The Timeline

The office atop the lavish five-star hotel was silent except for the faint hum of the enormous viewscreen mounted on the wall.

 

The multibillionaire Shadow Game Deck Master, dressed as always in his immaculate crimson suit and gleaming white boots, watched the image before him with an unreadable expression.

 

On the screen, Alexis had finally reunited with her two sisters, Bridget and Asia.

 

Ordinarily, he would have dismissed it as another family reunion that had little to do with him.

 

But nothing about this situation was ordinary anymore.

 

Ever since Asia had unleashed that strange, sinister magic—power that had become entwined with his own mind and dragged fragments of his consciousness into the Umbral Realm—everything he believed about his life had been called into question.

 

There, amid impossible shadows and ancient echoes, he had uncovered a truth that still refused to settle in his thoughts.

 

Katie...

 

His beloved Katie...

 

Had seven daughters.

 

Seven.

 

He leaned back in his leather chair, fingers interlocked beneath his chin.

 

Why didn't she tell me?

 

The question replayed endlessly.

 

Was she protecting them?

 

Protecting him?

 

Or had someone prevented her from speaking the truth?

 

He tried to picture it.

 

A family of nine.

 

Katie...

 

Himself...

 

Seven daughters.

 

The image felt impossibly foreign, yet strangely comforting.

 

He wondered what their lives had been like.

 

What birthdays he had missed.

 

What laughter had never reached him.

 

What memories should have belonged to him.

 

His thoughts were abruptly interrupted.

 

A low, resonant hum filled the office.

 

The air near his mahogany desk twisted into a swirling vortex of violet and silver light.

 

"What now...?"

 

The portal widened.

 

Ancient runes shimmered around its edges before a massive book slowly descended through the opening.

 

It floated with deliberate grace before gently settling onto the polished mahogany surface.

 

The portal vanished without a sound.

 

For several seconds...

 

Nothing happened.

 

Then the book trembled.

 

Its weathered cover creaked open by itself.

 

Thousands of yellowed pages began flipping at impossible speed.

 

FWOOSH!

 

Symbols, diagrams, forgotten languages, and glowing illustrations flashed past in a blur.

 

The pages slowed.

 

Slower.

 

Slower...

 

Until...

 

THUMP.

 

The book stopped.

 

One page lay open.

 

The ink upon it shimmered with faint blue light.

 

The writing wasn't in any language the Shadow Game Deck Master recognized.

 

Instead, it consisted of intricate symbols that somehow rearranged themselves as he stared.

 

A translation appeared beneath them.

 

"Wed Seven Sourcers, soon wed eighth, conceived of eighth will combine with conceived seven, why shalt not yet destroyed?"

 

He blinked.

 

"...What?"

 

He leaned closer.

 

Surely he'd misread it.

 

He read it again.

 

"Wed Seven Sourcers, soon wed eighth, conceived of eighth will combine with conceived seven, why shalt not yet destroyed?"

 

It hadn't changed.

 

His brow furrowed.

 

"Seven Sourcers?"

 

He spoke the words aloud.

 

"Soon wed eighth..."

 

He frowned even deeper.

 

"Conceived of eighth... will combine with conceived seven..."

 

His thoughts raced.

 

Was the passage talking about marriages?

 

Children?

 

Some kind of magical bloodline?

 

Or was it describing a prophecy?

 

Then came the final line.

 

"Why shalt not yet destroyed?"

 

The wording sent an uneasy chill through him.

 

Destroyed?

 

Destroyed by whom?

 

Or what?

 

He stood abruptly, his chair sliding backward across the polished floor.

 

His eyes never left the page.

 

"What is this supposed to mean?" the Shadow Game Deck Master demanded.

 

The office remained silent.

 

The Shadow Game Deck Master sat quietly behind his polished mahogany desk, his eyes fixed on the mysterious book lying open before him.

 

The strange prophecy still echoed in his mind.

 

"Wed Seven Sourcers, soon wed eighth, conceived of eighth will combine with conceived seven, why shalt not yet destroyed?"

