Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Dragon Rising ❯ Chapter Seven ( Chapter 7 )

In which Yugi discovers a few more things about his mother and his friends extract a confession

 

Alianna frowned as she and Drizzt listened to Yugi relate his experience at school. “Metallic?” Drizzt said as much as asked. Yugi nodded, warming his hands on the pottery mug of tea he held, a concoction Drizzt made to soothe his raw throat and still queasy stomach. “Did it feel like it burned when you breathed in? And linger in your mouth?” the drow prompted, earning another nod. The dark elf looked at Alianna, brow furrowed with some concern.

 

“Surely not,” he said.

 

She grimaced, “He did swear vengeance on the bloodline. That sort of thing will stick like a bur in a wolf's paw.”

 

Yugi stared at his teachers in a way he knew they'd take as his question.

 

“Alright,” Alianna started, sitting beside Yugi, “First, to explain why you felt ill about the cafeteria food, one, it's even more appalling than typical food in this world and two, your sense of smell kicked in and you smelled everything about whatever it was.” He nodded in acceptance. She looked at Drizzt, who pushed himself up off the easy chair and went to dig around in the cabinets.

 

He returned a few moments later with a still steaming teapot and a delicate bottle of amber colored liquid. He filled Yugi's mug again with tea from the pot, then added a splash of the amber liquid, which Yugi's now sensitive nose identified as having ethanol in it. He stared at the drow suspiciously. “Brandy,” the older male explained, “And trust me. You'll need it to help you stay relaxed with this upcoming revelation.” That didn't bode well.

 

“So,” Alianna began, “To start, I suppose I ought to tell you a bit about your mother. In Terran, she was, simply put, one of the most capable magicians and warriors that have been around in awhile. She could beat me, but I doubt you get the gravity of that statement (Yugi didn't). Anyhow, aside from her duties in the Dragon City and from being your mother, she would go out and help other magicians or armies that needed assistance. But, as some wizards go, she had a particular enemy that had a hells of a grudge against her for some reason. Wherever there was a conflict that involved her, he was more often than not behind it.”

 

Yugi took a sip of tea, flinched when he remembered there was brandy in it, and set it on the coffee table.

 

“To come to the point, your mother and this magician finally came to their final confrontation. In the process, she roughed him up fairly well, cutting off his left hand and taking one of his ears when he dodged a blow that would've otherwise taken his head. He started out fairly handsome but by the time she was through with him, he hardly resembled the man he had been. Of course, this battle took its toll on her and he was her match in strength. Near the end, she placed a curse on him when the tip of her dagger pierced his heart and snapped off. She cursed him to slowly die and yet never take the final step, to keep living, no matter how much pain he was in. His magic was torn away so he was forced to scratch together from remnants of spells and pockets of natural magic. His kingdom was shattered and strewn to the corners of the world, as was his hold of fear over Terran. However, at the end of the battle, he swore and placed his own curse. He swore that he would never rest until she and her bloodline were wiped from the face of the worlds and made as if they never existed. He would not rest until her children's many times great grandchildren, down to the last infant, was dead and gone.”

 

A chill suddenly crept down Yugi's spine as he turned his head to look at Alianna, who's eyes were looking right at him.

 

“You're mother was a good woman, but she could be quite ruthless. But so could he. Perhaps that's why they were so hostile towards each other. They were alike and yet totally opposite.”

 

Yugi picked up his mug and took a sip, now understanding why Drizzt had added the brandy. Alianna didn't have to spell out what her story meant. When his mother died, the curse had passed on to the next generation, her son. Him.

 

“So,” he said after a few sips of tea to soothe his still aching throat. “Will he come after me?”

