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Rafael was the first to join after Dartz appeared before him, but he was soon followed by two more who would become his fellow Swordsman of Doma.
The three of them couldn’t be more different. Amelda was serious and quiet, rarely talking to his comrades unless necessary. Outspoken, brash Valon was the exact opposite, always looking to pick a fight with anyone who would take him up on it.
Rafael, for his part, found himself in the role of mediator fairly quickly. He tried not to think about how similar that was to being a big brother. Instead, he tried to focus more on his duties, which involved showing the newest recruits what it meant to be a part of this movement and the best ways to complete the tasks that needed to be done.
Their main objective as Swordsmen of Doma, of course, was to gather more souls as sacrifices to their God. Master Dartz was incredibly clear on this point – that they needed as many souls of strong Duelists as possible to offer up to the great beast that would restore the world to the paradise it had once been.
The second point he was supposed to instill in the other two and any who came after them was that they were also to be on the lookout for any talented Duelists who might be persuaded to join their cause. For the time being, those were the ways all of them were expected to contribute to Doma’s mission.
Though Rafael was quickly learning that, in spite of them all being on the same team, they couldn’t be any more different.
“So, as you know, your success in a Duel as a member of Doma is dependent on whether you can not only win but also play and utilize the Oreichalcos field card to your advantage,” Rafael coached Valon not long after the teenager had cleared the trial Duels and officially earned his place in the organization.
“And how on Earth am I supposed to do that?” asked Valon in that impudent, combative tone of voice Rafael was beginning to learn was just the baseline for him.
“It’s doable if you attune yourself to the Oreichalcos. When you do that, you will become far more likely to draw the card during a Duel, both early and when you need it.”
“Wow, that sounds an awful lot like cheating,” Valon said with a sneer.
“That may be,” Rafael said, pushing down his distaste at the idea. “But the strongest Duelists you encounter will also be attuned to their cards. I myself have an incredibly close bond with my Guardian cards and they never let me down when I really need them. I went through this ritual to achieve the same thing with the Oreichalcos and I can assure you it works, if you do it right.”
“Alright, if you say so. What do I need to do?”
“The ritual is not complicated. You simply need to activate this card on your special Duel Disk, both of which contain the power of the Oreichalcos, and stand in the Oreichalcos circle on the floor in this sacred chamber. Make sure you are wearing your Oreichalcos stone, the one that you earned when you passed the initiation. Then comes the hardest part: you will need to focus on and channel the darkness in your heart as much as you possibly can. The Oreichalcos will resonate with it, and if the ritual is successful, you will hold control over its power.”
“What happens if there isn’t enough darkness in my heart, or whatever?” asked Valon in a surprisingly nonchalant way for what he knew would happen to him if he failed. “What does that even mean, anyway?”
“If the power of the Oreichalcos is able to overwhelm you, then it will take your soul,” Rafael said matter-of-factly. “Try not to let that happen.” He paused, a dark expression drifting across his face. “As for what I mean by the darkness in your heart, it can be anything. It differs from person to person, but it lurks in the heart of every human being. That’s why we’re here, that’s what Master Dartz is trying to accomplish: to bring about a new beginning for the world where it will be free of that darkness.”
Valon knelt on the cold stone floor, the ancient dust of this place irritating his nose and throat. He felt nothing else aside from the intense chill that always permeated this oceanic temple. “So, is something going to happen, or…?”
Bright light suddenly engulfed the entire room as the Oreichalcos symbol on the floor lit up like a solar flare and Valon’s body began shuddering violently. It did not stop after several seconds, and in fact actually was getting worse.
Rafael’s irises flitted back and forth, worry beginning to blossom. Bringing the darkness in one’s heart to the forefront was never a pleasant experience, but this level of agony… Rafael knew Valon’s pain tolerance threshold was pretty high – he’d already seen him take some nasty hits and keep on swinging. The Oreichalcos was fighting him for some reason.