 

He rubbed his temples.

 

"It doesn't make any sense..."

 

Then a thought struck him.

 

"Asia.”

 

Among Katie's daughters, Asia possessed the deepest understanding of ancient magic, forgotten languages, and spellcraft.

 

"If anyone can decipher this..." he murmured, "...it's her."

 

He pressed the intercom button.

 

"Crochet."

 

His loyal bodyguard answered immediately.

 

"Yes, Master?"

 

"Bring Asia here. Tell her I have a special Duel Magic card I'd like to give her."

 

"At once."

 

The intercom clicked off.

 

The Shadow Game Deck Master opened a locked drawer beneath the desk.

 

Inside rested a single crimson-and-gold Duel Magic card.

 

He carefully lifted it into the light.

 

Its artwork depicted an enormous dragon wrapped in celestial fire, its wings stretching across the heavens.

 

Across the bottom were its legendary words.

 

Xaltherion, Supreme Dragon of the Ancient Covenant.

 

The most powerful dragon ever created for Duel Magic.

 

Its summoning requirements were infamous.

 

Three Duel Magic monsters had to be sacrificed...

 

And the summoner had to recite an ancient chant that had been lost to history.

 

Because no one knew the chant...

 

The dragon had never once been summoned.

 

"Perfect," he said with a smile.

 

"Asia will love this card... and perhaps she'll tell me what this book is trying to say."

 

Not long afterward, Crochet returned with Asia.

 

She entered the office, curious.

 

"You wanted to see me?"

 

"I have something for you."

 

He handed her the card.

 

Asia looked down.

 

Her eyes widened.

 

"Xaltherion...?"

 

She stared at it in amazement.

 

"This card actually exists?"

 

"It does," the Shadow Game Deck Master replied proudly.

 

"No duelist has ever summoned it. The ritual requires sacrificing three Duel Magic monsters and reciting an ancient chant."

 

He shrugged.

 

"Unfortunately..."

 

"No one knows the chant."

 

Asia smiled softly.

 

She gently closed her eyes.

 

Then, to the Shadow Game Deck Master's complete astonishment, she began speaking in an ancient language before seamlessly shifting into words he could understand.

 

"By blood of three freely given,

 

By flame older than kingdoms,

 

By earth, sky, and the forgotten void,

 

I call upon the Ancient One.

 

Awaken, O Xaltherion, Supreme Dragon of the Ancient Covenant.

 

Break the chains of slumber and answer my summons."

 

Silence filled the office.

 

The Shadow Game Deck Master simply stared.

 

"...You know the chant?"

 

Asia opened her eyes.

 

"I... don't know how."

 

"It just came to me."

 

For several moments neither of them spoke.

 

Then he slowly turned the ancient book toward her.

 

"While you're here..."

 

"Could you read this?"

 

Asia leaned over the desk.

 

Her expression shifted as she read aloud.

 

"Wed Seven Sourcers, soon wed eighth, conceived of eighth will combine with conceived seven, why shalt not yet destroyed?"

 

Her face instantly drained of color.

 

"Oh..."

 

"My..."

 

"God..."

 

Her voice trembled.

 

This..."

 

"This can't be."

 

The Shadow Game Deck Master stood.

 

"What is it?"

 

Asia didn't answer.

 

Instead...

 

The strange symbols upon her abdomen began glowing through her clothing with soft silver light.

 

She gasped.

 

"No..."

 

"This is about..."

 

"Our mother."

 

Tears welled in her eyes.

 

She collapsed into a nearby chair, burying her face in her hands.

 

The Shadow Game Deck Master immediately knelt beside her.

 

"I'm sorry," he said gently.

 

"I didn't mean to upset you."

 

"I only wanted to understand."

 

He placed a comforting arm around her shoulders.

 

"I was thinking only of myself."

 

After several minutes...

 

Asia slowly lifted her head.

 

She looked once more at the page.

 

The glowing symbols on her body shone brighter.

 

She closed her eyes.

 

When she spoke again...

 

It was no longer entirely her voice.

 

It carried an ancient, echoing resonance.