 

“Do you know what happens when magic is corrupted?” Drizzt asked, seeming to suddenly change the subject and take over the conversation. Yugi shook his head. “Magic, itself, is a fairly neutral thing. The wielder determines whether it is good or evil. Don't ask about black magic, that's a gray area. It can actually serve good, but we'll get into that later. Anyway, since magic itself is fairly neutral, it is very hard to corrupt. But when it is corrupted, it becomes a merciless, festering thing that has a thirst for the life force of living things. It takes a great, evil power to corrupt magic or a great, terrible curse. When your mother's curse settled on the magician, the magic was corrupted.

 

“Now, when magic is corrupted, it gains a unique property. Unlike magic in its pure form, where one might detect buzzing or a faint, strange odor, corrupted magic smells quite bad. It takes on the tones of corruption itself—decay, stagnant. It also takes on a noxious scent too that lingers and leaves a metallic tang in the mouth of whoever smells it, like old blood. Since it is thirsty for life, it grows scalding, and burns whoever breathes it in. Some can die from this encounter, others, rarely, can be consumed and become a corrupted thing of their former selves. And some, especially one who had been touched with corrupted magic before, can feel ill as their bodies reject what it knows to be unnatural.”

 

Yugi finished the tea in one gulp.

 

“When the magician cursed your mother's bloodline, it was touched with corrupted magic. When he was cursed, his scent was warped to that of the magic that corrupted him. What you smelled at school was corrupted magic. As for your senses going haywire…”

 

“He's found me. Or at least knows I exist,” Yugi said, for some odd reason feeling frightfully calm. He looked accusingly at his empty cup, then the brandy bottle. “This is rather inconvenient. What now?”

 

The two elves exchanged glances, an entire conversation passing between them in a second. “Now? We step into high gear. You've learned all you need with practical magic. Once you have the foundation, it's up to your brain and imagination to use it. Now we move on to some serious study. Starting tomorrow, you'll spend an hour or two with Drizzt, stretching and exercising, then training with weapons. You'll go to school, then spend another hour with Drizzt before spending the last three with me,” Alianna said. Yugi stared as she laid out his lesson plans. He began to think it was a very good thing he liked learning about what the fey had to teach him. “Then, once we believe you're ready, which shouldn't be long…”

 

“You'll come with us to Terran, where you can really learn,” Drizzt finished off.

 

That didn't settle. “What! No! What about the rest of school? And Grampa? I have to help him with the shop and not to mention my friends will wonder where I disappeared to and—”

 

“The school year is done in about two weeks as it is,” Alianna said, suddenly sounding stern and cool for the first time. “As for Solomon, he is more than welcome to come with us or visit, he has the ability, and he has managed the shop without you before. If you really feel he needs assistance, I have more than enough people who will gladly help him if I ask it of them. As for your friends, they are owed an explanation as it is. They're coming up as we speak.” Her eyes were dangerous and feral as they locked with his, the dark green suddenly showing flecks of amber and gold and taking an altogether wolf-like appearance to them. Yugi suddenly realized what he'd subconsciously thought all along—his friend was not the typical elf.

 

A knock sounded at the door and he looked away, ending the staring contest between them. “I'll get it,” he said in a subdued voice and rose to answer the door. Drizzt looked at Alianna and quirked an eyebrow, “I saw that.” She blinked and looked at him, “What?”

 

“You just pulled alpha on him. Don't try to pretend you didn't.”

 

“Hmph. Well, it was going to happen because he's just as stubborn as Deirdre was. Besides, it got the point across.”

 

“Uh-huh. You also just assured that the newly rising dragon in him would mind what you said.”

 

“Would you rather it didn't?”

 

“No.”

 

Yugi came back in then, looking a little tense as his three friends followed him and took seats on the couch and floor. “Hey, Ali, Drizzt,” Tea said as she settled on the couch. “What's up, you two?” Tristan greeted, flopping on the bean bag chair then straightening in puzzlement at finding it much firmer and a bit uncomfortable, “What on earth…?”

 

“River rocks,” Yugi said dully, not at all liking what he had to say.

 

“What?”

 

“I think we're going to need more tea,” Drizzt said, rising and walking into the kitchen.

