this card may be our only hope.”
* * *
Later that night, in a forest behind the resort where the Astraea Island students were spending the weekend, Tamao was hiding behind a large bush waiting for Nagisa to walk by. The students were in the middle of a game that was traditionally played during the night of the resort trip. In this game, each of the students would form pairs and walk though the dark forest to a field on the other side. The first pair to make it to the field would be the winners. Afterward, all of the students would spend the rest of the night stargazing.
Nagisa and Tamao had paired up for the game, but Tamao just couldn’t resist the opportunity to play with her dear Nagisa. Before that year, Tamao had never had a roommate at the Strawberry Dorms. So she was overjoyed when she finally got one, but she never expected to get a roommate as cute as Nagisa. Tamao had become attracted to Nagisa since she first laid eyes on her. She had found that Nagisa was often cutest when she was scared, and she scared easily. The trip through the forest was the perfect opportunity for Tamao to scare Nagisa and record her cute screams.
Tamao suddenly heard footsteps approaching. She peeked over the bushes to see who it was. There was just enough light to see that it was Nagisa. Everything was going according to Tamao’s plan. Tamao turned on her tape recorder and waited for Nagisa to get close enough. The bluenette could see the scared expression on Nagisa’s face. It was time to scare her.
As soon as Nagisa was only inches away, Tamao shook the bush she was hiding behind, causing Nagisa to scream bloody murder. Tamao found herself in pure ecstasy as she listened to Nagisa scream, and she was very happy that she was able to record that scream so she could listen to it as many times as she wanted to. She needed more though, so Tamao shook the bush again. Nagisa shrieked for a second time, and Tamao had gotten it all on tape. As much as she was enjoying herself, Tamao decided that enough was enough. If she continued scaring Nagisa, the redhead would either faint or run away and get lost.
Very quickly and quietly, Tamao turned off her tape recorder, put it her little bag, and circled around behind Nagisa. Very gently, Tamao touched Nagisa’s shoulder, causing the redhead to scream one more time as she turned to see who was behind her.
“Oh, it’s just you Tamao.” A relieved Nagisa said as soon as she saw that it was only her friend who tapped her on the shoulder.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you like that my Nagisa.” Tamao said with a tiny giggle.
“Just don’t do it again.” Nagisa responded, her heart still pounding like a jackhammer.
“I won’t, I won’t.” Tamao reassured her. “Now shall we get going?”
“Yeah, let’s go.” Nagisa answered, and with that, the two of them preceded to leave the forest.
* * *
That same night back on Astraea Island, Jaden sat looking out the window of his room at the head mistress’ mansion. He was thinking about the card that Pegasus was trying to create to destroy the Wicked Gods. Jaden wondered if there could really be a card so powerful that it could destroy an army of monsters in a single stroke. As Jaden sat pondering, Pharaoh jumped up on the desk that Jaden was sitting at. As soon as the cat opened his mouth to yawn, a ball of golden light flew out.
The ball took the shape of a transparent man with long black hair tied back into a ponytail, and wearing square framed glasses, a white shirt, and a black tie and pants. Jaden knew very well who the apparition was. It was his old history teacher, and the professor who ran the Slifer Red Dorm at his old duel academy, Professor Lyman Banner. Banner died during Jaden’s first year at his old academy during the incident with the Shadow Riders and the Sacred Beasts, though some would say that he actually died a few years before that. The former professor of Slifer Red was the one who first discovered the Sacred Beasts in his quest to create the Philosopher’s Stone, and contracted an incurable disease. Before Banner died, he used his knowledge of alchemy to create a homunculus body for himself. The homunculus body was imperfect however, and began to deteriorate. Banner finally died during a duel with Jaden
Death did not stop Banner from hanging around however. Banner had become a ghost, who most of the time, resided in the stomach of his former cat, Pharaoh. The very same cat that had become Jaden’s after he graduated. As a result, Banner had become one of Jaden’s few traveling companions, and a trusted advisor.
