#durbe x ryouga x rio

[sirdurbe]

[baddyzarc]

6/7 Ruins: Legends of Labyrinth

1 2 3 4a 4b 5 x 7  

Due to the severe overlap in Vector and Nasch/Merag’s story, I couldn’t finish talking about all of Vector without talking about Nasch first. He is integral to understanding Vector’s behavior and roles. 

Nasch and Merag are the final Barian Emperors of the show. Unlike the other Emperors, they don’t have a “canon” legend of their own. Their story is told to us through the memories of Ryouga after being prompted by Abyss, the Guardian of this ruin, and Durbe.

Although this legend is supposed to cover both Nasch and Merag, Nasch ends up with the fuller story (and therefore more focus). Merag died at the start of the legend and only had a couple of episodes as an Emperor. Her role is important for Nasch’s motivations, but that’s just what she is—a motivation for Nasch. It sucks, but there a few noteworthy things about her.

These ruins are located in the Labyrinth under the ocean. It isn’t clear what trickery is at play (I assume Duel Monsters magic) so this place may or may not be a real location. It existed in the past, but that one was on land while this one is submerged. However, the Labyrinth is an interesting choice for the ruins due to how it relates to Nasch’s story. 

The story started in the United Lands of the Poseidon Ocean, where Nasch was a beloved king and Merag was a priestess and princess. It followed the latter half of Vector’s tales. 

Vector attacked their land, he was unsuccessful, in retaliation Vector summoned a powerful God “Number 73: Abyss Splash, the Roaring Waterfall Deity” by performing a blood sacrifice, Merag sacrificed herself, you know the gist. Oh, Durbe was there but this wasn't about him.

This began the long rivalry between Nasch and Vector. Since I described most of what happened in Vector’s story already, I don’t need to gloss over it here. But there were a few notable things from Nasch’s perspective. 

Something new that we find out was that Merag’s sacrifice was pushed onto her by Don Thousand. It was implied that she was hypnotized into killing herself in an attempt to send Nasch into despair, but this was where things get a little mucky with Don Thousand’s interventions. She died under hypnosis (?), but then she came back as a spirit to guide Nasch through his journey. And then she went to Barian World after Nasch died. I think. I don’t know. Someone help. 

Since she wasn’t exposed to her Mythyrian Number and Don Thousand’s explanation was very lackluster, we don’t find out what truly happened to her aside from being sacrificed. My honest interpretation is that Don Thousand didn’t directly kill her. Instead, he gave her knowledge on how to stop “Abyss Splash”. It was ultimately her decision to sacrifice herself, and she did. This gave her access to Don Thousand’s powers, yet she maintained her autonomy, allowing her to aid Nasch in the afterlife before going to Barian World.  

Another new detail was that Nasch found a little girl named Iris in one of the destroyed villages. The girl bore a high resemblance to Merag, and Nasch said that Merag may have guided him to this girl to aid him in his destiny.

After finding the location of Vector, and with his army still injured from previous battles, Nasch decided to face Vector by himself with “Abyss Splash” by his side. As he battled in the Labyrinth, Durbe, his army, and Iris advanced into the battlefield to try to save him, resulting in everyone (except Durbe) getting slaughtered by Vector’s army of men and monsters. 

When the Shadow Game of the Labyrinth was completed, all of Nasch’s men and Iris laid dead outside of the Labyrinth, sending Nasch into grief. This grief sealed his fate as a Barian Emperor.  

The story ends with Nasch pursuing and defeating Vector in his Cursed Royal Palace.

What we never found out was how Nasch died. Death is needed to become a Barian, and the last we saw of him was in Vector’s castle. He may have lived out the rest of his life until old age got him, but this was never stated. Personally, I think Nasch killed himself after completing his goal, which was to stop Vector’s terror. He lost all his men in battle, and the one person he cared for, Merag, was gone (he still had a kingdom to care for but this is Mr. Shark we’re talking about here). He fulfilled his desires. If he had nothing left to live for, he could end it there and ascend into Barian World to be with his people. 

Nasch is also a character whose fate is tied to Merag closely, as both Ryouga + Rio and Nasch + Merag. When Rio was hospitalized in the first season, Ryouga lost the will to duel (and since this is yugioh, that essentially equates to life) or be productive like going to his classes. When Vector tossed Merag into a Black Hole, Nasch followed her; if it wasn’t for Abyss, they would’ve died together. I’m not saying that there’s enough evidence to conclude that he killed himself in his past life, but the actual cause is unknown and if Nasch is a person whose fate is interwoven with Merag’s, perhaps. 

