Starlight Hero: World Legacy (Yu-Gi-Oh: World Legacy)

[Stimpak Medic]

Prologue: The Beginning of The End


There exists a myth in the Starlight Forest regarding the creation of the world and its Hero that will rise in the time of Greatest need. A hero who, against all adversity, stands face to face with the Great Darkness, with his friends at his side, and hope in his heart. This is that story.

And in his village, there exists a legend that kicks off such a journey, one that sets the stage for all to see.

It goes as such:

"In days of long ago, there was a God who governed the movements of the heavens.

That God used the dragons as its vassals,

To fulfill their duty of maintaining the heavens in a cycle of creation and destruction.

However, the power of destruction grew each time it was used,

And eventually, the balance of power between creation and destruction had collapsed.

The power of destruction had become so great,

That if it was let loose, it would have certainly destroyed the very heavens it was created to protect.

God decided it was impossible to govern the heavens by themselves.

Using the power of creation, a cage was forged, made of countless layers of the earthen crust,

And the power of destruction was sealed within.

The power of destruction, having lost its way, burned up, transforming into the planet's core.

Its energy blended together with the power of creation coursing throughout the land,

And the energy that flowed forth to the surface of the earth,

Giving rise to life, small existences that repeat the cycle of life and death.

God turned the last vestiges of their being into a 'Key',

Entrusting it to the life that had sprouted across the earth, and disappeared.

Over the countless years to follow, the power of destruction sometimes manifested itself on the surface,

But each time, those small lives stood side-by-side with the dragons.

In time, the 'Key' came to be known as a sword, while the power of destruction came to be known as the 'Great Darkness',

And their story was passed down as the gallant epic of the 'World Hero'.

"Starlight Hero, Raise Your Sword And Gather The Light, You Must Vanquish the Great Darkness"

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"Auram, you're dozing off again."

The soft but firm voice of a young girl snapped Auram out of his sleep.

"Hehehe, you caught me, Ib," Auram admitted, running his pale, youthful hand through his short, bushy, spiky blonde hair. His wide, toothy smile was genuine and held no embarrassment as he sat up from his reclined position on the wooden porch of the small village shrine. The shining blue eyes of his brightly reflected the early morning sun that broke through the tree canopy that covered half the tiny village of their tribe.

He smoothed out the cloth ruffles on his gray shirt and picked some stray leaves that had floated over in the morning breeze off his gray pants.

"Don't tell your brother that I'm slacking off; he'll make sure I eat last at lunch today." Auram continued, looking over to the young, green-eyed girl next to him, who had been meditating for the past half an hour, her green orbed staff leaning against her right shoulder, leaving ruffles in her white Kimono. Her purple long hair shifted as she turned her head to him.

"I won't, just try not to fall asleep again, please." She pleaded earnestly, giving him the wide-eyed look a puppy might give when begging for a treat.

This was almost a daily occurrence. Auram would leave his home to go to the shrine and slack off, avoiding chores from his parents, which was something he had become very good at ever since his fifteenth birthday, no more than five months prior.

"No promises," Auram winked to her with a cheerful wink, before picking up the small book he had brought with him to the shrine. It was a book recounting the legends of the Starlight Forest, the very one they grew up in since birth. The open page revealed a section on barrier magic.

Ib sighed and shook her head before sulking.

"But you promised..." She trailed off, defeatedly.

"Fine, you stick in the mud," Auram replied, giving the younger girl a pat on the head and a laugh.

She slapped away his hand.

"Stop patting me on the head. I'm only a year younger than you," she growled at him, but there was no malice or ill will in her tone.

"Okay, okay," Auram dropped his book and raised his hands in surrender.

"Anyway, are you sure you're okay? I know your job is really hard," Auram asked, getting to the point.

"You ask me this every morning, and my answer is always the same. I'm tired, but it's okay." Ib responded, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

"If there's anything we can do, let us know immediately," Auram said, giving Ib a serious look.

"The great God has given me this mission. I have to see it through. Thank you, though, Auram, I don't know what I'd do without you." Ib responded, looking away as a faint blush was seen on her cheeks.