 

"Katie..."

 

"...Princess of the Seven Realms..."

 

"...was wed to seven Sourcers."

 

"From each union..."

 

"...a daughter was born."

 

The room seemed to grow colder.

 

"The Princess was destined..."

 

"...to wed an eighth husband.”

 

From that union..."

 

"...an eighth daughter would be conceived."

 

"The eighth daughter's magic..."

 

"...would unite with the power of the seven sisters."

 

"Together..."

 

"...they would destroy the Forbidden Level..."

 

"...and banish its evil forever..."

 

"...into the Umbral Realm."

 

The glowing symbols faded.

 

Asia's eyes fluttered open.

 

She blinked in confusion.

 

"What..."

 

"What happened?"

 

The Shadow Game Deck Master stood frozen.

 

Everything suddenly made sense.

 

The final line of the prophecy.

 

"Why shalt not yet destroyed?"

 

It wasn't predicting the future.

 

It was asking a question.

 

Someone—or something—had expected the prophecy to have already been fulfilled.

 

Then the horrifying realization struck him.

 

"The Gildebane..."

 

His voice barely escaped his lips.

 

"It altered the timeline."

 

Its enslaved servant had released the deadly toxic gas.

 

Katie had died...

 

Before the eighth daughter could ever be born.

 

The prophecy had been broken.

 

The Forbidden Level remained sealed instead of destroyed because the final child—the one destined to unite the magic of all eight daughters—had never existed.

 

A heavy silence settled over the office.

 

Neither of them wanted to say the thought that now haunted them both.

 

If the prophecy was still trying to complete itself...

 

Then history itself might not be finished changing.

 

The strange magic book rose from the mahogany desk and began floating through the air. Page after page turned on its own as several pages suddenly tore free, disintegrating into shimmering dust before they could touch the floor.

 

"What is going on?" asked the Shadow Game Deck Master, horror spreading across his face.

 

"The Gildebane has altered the future," Asia said solemnly. "Some of the events that were prophesied never came to pass because the Eighth Daughter was never born."

 

As the final page turned, the mysterious book dropped from the air and slammed onto the mahogany desk with a heavy thud.

 

"Is there a way to go back in time and stop the toxic gas attack?" the Shadow Game Deck Master asked.

 

"I'm afraid trying to change the past again could cause even greater damage to both the past and the future," Asia replied, her expression filled with discouragement.

 

The two stood in silence, both wearing blank expressions as they struggled to process everything that had happened.

 

Without warning, the glowing symbols on Asia's belly began to shine with brilliant golden light. A vision flashed before her eyes. She saw a young king and queen carrying a baby girl in an ornate baby carrier, smiling with hope as they walked through a magnificent palace. Just as quickly as it had appeared, the vision faded away.

 

Asia placed her hand upon the strange magic book. The pages flipped at incredible speed before stopping on a single page, as though guided by an unseen force.

 

She read aloud:

 

"A baby girl will soon be born. She shall become the heir to the Seven Realms. Before claiming the throne, she will seek you out during her teenage years so that you may teach her the Shadow Games. The knowledge she gains will one day protect the Seven Realms from the forces of darkness."

 

As Asia finished speaking the prophecy, a swirling portal opened above the desk. The magic book slowly rose into the air once more before ascending into the portal, which sealed itself shut moments later.

 

The Shadow Game Deck Master stood frozen, overwhelmed by everything that had just happened.

 

"This is too much," he muttered. "I need to sit down for a minute."

 

As he lowered himself into the chair, his eyes fell upon a newspaper lying on the desk. Something about the front-page headline caught his attention. He picked it up, and a look of complete shock spread across his face.

 

The headline read:

 

King and Queen of the Seven Realms Announce They Are Expecting a New Heir

 

"How is this possible?" the Shadow Game Deck Master asked in disbelief. "Asia just revealed the prophecy."

 

Asia looked at the newspaper before meeting his gaze.

 

"The Gildebane has altered the timeline before," she said. "And it's going to be up to us to stop it from doing so again.”