 

Joey raised an eyebrow and fished around in his back pack for something. “Hey, Yug, ya left this at lunch when you rushed off,” he said, pulling out the small book. Yugi blinked, “Oh. Thanks, Joey.” He reached for it, only to have Joey yank it back at the last second and wave it in the air. “You get it back when ya tell us what's goin' on,” he said. Yugi mastered the urge to growl in annoyance at the stubborn human and looked at Alianna. The elf lifted one eyebrow pointedly, then walked out of the room to join Drizzt in the kitchen.

 

“You're hiding something from us, man. It's not cool,” Tristan said.

 

“Really, Yugi. Tell us what's going on,” Tea added.

 

Drizzt walked back in then, carrying several more mugs and another pot of tea, which he replaced the old one with. He poured three mugs and added in brandy. “You'll need it to remain calm,” he explained as the three teenagers looked at him blankly when he passed out the mugs. “I'd listen to him,” Yugi said dryly, propping his chin in his hand, which rested on the arm of the couch. They continued to stare blankly as Drizzt walked from the room, clapping Yugi's shoulder briefly in a companionable, supporting clasp.

 

“Alright, spill it, Yug,” Joey said as soon as Drizzt was out of the room.

 

Yugi sighed, saw that there was no escape and that his precious book would not be coming back until he told all. So, he did.

 

An hour later, his three friends had just finished their second mugs of tea with brandy and were apparently taking the news well. “So,” Tristan said, setting his mug down, “Let me get this straight. You're half black dragon demon, so your dad comes from some place named Terran. Your mom met him there, married him, had you, and ended up becoming some great magician and kicked the crap out of some guy, who cursed her and indirectly cursed you. Ali and Drizzt are, in fact, elves, and knew your mom when she was alive and were friends with Gramps before they met you. Now they're teaching you whatever it is you need to know about your heritage and whatever else they think might come in handy. Is that basically it?”

 

“Yes,” came the resigned reply from the newly disclosed half blood who still didn't like that fact.

 

They stared at him for several minutes, letting it all sink in.

 

“Right,” Joey said after awhile, “Okay. Yeah. I think I can accept that without wantin' to bang my head into a wall. I mean, we've gone through some weird stuff before, right? We've heard weird stuff before, right?”

 

“Yeah,” Tristan said.

 

“No big deal,” Tea agreed.

 

Yugi stared at him in confusion and slight disbelief. Several more minutes passed.

 

“So,” Tristan cleared his throat, “Okay. We believe you, Yugi, but…uh…could you…you know…offer some evidence? I mean, the other weird stuff had some evidence to, so, uhm…let's keep with tradition.”

 

That sounded a bit more like what Yugi was expecting to hear. He stared back at them, then, without turning his head, called, “Drizzt, can I borrow your dagger?” The dark elf popped his head in, “Why?”

 

“They want proof.”

 

“Oh. Well, in that case,” he stepped in, shedding his human glamour like a snake shed its skin. His human girth slimmed to his typical size, the broad shoulders getting slightly smaller. The angles of his cheek bones and jaw became more defined, the purple intensifying in his eyes. His ears elongated and pointed. His hair went from what looked like a dyed platinum blonde to snowy white. “Ta da,” he said, holding out his arms and turning for inspection.

 

The three teens stared. Then they looked at Yugi. He smiled, showing off his still rather new fangs. “More tea?” he asked politely, making the tea pot float up and bob happily over to Tea, where it promptly refilled her mug and the sugar bowl bounced over proudly and began to spoon in sugar.

 

“I'm sold,” Joey said in a tiny voice.

 

“Ditto,” Tristan said.

 

Tea, to both Yugi's and Drizzt's surprise, seemed eager as well as shocked. “Tea?” Yugi asked. The girl looked from the sugar bowl, which now strutted back to its place, to Yugi. “Can you teach me to do that?” she asked and Drizzt roared with laughter.