"Let's hope it never gets to that, haha," Auram laughed, picked up his book, and stood up.

"I'll go make some tea. Just wait here." Auram turned around on the porch and entered the shrine. Its spacious interior was deftly kept to high standards by Ib and her brother Ningrisu, so there was nothing to block his path to the small kitchen in the side room of the shrine.

He used the lighter on the small stove to boil some water, and after some time passed, he hummed a song under his breath, before taking out the teabags, and made two cups of mintroot tea. Slipping an extra cube of sugar into the girl's cup, as he knew she liked sweet things, he placed the cups on a small wooden tray and brought it out to the porch that overlooked the small town and the huge, dazzling forest beyond.

He sat down again, handing the young girl the teacup with the extra sugar and took a sip of his own, after placing the tray on the porch between them.

She took a sip, savoring the sweet and bitter taste of the mix of root and sugar.

The two drank tea in silence for a while before she spoke up again, placing her now half-finished cup on the tray.

"Do you think we'll ever be rid of the Krawlers?" She looked to Auram, who nodded with sincerity.

"Yeah, Ib, one day, the Hero will save us all from them. For now, we just have to sit tight and wait for him or her to arrive." He finished, looking out at the vast, wide world and the bright blue sky above their forest village.

"Well, I hope it's sooner, rather than later," Ib responded, taking another sip of her tea.

"Me too, Ib. Me too." Auram looked sympathetically at the girl next to him.

It was at that moment, when all was quiet, a vibrant pulse of colorful magic washed over the village's dome magic barrier, originating from behind the shrine.

"Krawlers." The two looked at each other in unison, and Auram shot up, dropping the teacup accidentally. Thankfully, it fell into the soft garden grass in the yard next to the shrine stairs in front of him, and it didn't shatter.

"I'll get Brother, you get your weapon," Ib replied anxiously.

"Okay!" Auram shouted, already halfway across the yard, and running down the dirt path towards the center of the village.

Auram barely managed to make it into his family's two-story house, made of thick stone and metal, before he was greeted by his mother and father, who had both grabbed their weapons. While the barrier stopped the Krawlers from entering the village, it didn't hurt the Krawlers, so the villagers needed to fight them off.

"Mom, Dad! Krawlers!" Auram shouted to his middle-aged parents, who were putting on their armor. It was old armor, consisting of strapped on chestplate and leg armor, as well as their sword and pistols, but they did the job at fighting off the weaker Krawlers.

"Come back alive, Son," his father, who looked much like an older version of him with graying blonde hair, said, grabbing his shoulder and giving it a tight squeeze.

"We're gonna be protecting the Kids." His mother said, meeting the two in the living room, which consisted of a large sofa, a table, and a refrigerator.

"Stay safe, Dad, and you too, Mom." Auram smiled before bounding up to his room on the second floor.

Reverberations from the barrier being struck by the Krawlers could be heard with a metallic rumbling Klang every time the barrier was struck.

Donning his chestplate and leg armor, Auram grabbed his double-edged sword and put it in his right hand, took a large golden shield in his left, which was a gift from his father for his thirteenth birthday.

He took a deep breath.

"Focus Auram, we can do this together." He reassured himself before running down the stairs and out his front door back towards the shrine.

Meeting up with Ib at the front of the shrine, as well as with her brother, who was a good head taller than him, with sharp purple hair and piercing green eyes who wielded a long double-bladed spear, and was donned in a plated armor that covered most of his body except his head, the three took off towardsthe commotion.

Ib, taking the initiative, murmured a small prayer, granting both young men a translucent barrier that fit their bodies like a glove. It would protect them from a few attacks, in the event they got attacked and struck unaware.

With the preparations complete, Auram and his friend Ningrisu charged through the barrier protecting the village and engaged the enemy that was attacking, several dozen metallic spiders the size of large dogs that were slamming their bodies against the barriers, while others spat acid and poison from nearby trees.

It was a small force this time, but things were getting worse and worse lately, so who knew if there were more lying in ambush?