Rafael watched on tensely, balling his hands into fists. He couldn’t help at this point, whether he wanted to or not.
A vicious roar escaped Valon’s lungs as he struggled to keep from convulsing. His hands had gone a ghostly white from gripping his Duel Disk so tightly, and Rafael’s face was fast approaching the same shade.
It seemed for three eternities they remained rooted in place in that room, awaiting fate to decide its course. Valon roared until he was hoarse, then kept on screaming silently. Just as Rafael was certain he couldn’t take any more and was about to be consumed, the Oreichalcos flashed brilliantly, as if releasing a pressure, and began to shrink, absorbing itself into Valon.
“Valon, Valon are you alright?” Rafael questioned as he made his way up the dais, pausing to wait for the green pattern to retreat before finally reaching his comrade. Valon sat there on his hands and knees, panting heavily and shivering.
For a moment, Rafael thought he was choking, before he realized the teen was actually laughing. “Wow! Wow, what a rush!”
“Are you alright?” Rafael repeated more stringently.
“Am I alright? I’ve never felt more alive in my life,” Valon exclaimed. “That Oreichalcos put up such a fight, it was amazing!”
It was only then that Rafael realized what must have happened. Valon made no secret of his love of a good fight. So that was exactly how the Oreichalcos had chosen to test him. The fact that he still had his soul proved he had been triumphant.
Rafael had to admit he was impressed. In spite of being a little rough around the edges, this kid was going to be a serious asset to Doma. “I’m glad to have you on the team,” Rafael said. And he meant it.
“What I want to know is how we select our targets,” Amelda began at the next meeting for which they had all been gathered together.
“That depends,” Rafael said, answering because Dartz had not yet arrived. “Sometimes, Master Dartz will assign a specific target, and it’s then your duty to defeat them in a Duel and claim their soul. But more often, you may choose any target that you wish, so long as Master Dartz has no objections.”
“That is correct,” Dartz’s smooth voice sounded as the leader of Doma stepped into the room, accompanied by that commanding and mystic presence that he always seemed to wear like a ceremonial robe. “And the main topic I wished to discuss with you today. Both the European and South American Duel Monsters championships were held last month and we want to begin targeting participants who finished well.”
“Understood, Master Dartz,” Rafael said with a bow of his head.
“I’m on it,” Valon said enthusiastically. Glancing at his fellow Swordsmen, he added, “I’d even be up for a little friendly competition – see how many we can each bring back.”
Amelda’s response was more measured. “I’m happy to contribute to our mission by Dueling to gather souls. However, Master Dartz, I do have a request. Will you give me permission to pursue Seto Kaiba as a target? He’s a powerful Duelist – surely his soul would make a great offering.”
Dartz looked down at him with a somewhat ambiguous expression that also somehow seemed gentle and understanding. “I’m afraid I must ask you to be patient, Amelda. I assure you that as one of the strongest Duelists in the world, Seto Kaiba’s soul will be ours in the end, and if you wish you may be the one to defeat him in a Duel and claim his soul.” He paused. “But not yet. We will target him when the right time has come, as a final offering to our great God.”
Amelda’s expression remained tense, but he nodded. He seemed to find that answer acceptable, if not satisfying.
“What, you got a crush on him or something?” Valon couldn’t seem to help but heckle Amelda at every single available opportunity – it was hard for Rafael not to notice.
“Absolutely not!” Amelda spat, looking more angry than Rafael had ever seen him before.
“Stop this, you two,” Rafael berated them sharply, breaking in. “You are in the presence of Master Dartz and this is unseemly.” They both backed down, but strong tension still lingered in the atmosphere between them.
Ignoring the argument and turning to Valon, Dartz continued. “Valon, I’m afraid I do not yet have a Duelist who will become your target when we enter the final stages of our plan. There are several possible candidates and I am uncertain which one will be chosen by our adversaries, the Sacred Dragons.”
“Fine by me. I don’t really care who I end up fighting so long as they’re a nice, good challenge,” Valon said with a smirk.