Alright. I skipped over a lot of the details in the story because there are a lot of things that happened there.

To begin, Nasch is an Emperor who went to Barian World on his own accord. 

He isn’t tricked or hypnotized into going there, and this distinction is why I think Nasch is the most powerful of the Seven Emperors, alongside Vector for about the same reasons. Their own raw emotions led them to Barian World, making them “true” Barian Emperors. 

For Nasch specifically, this also allows him to access a unique form of Chaos. Yuma mentioned that Nasch’s Chaos possesses is different from previous forms of Chaos.

Unlike the others, whose powers derive primarily from Don Thousand’s Over-Hundred Numbers and trickery, Nasch is an Emperor who is separate from Don Thousand (although Donny prodding him with a stick could count i guess). His Chaos is not the same as Don Thousand nor the other Emperors. Rejecting Don Thousand isn’t the only thing that distinguishes his strength, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

There is a sizable amount of subtext that proves Nasch’s unique Chaos, aside from Yuma’s direct observations.

In the final scene within the Labyrinth, the place that sealed his fate as a Barian and why it holds such significance as the location of his ruins, Nasch defeats Vector and causes a familiar object to fall from its pedestal and shatter. 

Although seemingly meaningless, this sequence tells the audience how Nasch views Don Thousand. He walks away from the remnants of Don Thousand’s crest, and the entire framing of this scene tells the audience to pay attention to the broken crest and what Nasch is doing there. Nasch quite literally destroys and rejects Don Thousand. This is in stark contrast to Vector, an Emperor who derives all of his powers from Don Thousand, who is constantly framed with the emblem behind him. This is critical in how Nasch and Vector function as Emperors; one accepts Don Thousand’s power in its entirety while the other turns his head. And as you know, this rivalry comes back later in the show. 

(My only gripe with this is that we don’t know how Nasch got his Over-Hundred Number. All of the others had their cards explicitly injected into them, but with Nasch, it’s ambiguous how he acquired his Number.)

Furthermore, a few scenes with Iris and Merag hints that Nasch will not become Don Thousand’s Emperor due to his motto of “doing things his own way”.

Nasch has a destiny, and his destiny is to become a Barian. 

I think this particular scene spells it out nicely. As Nasch recounts that “this” is his destiny, the scene pans up towards the Big Dipper, which is what all of the Emperors are named after. The subtext implies that “this is my destiny” equates to “becoming an Emperor”. Nasch is fully aware that being a Barian Emperor is something he cannot escape. 

However, the final line states is that he will “fight against it”. This somewhat implies that Nasch tried to escape becoming a Barian, but that’s a shallow reading that contradicts his original statement. His fight isn’t to escape becoming a Barian Emperor. His fight is to escape becoming one of Don Thousand’s Barian Emperors, or one that is influenced by Don’s Chaos and manipulations. 

In that case, Nasch succeeds because he is the only Emperor unaffected by this evil strain of Chaos, and the scene in the Labyrinth backs this up.

Now, how did Nasch fight Don Thousand’s influence? I don’t think he did this alone. 

And this is where I think Merag fits in. I believe it’s her influence and guidance that allows Nasch to become the Emperor that he is.

Merag represents a positive influence on Nasch in all of the lives they live. Within the past life, she guides him through it and “protects” him. It’s the reason why Ryouga becomes so hateful and bloodthirsty without Rio to keep him in check, or why Nasch pursues Vector with so much anger prior to running into Iris, a proxy of Merag. She is a purifying force, and because of her, she prevents Nasch from falling into the path of revenge and hatred.

Merag is responsible for Nasch coming into contact with Iris. Originally, Iris’ role isn’t very clear aside from having someone for Nasch to grieve over, but I suspect that Merag orchestrates this to keep Nasch’s motivations “pure-hearted”. As in, he shouldn’t be pursuing Vector for only revenge. 

Prior to meeting Iris, Nasch’s primary motive is to kill Vector and avenge his fallen sister. He chases him everywhere, growing angrier and more bloodthirsty as he did so. But when he comes into contact with Iris, his goals seems to have shifted. He finds Iris in a village pillaged by Vector. By witnessing this atrocity and its effects on a familiar girl, I believe it pushes Nasch’s motives away from “kill Vector because revenge” to “kill Vector to protect the lives of innocent people like Iris (and a sprinkle of revenge)”. Soon after meeting Iris, Nasch realizes that his fight with Vector is costing innocent lives, and this realization influences his actions in the subsequent scenes. 

