Chapter One

Ripped Sky

Millions of stars winked down on Domino City's neon night lights. The sky rippled like a dark sea, and waves of stars crashed against each other. A rupture tore open the sky like a busting seam. Bright azure with puffy, lazy clouds was caught between the nighttime's deep navy and sparkling stars.

Yugi Muto blinked, rubbed at his eyes, and pushed up on his tippy toes to get a better look out the window of the game shop. The clashing of daytime and nighttime remained, and the dividers emitted black sparks like lightning into both anomalies. Yugi's jaw slacked. He said, "What's happening? It's like there's another sky breaking through ours!"

"I'm not sure."

He glanced to his right. The pharaoh's transparent figure stood in the same blue-striped pajamas Yugi wore. The pharaoh, however, stood straight and was not alarmed. Yugi found himself longing for the pharaoh's bravery for the fiftieth, sixtieth time since they'd met? Yugi said, "Does this have something to do with the Egyptian god cards being stolen?"

"The events occurred too close together to be a coincidence," the pharaoh said. "With that and another appearance of a power capable of sealing souls, I'd say we have a new enemy on our hands."

Yugi gulped. The black lightning was thickening in a swarm. The blue sky was almost blotted out, and he could no longer see any stars. He felt as though his hope was suffering the same fate. They'd barely defeated the last enemies that had hunted the pharaoh, and Yugi and his friends never found victory without casualties. For a split second, he considered running away from Domino City.

He watched the pharaoh. His expression was harsh as he observed the darkening skies. He was always, always ready to face whatever life threw at them, which was exactly why the world – and Yugi – needed him. Yugi copied his confident stature and said, "Whatever happens, we'll protect what matters most. What do we do?"

"I'm not sure what we can do," the pharaoh responded.

"What's all the racket in here?" Yugi's grandpa stepped into the shop and wiped sleep from his eyes. His gray hair spiked in all directions. "You woke me up with your muttering."

"Sorry, but… look!" Yugi pointed to the sky. His grandfather reached for the windowsill and leaned upwards like Yugi had moments ago.

"Er, what am I supposed to be looking at?"

Yugi rolled his eyes and said, "The giant rip in the-"

"He can't see it, Yugi," the pharaoh said. "We're the only ones."

Yugi exhaled, his eyes wide. "Um, sorry, grandpa. It's nothing. I saw a shooting star and got a little excited, haha."

He laughed and ruffled Yugi's hair. "I understand. Just try to keep it a little quieter from now on, alright? I hope your wish comes true."

As he padded back to his room, Yugi thought about what wish he would've made. He just wanted everyone to be okay. He wanted anything but for his friends to pay the cruel prices of the Shadow Games again. If he could take it all upon himself, he would.

The black lightning darted in and out of the bright, blue sky like a sewer's thread. The tear in the night sky was repaired. Yugi wondered if his wish had come true after all.

An enormous crackle of ebony lightning tore from the sky and shattered the surface of the distant sea. Yugi could see the tremendous splash it caused from where he stood. The following boom of thunder was loud enough to force Yugi to press his palms to his ears.

The pharaoh hadn't moved an inch. His violet eyes thinned. "That cannot mean anything good. However, we cannot take action. I'm sorry for the interruption, Yugi. You should try to rest. It's all we can do."

Yugi tore his eyes away from his reassuring friend and looked to the horizon. The scattering of the storm's darkness had left the sky clear and glittering like diamonds spread upon black velvet. Yugi could not forget the blotting darkness, though; he could not steal his thoughts back from lingering on what that darkness had brought.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/

A trio of stone serpents coiled from the ceiling. Their petrified eyes, though lifeless, seemed to be carved with malice. Three cards rested upon their forked tongues. The central was colored like blood, which outlined the spiked form of Slifer the Sky Dragon. The leftmost item sparkled like spun gold in the torchlight, and the brilliant feathers of The Winged Dragon of Ra matched. The final card was cobalt like the coldest stone in solidarity with the expression of Obelisk the Tormentor.

"Wow. Three trading cards. So much to show after thousands of years. I am impressed, patron."

The man kneeling before the cards flicked back the hood of his tan robe. His turquoise eye darkened while light caught in the golden eye. "Do not make me regret recruiting you. Perhaps I should have neglected to restore your tongue."

The girl beside him scratched at the band of her white eyepatch. "Just kidding around. Geez. I'm still trying to gain a grasp on the whole… 'depth perception' issue."

"You'll get over it."

"No sympathy for dear old me after all we've been through together?"

"Sympathy is borne of a deserving creature, which you are not."

She rubbed her upper arms, disturbing her obnoxiously long and baggy t-shirt. "Did it get colder in here, or was it just you, patron?"

"I go by Dartz," he said, the words clipped.

She laughed. "Of course you do! So why'd you bring me here to look at three pieces of cardboard, 'Dartz?'"

Dartz folded his hands behind his back. "You would do well not to insult the gods of Egypt, Rahlin."

"Mhmm, right! The Egyptian gods are looking very rectangular today!"

"These are the true vessels of the gods, taken from the pharaoh himself."

"Oh. Oh!" Rahlin adopted an awkward grin. "Uh, sorry about the whole 'cardboard' thing. Honest mistake. It was a joke, really! Please don't smite me or anything."