Finally, he addressed Rafael. “Rafael, as a reward for your loyalty and service, as well as a reflection on your skills as a Duelist, I would like you to target the Nameless Pharaoh himself. I take it that is satisfactory and that there are no objections?”
“Thank you, Master Dartz,” Rafael said, bowing. “You truly honor me, and I will not let you down.”
“I want to defeat Seto Kaiba, I couldn’t care less about the Pharaoh,” Amelda added, his eyes fixed on the stone floor intently and his arms crossed.
“Unless there are no other matters to discuss, this meeting is adjourned. Good hunting, gentlemen,” Dartz said with a sly smile as he departed.
Of course this happened when Rafael was overseas on an assignment, Amelda thought angrily to himself as he brought a tray of food from the kitchen area to Valon’s room. So now I have to be the one to look after that idiot until he heals from that stupid stunt he pulled.
As he rounded the corner, Valon came into view. He lay where Amelda had left him, in his bed and almost entirely covered in bandages. Both his right arm and his left leg were in braces, and so was his torso. Several bandages were scattered across his face and legs as well. “‘Bout time you showed up. I’m starving,” he complained with an edge of humor to his voice.
“You’re a meatheaded idiot, you know that?” Amelda snapped as he set the tray down in front of Valon with more force than he’d intended. There was a reason he’d cut up Valon’s food in the kitchen rather than waiting to do it in here.
“Oh really? I didn’t know you cared,” Valon teased back.
“Why don’t you ever think before you act? We’re here to accomplish a mission of critical importance to the entire world, and we can’t do that if you end up as roadkill.”
Valon looked straight ahead, a hard expression coming across his face. “Look, I’m not sure how you’ve missed this but I’m not like you or Rafael. I’m not in this for some shiny ideal of making the world a better place or whatever. I don’t know what either of you have lost that you can’t let go of, but I let go a long time ago. The only thing that matters to me now is the thrill of the fight. Of getting stronger and stronger and having a chance to test myself against stronger opponents still.”
His mouth set in a straight line, Amelda stood up and strode over to a cabinet above the sink, where bandages of all shapes and sizes had found a home. This lunkhead was sure going to need them. “It’s time to change your bandages.”
“Oh goodie, my favorite part.” There came the sarcasm.
It was times like this where Amelda really appreciated Rafael as a glue who seemed to hold the three of them together, even more than Master Dartz, he realized. He grabbed a wad of bandages and some disinfectant before heading back to Valon’s bedside, determined to get this over with as quickly as possible. “Lift up your leg,” he said.
“You could really work on your bedside manner.”
Amelda’s response was to be a bit rougher in his movements as he maneuvered the pillow out of the way and began unwinding the bandage that had been wrapped around Valon’s leg.
“Hey, hey, take it easy, I’m just gettin’ a rise out of you, that’s all,” Valon said defensively.
Amelda remained silent, but his touch grew gentler as he began applying the fresh bandages. The laceration looked like it was healing well, but it had been pretty deep so he applied some more antibiotics to it to be sure before covering it once again. He also made sure Valon had some more painkillers.
“You know,” Valon commented with a grunt of pain, “you’re not bad at this. Taking care of someone else, I mean. Where’d you learn how to do this so well?”
Amelda said nothing for a long time, then, “It’s… not something I like to talk about.”
Valon acknowledged his words with a nod that was, for him, respectful and gentle. “Fair enough.”
After Valon had fully recovered from his accident, the three of them all threw themselves into their work with renewed vigor, all wanting Doma’s vision of the world to become reality for their own reasons. They each worked hard enough that Dartz told them, in fact insisted, that they should take a few days off. Their recent assignments had all taken them to America, and not sure who else to spend that time with, they rendezvoused together.