This may be reading into it too much, but Merag may have been “protecting” Nasch from a fate of becoming a Barian of hatred. Although she can’t escape Don Thousand herself, her goal was to aid Nasch in his fight against Don Thousand’s influence. 

And finally, there’s Nasch’s relationship to his Mythyrian Number. 

Out of all the Emperors, Nasch is the only who consistently uses it in its base form. Despite being a Barian Emperor, Nasch relies on the Mythyrian Number “Number 73: Abyss Splash, the Roaring Waterfall Deity” as much as he does his Over-Hundred Number “Number 101: Silent Honors Ark Knight”, and he is the only Barian Emperor to do so. (with Vector being an exception which I’ll explain later)

This almost doesn’t make sense since we know that Mythyrian Numbers are the antithesis to Over-Hundred Numbers. They have been able to purge Don Thousand’s Chaos from the bodies of the other Emperors. But, BUT Nasch isn’t one of Don Thousand’s Emperors, isnt he? 

Nasch acquired “Number 73: Abyss Splash, the Roaring Waterfall Deity” via Merag, and unlike the others, this Mythyrian is never purged from his body. He becomes an Emperor even with a Mythyrian in him, which is quite a feat and shows how strong his Barian-destiny is. Not only that, he is able to take “Abyss Splash” and transform it into a Chaos Number “Chaos Number 73: Abyss Supra, the God of Roaring Cascades”. Like previously stated, Vector also has this distinction (although he never summons the base-form of “Judge Buster” like Nasch always does). 

Nasch is also on very good terms with his Mythyrian Number. After all, a key plot point in Zexal is that “Abyss Splash” saves Merag and Nasch after Vector sends them into the black hole. He also agrees to unlock their memories as Barian Emperors if they met again. And for a Mythyrian Number, this is odd. Supposedly they are the opposite of the Barians and Over-Hundreds. “Abyss Splash” should keep their memories as Emperors locked since it means he is erasing two very strong Barians from existence. 

But I want to make a point that Mythyrian Numbers only reveal the true emotions and memories of their beholder. With Alito during his Ruins duel and my discussion with Vector, the Mythyrian Numbers reveal the truth. They expel false emotions, which is why the other Emperors acquire their true personalities or memories when exposed to them. Since Nasch was uninfluenced by Don Thousand, this means he is made of only true memories and emotions. Therefore, Nasch has nothing to hide and “Abyss Splash” has nothing to purge, providing more evidence that Nasch is a true Barian. 

Likewise with my discussion with Vector, where I said his Mythyrian revealed nothing new about Vector because what we see is what we get, these two Emperors are “true” Emperors with some key differences (Don Thousand’s Chaos being one of them). Their individual revolves as Barians are so strong that even with the purifying effect of their Mythyrians, they are persons who are naturally destined for Barian World. While Vector ends up rejecting his Mythyrian Number, Nasch embraces it and synergizes with it. This explains his constant reliance on “Abyss Splash” and his ability to chaosify it by natural means. Vector, on the other hand, holds no respect for his Mythyrian and only manages to play its Chaos form by sheer luck. If we consider that Vector is heavily influenced by Don Thousand (which the Mythyrians suppress), this may explain why he is unable to synergize with his Mythyrian Number. Because Nasch does not rely on Don Thousand’s powers, he is able to use his Mythyrian Number without an issue. And since Nasch does not belong to Don Thousand, “Abyss Splash” is willing to help him. 

So Nasch is a unique Emperor, but why is he as powerful as he is?

For Chaos, my assumption is that you become a Barian if you die with strong desires, or some form of attachment to your life as a human. (simply being evil or hateful isn’t a strong definition due to Yuma and Iris.)

For most of the Emperors, this culminates in their desire for revenge against the people who betrayed them. For Merag and Nasch, their situation is different. Merag, I believe, died with a desire to stay by Nasch’s side, and maybe some of Don Thousand’s influence since it wasn’t very clear what he did to her aside from sacrificial stuff. With Nasch, revenge may have been on his mind, but that motivation concluded when he defeated Vector for the last time. Nasch should’ve been satisfied. So why didn’t he go to Astral World? 