“Hello Jaden.” Banner greeted in his usual enthusiastic manner.
“Hi Mr. Banner.” Jaden greeted back, his mind still on the Wicked Gods and the card that Pegasus was creating to stop them.
“It sure has been awhile since I was last out. So, where are we this time?” Banner asked as he looked at his current surroundings.
“We’re on Astraea Island.” Jaden answered, his mind still on other matters.
“Astraea Island? What are we doing at a trio of all girl duel academies?” the confused dead teacher asked.
“Mr. Pegasus brought me to take care of some business for him.” Jaden explained. “Say, do you know how to translate Atalantian?”
“Atlantian?” Banner asked, once again confused. “I’m afraid that translating a dead language like that is a little beyond my skill. Why do ask?”
“There’s this tablet that Mr. Pegasus is trying to make it into a card.” Jaden explained. “He thinks that the text engraved on it is written in Atlantian. So far, his researchers haven’t been able to translate it.”
“What does this tablet depict?” Banner asked.
“It’s this legendary sword that Pegasus said was used to slay an army of demons.” Jaden answered.
“Of course, the legendary sword of Astraea Island. I’ve heard of the legend.” Banner exclaimed. “Why is Pegasus trying to make that sword into a card?’
“Because we might need it to destroy some evil and powerful cards.” Jaden answered in a serious tone.
At that point, Jaden told Banner the story about the Wicked Gods and their creation, and about his current quest to find them before an unknown enemy did. Banner listened to Jaden’s story intently.
“I see.” Banner said with a serious expression as soon as Jaden finished his tale. “This is very bad. Pegasus’ apprentice may have greatly upset the balance when he created these Wicked God cards.”
“What do you mean?” Jaden asked.
“Well, I’ve mentioned before that the Sacred Beasts are dark counterparts to the Egyptian God cards. A sort of reflection.” Banner explained. “The Egyptian God cards are the light, while the Sacred Beasts are the darkness.”
“What does that have to do with the Wicked Gods?” Jaden asked, not understanding what Banner was trying to tell him.
“You said that Pegasus’ apprentice used research on the Egyptian God cards to create the Wicked Gods. As a result, he created a second set of evil counterparts.” Banner explained. “Because there are two sets of dark counterparts to the Egyptian Gods, there is now more darkness than light. Meaning that the darkness out ways the light, and thus might throw the world into chaos.”
“This is worse than I thought.” Jaden said as he realized what Banner was telling him. “If I don’t find these cards, the world might be destroyed.”
“That’s right.” Banner confirmed. “Especially if these cards fall into the wrong hands.”
* * *
The next afternoon, back at the resort, Nagisa and Tamao were packing their things and preparing to leave. It had been a short vacation, but a fun one. Still, no matter how much fun she was having, Nagisa could not get Shizuma completely off of her mind. She had no idea why the silver haired goddess was dominating her thoughts, but there were times during the trip where Nagisa would wonder what Shizuma was doing at that very moment, or how she was feeling. Nagisa found that she couldn’t wait to return to the island, so that she could see Shizuma once again.
“Are you ready to go?” Tamao asked, snapping the redhead from her own thoughts.
“Uh, yeah. All packed!” Nagisa replied in her usual enthusiastic manner.
“I hope you won’t be lonely while I’m gone.” Tamao said to start conversation.
“Gone?” a confused Nagisa asked. “Oh yeah, you’re going to be with your family during the summer.”
“That’s right.” Tamao confirmed. “It’s a shame that you can’t go stay with your parents during the summer break.”
“It can’t be helped since they’re working overseas.” Nagisa replied.
“You’re sure you won’t be lonely while I’m gone?” Tamao asked as she suddenly grabbed Nagisa’s hand.
“I-I’ll be fine Tamao, I promise.” Nagisa answered a little surprised.
“Okay.” Tamao replied with a smile. “C’mon, we better get going. The bus will be here soon.”
Nagisa nodded, and the two friends went outside to wait for the bus that would drive them to the boat that would take them back to Astraea Island.