“So, how was Europe?” Valon asked Rafael as the three of them meandered through an outdoor shopping mall, wanting to pick up some new clothes before restocking on groceries at the supermarket next door. The scents of several different ethnic cuisines rose from the nearby food court, creating a mouthwatering aroma. It was nearly lunchtime though, and the area was packed. They had unanimously decided to wait until the lunch rush was over before sitting down to eat.
“Good. The weather was nice. I collected the souls of eighteen Duelists during my trip.” He paused, the awkwardness of small talk between them showing. “I hear you recruited a new member? A former champion from Japan?”
“Yeah, and she’s a real looker too. I think I might be in love,” Valon said. His tone was playful, but both Amelda and Rafael glanced at him, sensing something deeper beneath.
Noticing this, Valon looked at both of them and said, “I dunno, there’s just something about her. She reminds me of myself, I suppose.”
“She seems like a washed-up has-been to me. I’d be careful with her, if I were you,” Amelda commented.
“Oh? Do I detect a hint of genuine concern for me?” Valon teased.
“Yeah right. As if.”
“Did you get the upgrades to your motorcycle you were talking about, Amelda?” Rafael asked, changing the subject.
“Yes. It seems to be working just fine, and I like it. I’m just glad I can finally have a motorcycle. I always wanted one.” He quieted down as if feeling he’d said too much.
Their conversation evaporated as a commotion erupted from a storefront they were passing by. It was a nice day so many of the shops in the mall had their doors open in order to welcome in customers. This one was clearly some kind of fancy soap and candle store.
“Why don’t you have the purple ones in stock? I don’t want the blue ones. I need to speak to your manager.”
“I’m sorry, sir,” the flustered employee stammered. “That’s a popular color and we sold the last ones earlier today…”
Rafael and Amelda glared in that direction and Valon looked like he might actually rush in there and start a fight, but Rafael’s firm grip on his upper arm stopped him.
“People are loathsome,” Rafael muttered as Valon stalked away. “But that will all go away when we succeed in our mission.”
On a large TV in a store across the way, a newscaster was reporting on a bombing that had just been carried out in some ongoing conflict in the Middle East. “It had better,” Amelda muttered darkly.
They had only gone a few more meters when the screech of tires drew their attention to an arched stone walkway that led to the parking lot. One car crunched into another, setting the alarms blaring. But instead of stopping and dealing with the unsavory situation, the nice black luxury car that had caused the accident peeled away, speeding off with a roar of the engine.
Valon, Amelda, and Rafael looked on in disgust, internalizing this incident along with every other that had taken them down this path they now walked.
After Amelda picked up a few new pairs of pants and Rafael found some boots he really liked, they all returned to the food court to order lunch. They split, all wanting something different. Rafael got Japanese food, Valon decided on Italian, and Amelda opted for the American option.
They all sat, eating their meals in silence. A couple of kids, maybe ten to twelve years old, sat at a nearby table, ripping into some new card packs they must have just bought. The game actually didn’t appear to be Duel Monsters, but their joy and enthusiasm were almost contagious.
All three of Doma’s Swordsmen watched those kids out of the corners of their eyes. Amelda’s gaze lingered longer than the rest.
“We have to do this. For the good of everyone,” Rafael said. But his voice might have wavered.
About a month after that, Dartz called them all together and had said, “The time has now come to set the rebirth of the world in motion. The three of you shall go to the Kame Game Store in Japan and take the Egyptian God Cards from Yuugi Mutou. Never lose sight of your destiny, and you will be victorious.”
The pronouncement honestly didn’t surprise Rafael all that much. He’d suspected something big was coming for the past several weeks, as Master Dartz had been more absent and intense than usual. And with that, the three of them departed swiftly for Japan, where the end would begin.
“Are you ready to go?” Rafael asked his comrades. Two other people he had spent countless months working with towards a singular goal. The closest thing in this world he had to friends, he realized.
Valon and Amelda shared a look with him, and with each other too. They were all on the same page.
The roar of their motorcycles disturbing the peaceful night, the three Swordsmen of Doma rode onward toward the endgame they all sought, and their destiny.