Aside from his destiny as an Emperor, it’s because he held attachment to his past life. Nasch couldn’t go to Astral World, or ascend with a clear conscience, because he cannot let go of his life as an Earthling—the people he met, the friends he made, his choices leading to their deaths, his grief and remorse. Nasch cannot move forward from nor forgive himself for these things. Because he is held down by his emotions, it makes him the perfect “true” Barian, one that isn’t motivated by solely hatred or short-lived revenge but simply by strong attachment and honest heart. 

If attachment can lead to a powerful Barian, then Nasch has to be one of the strongest Barians. 

My evidence to this is his entire duel with Thomas. It reflects Nasch’s heavy attachment in an ironically tragic way. 

The duel occurs shortly after Nasch finds out he is a Barian Emperor. Throughout and prior to the duel, he argues that he is a Barian Emperor. His actions, however, suggest that he hasn’t fully accepted this fate yet. It’s evidenced that during this duel, Ryouga still resides within Nasch through his consistently mumbling that he hasn’t lost his human heart.

It makes sense that he is unable to detach himself from his previous human life as Ryouga Kamishiro because by his own nature. Nasch cannot let go of the past; he cannot abandon humanity that easily. His nature, the one that made him such a powerful Emperor in the past, is also hindering his ability to become a full Emperor in the moment.

This proves especially difficult since his opponent is Thomas, who has such a powerful bond (???idk, the show said it not me???) with Ryouga that he is able to tap into Nasch’s humanity.

Nasch will not abandon Ryouga by choice. His attachment is so heavy that he cannot reject it under normal circumstances, so what he does in this duel provides some insight in the strength of his bonds and how far he goes to break them. 

(I suspect that this is why he tells the other Emperors to kill him if his resolve as their leader begins to falter; he isn’t sure he has the strength to reject his human side).

So in all of the duels that involve Nasch, he is always void of cruelty and sadism. He does not toy with his opponent like Vector usually does. His duel with Thomas is the only one where he is sadistic towards his opponent. The writers make it extremely noticeable that his treatment of Thomas during this duel iss not due to, like, him being an actual sadist. He isn’t a naturally cruel person or because he hates Thomas, which is reinforced repeatedly throughout the duel via Nasch’s internal thoughts. 

On the contrary, he torments Thomas because by resorting to vileness to someone he once cared about, Nasch is putting himself in a situation where his actions speaks for him. If he can emotionally hurt and physically kill Thomas, it is enough for him to accept that he can no longer be a human; he crosses a thick line by performing these actions. Even if Nasch lacked malice, what he does to Thomas means is able to harm and murder humans; whether he means it or not is irrelevant. 

Although he starts by insulting Thomas on a personal level (which cmon, baby-banter dude), he manages to get the reactions he wants by showing Thomas the death of his allies before callously mocking them. Nasch is doing something unforgivable and appalling, but that’s exactly what he is going for. By resorting to this level of cruelty to Ryouga’s friend, Nasch makes it difficult to return to his old life as Ryouga.

And I don’t think Nasch is enjoying this process in the same way as a typical villain would. Each time he is successful in coaxing IV to hate him, he keeps monologging about how Ryouga will “die” or thanking Thomas for being a stepping stool to Emperor-dom. 

His underlying motives is oriented towards a specific goal rather than sadistic pleasure, which I think is important for his character overall. When Thomas finally snaps at him, by finally referring to him as the monster Nasch rather than his friend Ryouga, Nasch affirms that he burned the bridge. 

Thinking about his actions and his nature, Nasch literally can’t abandon his old friends until he commits an atrocity so bad that Thomas calls him out for his lowliness. In order to lose his attachment to the humans he cares for, Nasch has to resort to being uncharacteristically inhumane towards them. If we assume that he holds this level of attachment during his past life, it makes plenty of sense why Nasch is as strong a Barian as he is. 

So… It’s hard to tell if he succeeds in abandoning his humanity during this duel. 

I mean, obviously he chooses the Barians over humans in the end, but his actions at the end of the duel is… questionable?

These reactions aren’t from someone who lost his humanity. His mannerism towards Thomas says that he still has kindness and sympathy in his heart for humans. 

And this line—

—which can be tossed up as an odd translation, but if I were to look at this, this line implies that “Ryouga” is still alive despite what Nasch does, but he won’t be for long. Ryouga will die once Nasch kills Yuma and all of his old friends. That’s just me though. I don’t really have a solid answer for this duel’s conclusion. 