"I long for the days when you were silent and obedient, my child. Speaking of which." He reached behind him and shoved a black metal box into Rahlin's hands. "The chosen method of combat in this era is Duel Monsters. I imagine you haven't forgotten the rules. I've taken the liberty of removing the white cards, since you aren't allowed to use them here."

"You mean you messed with my decks?" She peered into the box, which held several stacks of cards. "Hm. We have to win a duel to steal a soul? Seriously? That seems so much more tedious and inefficient."

"I concur, but we are bound to the specified combat of their culture. That reminds me. The blood would not come out of your clothes. You'll need to purchase some new ones."

Rahlin's nose crinkled as she observed herself. She grasped the hem of the giant shirt she wore. "I'm stuck in Rafael's shirt? You're a whole barrel of disappointment today."

"The feeling is mutual, I assure you. Choose something professional. You're a representative of my company, and I have a reputation to uphold. One of the other Reapers will take you shopping."

"The humans?" she muttered. "Do they know what they're gathering souls toward?"

A smile curled on Dartz's face. "Try asking them. It would do you well to get to know your coworkers."

She wound a strand of her long, white hair around her finger. "You mean I actually have to, like, interact with them? But you know I'm- and they're- um, I don't see us getting along."

"Be civil," he warned. "Whether you like it or not, they are allies."

"'Whether you like it or not,'" Rahlin repeated in a high-pitched, mocking tone. She walked down the long hallway flanked by stone columns. Fires blazed in the torches. A wall of lavender light stretched into the infinite blackness above. Violet ripples danced from Rahlin's touch. "Does this thing work?"

Dartz rolled his eyes. "Obviously it works, my child."

"A girl can't even ask a question without feeling like an idiot," she murmured, and it was in a futile attempt to forget the rapid beats of her heart. To step beyond the portal meant entering a new world. What little she knew likely wouldn't be of any help.

"Go forward without hesitation," her patron called after her as though hearing her doubts. "You have all you need, Rahlin: your deck, your duel disk, and your path towards fulfilling your greatest desire."

Bright green light flashed at her wrist, and a compacted Chaos model duel disk materialized. Determination replaced the question in her expression. "How many souls?"

Dartz gestured to the wall behind him. Thousands of stone tablets held the still and frightened images of soulless humans. "By my count, at least a couple hundred more."

Rahlin set her jaw and stepped through the portal. Her body suspended in ethereal, lavender light. The sensation of falling jolted her mind back to reality. A doorway shattered as she fell through it and spat her out sideways. She landed on her back, groaned, and clutched her tailbone. She mentally cursed Dartz, sure that he had somehow planned this.

"Graceful entrance."

She glanced up, and red blossomed on the deathly pale skin of her cheeks. Her audience consisted of Rafael and an unfamiliar, blonde woman in a purple leather outfit. They were on the opposite end of a lengthy, carpeted room. A long table with ten chairs filled most of the space. The woman said, "You don't need to rub it in the kid's face. She's clearly embarrassed."

Rafael crossed his beefy arms over his chest. "You haven't heard? That thing's no kid."

She shot him a sour look, neared Rahlin, and knelt beside her. The woman offered a hand and said, "Don't pay him any mind. I'm Mai Valentine. I hear we'll be working together."

Rahlin caught onto how this woman softened her voice as though she were truly addressing a child. Her face twisted in disgust. She stood up on her own and brushed past Mai without a word. Rafael grunted and said, "Told you it'd be a waste of time."

Mai's fingers curled into a fist. "I tried Miss Nice Gal, kid. We're on strict orders not to let you go anywhere alone. Turn around unless you want this to get real ugly."

Rahlin broke into a sprint and shoved through the door to the stairwell. Mai pressed a couple of fingers to her forehead and sighed. Rafael said, "Great job. I'm blown away by the strategy you bring to the table. Good thing Valon asked you on. Not sure what we'd do without these people skills of yours."

"Can you do anything besides stand around and criticize?" Mai snapped. "You could have stepped in at any point if you had a better idea."

Rafael shrugged his broad shoulders. "We'll track her down. She stands out, if you couldn't tell."

Mai looked beyond the set of open acrylic double doors to the empty hallway beyond. "I don't get you. She looked like a normal kid to me."

"You haven't seen beneath that eyepatch of hers," Rafael muttered. He removed a pair of sunglasses from his pocket and started towards the elevator. The tails of his navy trenchcoat flared behind his stride. "Let's find that feral animal."

End of Chapter One

A/N: Thank you for reading! I have a few overall points here

- Cover is by smokeypurple on DeviantArt. Her stuff is incredible and lovely and I highly recommend checking her out! (◕‿◕✿) The edits w/ the background and name are by the lovely overthemoonday!

- The usual: Constructive criticism in reviews and/or PMs is extremely valuable and appreciated! If you have anything to say or suggest, feel free to! I am always trying to improve and need your help! I make a point of responding to reviews, too. The third-person perspective in particular I may be a little rusty on

- This fic is a STANDALONE work, meaning you don't have to read any of my other fics to understand what's happening. That said, this does continue from an Atlantis AU, but the important differences will be explained to you in time

- This note is for whoever has read other fics of mine, and Rahlin sorta kinda looks and acts like another character you know. I'm telling ya right now: Rahlin and Rain are NOT the same person. You can think of them as twins (sort of)

whew okay good thing that's all out of the way. Sorry this chapter was short. The next one will be around my usual length