Nasch may be a person who is incapable of severing bonds, or if he is, he has to take extreme measures to do so. These final scenes somewhat show that it isn’t easy for him to unattach himself from his old life.  

Merag shares this theme too. With the minimal amount of screentime she gets, we get to see that Merag shares similar levels of attachment with Nasch. With her original death, I assume that her desire to be with and protect Nasch is enough to send her to Barian World (along with whatever Don Thousand did, wasnt too clear there)

During her duel with Tetsuo, she cries after killing him, which is sound evidence that she holds emotions and attachment to her life as Rio Kamishiro as much as Nasch is with Ryouga. 

She is a powerful Barian Emperor. She would’ve defeated Vector had it not been for Don Thousand’s interference. Although her weakness comes from her inheritance of Don Thousand’s Chaos (and I’ll explain why this is a major weakness soon), he does not trick her into wanting revenge before her death. Rather Merag and Nasch (and perhaps Vector, too, although his sendoff is due to his high levels of malice for life on Earth) are powerful because they hold attachment to their previous life. They both struggle to let go of the past or abandon what they love, and in the terms of becoming a Barian, this is a very good thing. 

This brings us to the final question. Nasch--why no evil. Why is his Chaos unlike that of Vector, or Don Thousand, or the other Emperors? What exactly is this unique Chaos that Yuma saw in Nasch?

The ruins may be finished, but there’s a couple of unfinished things I want to address with Zexal’s World of Chaos.

[higuchimon]

[fanfic] Dreams of What Was

Durbe. Durbe. Durbe. Wake up. You’re having a nightmare.

Durbe jerked up, stone fingers clutching at the soft blanket he’d pulled over himself when he’d retired for sleep.

Sleep wasn’t necessary for Barians. But it gave them time to rest their minds, which they did need now and then.

His eyes darted this way and that, hoping against hope for that voice to sound again, to hear Nasch as he had so many times. Then there would be an amused laugh and Merag would enter from somewhere as well.

Then the real nightmare, the one where they’d vanished and not been seen or heard from in over ten human years, would be over.

But they didn’t come. He heard nothing at all. Slowly Durbe let out a deep sigh.

I know I heard him. It wouldn’t be the first time. In the first handful of months after their disappearance, he heard and saw them everywhere, only they were never there.

A silent sigh, then he did what he always did when he woke from these dreams. He closed his eyes and extended his Barian senses, those that went beyond what sight or sound were. Try as he might, there wasn’t a hint of anything there. Nothing and no one.

No Nasch. No Merag. Just the castle that held only the other Barian Emperors.

Durbe sighed and pulled himself to his feet. There remained work to be done, and he was the one to do it.

Whatever he’d heard, it was just a dream.

Just a dream and nothing more. Kamishiro Ryouga peered out at the world, decided he didn’t want to deal with it today, and tucked his head under his pillow.

It wasn’t the first time that he’d had that dream. At least he didn’t think it was. He couldn’t remember the dream itself and most of the time he didn’t even think about it. It simply existed in the back of his head, a vague sensation that there was someone out there who he missed and who missed him.

Someone who wasn’t Rio. She was the only one that he’d ever told this to. She didn’t have any more answers than he did – and now she had no answers at all. He wondered sometimes if the dream had been a warning about what would happen to her.

Probably not. The dream wasn’t a warning dream. He remained certain of that, at least.

He pushed the thought out of his head and tried to get back to sleep. A tiny part of him thought about doing his homework before he decided he couldn’t be bothered. Going through his deck was a lot more attractive – even if he didn’t really want to do that, either. Dueling didn’t have the spark it once had, not since – well, not since that whole mess with IV.

He wished he could remember the dream. Whoever that person was, they had to be a lot more interesting than anyone he knew now.

Who wouldn’t be?

The End

Note: You know, looking back at this, I now have this idea for a soulmate AU, one of those where the soulmates share dreams. Just imagine that for Durbe and Nasch. Anyone interested?

[baddyzarc]

1/6 Ruins: Legend of the Ancient Hero

x 2 3 4a 4b 5 6 7  

So awhile back I wrote a small, incomplete piece over Vector and his guardian, Minotarous, and how it connects to his legend and mythyrian number. Since then, I've been wanting to do it for all of the Emperors since there's enough details and Easter eggs to do that and nows a good time. I'm gonna be taking text mainly from the original subs since the dub did things to them that I do not agree with.

Since its gonna cover 6 different ruins, I decided to split this up into multiple parts.

So let’s begin with the ruins of everyone's favorite blind, book-loving, memelord supreme barian, Dubhe

Being the first to kick off the arc, Durbe’s ruin is probably the easiest of the ruins to understand. 

Aside from the theme of trusting in others, one of the other major themes of his ruins revolves around the self-sacrifice motif.

This is clearly seen at the very start of the arc. It started with the scene where Yuma jumped in front of a bear in order to protect Durbe, who is a stranger and a very likely candidate of the Barian Emperor that crashed into their ship. Yuma was willing to sacrifice himself to (or fistfight) a bear to protect a complete stranger.

The next example is a little more obscure, but I say it happens when Durbe pushed Ryouga out from under the falling rocks and trapped himself with the fish boy. This one is a bit tough to grasp what Durbe “sacrificed” by doing this, but I argue that Ryouga was immediately held distrust towards Durbe from the beginning. Durbe has no reason to save him, and it would’ve benefited him greatly if Ryouga is out of the picture. Instead, Durbe saves him, and in the process he sacrifices his safety for a person who really hates Barians.

This whole concept continues throughout the Durbe's ruins. “Numbers 44: White Winged Horse - Sky Pegasus“ has the ability to destroy a monster unless the owner pays 500 lifepoints, and due to additional effects, Yuma has to pay 1000 lifepoints (which is a quarter of his life) each time this happens. Yuma chooses to sacrifice his lifepoints to keep Durbe and Ryouga as well as his “Numbers 39: King of Wishes, Hope” alive. In the Legend, Mach sacrifices himself for Durbe, and Durbe sacrifices himself for Mach in the past. There’s also something to be said when Yuma places his trust in the Barian Emperor, Durbe, after recounting his disaster with my boy Vector too. Even near the end of the episode, Ryouga is willing to die in order for Yuma to win the duel. The whole mini-arc is lathered in this theme.

What I found interesting about the "self-sacrificing" theme is what Mach says at the beginning of the duel. He says that in order for Yuma to win (and in turn save Ryouga and Durbe), he has to surrender the duel, or "victory can only be achieved through surrender." In essence, Yuma has to sacrifice, or surrender, the Mythyrian Number if he wants to save everyone. This is usual villain banter, but in the context of this episode, it is almost knee-jerking and tragic.

Recall back to Durbe’s legend. The Legend of the Ancient Hero (recounted through the scriptures on the ruins, Durbe, and Mach) tells the story of a group of four brave knights with one of them being Durbe and his Pegasus, Mach. Together they protected a distant land. Durbe returned to his homeland for some time (presumably to aid Nasch in his quest). Corrupted with the aspiration for power, the remaining knights overthrew the king and took over the country. When Durbe returned, he tried to appeal to them by saying “their hearts [are] filled with justice.” Unfortunately, he failed to open their hearts, and the three knights attacked Durbe.

Despite the assault, Durbe refused to harm or kill the attackers because he saw them as his cherished companions. Instead of fighting back, he surrendered, and he was stricken down by their relentless attacks. 

Mach intervened in these attacks in order to protect his master, and he became fatally injured as a result. Durbe refused to retreat or abandon his dying steed, so he stayed by Mach’s side so they could perish together. 

The final line of the legend said that the knights saw how noble the two of them were in their self-sacrifice to each other. They committed their lives to prove the bond between friends, the knights included. To honor Durbe, the knights ceased their rebellion, and they laid Mach and Durbe to rest as heroes. 

In the case of the legend, even with their tragic demise, victory was achieved through surrender. 

Yuma does a similar thing. In order to win, he has to play Mach’s game. He has to accept sacrificing himself over and over again. Only by taking those hits, by surrendering his life, is he able to win the duel and save his friends.  

Okay, so enough about the theme of the ruins, let’s talk about physical ruins. 

Noteworthy imagery used in the ruins is the use of colors. 

When the characters got separated, they ended up in two chambers. One is lit by blue flames and the other by red flames. 

And the thing about Zexal is that blue and red have strong associations to Astral World and Barian World respectively. Not all of the time, but the usage of these colored hallways and flames disappear shortly afterwards. So if the writers didn’t want you to notice the difference, they would’ve omitted it entirely. These colors are included for some reason.

Now you're probably wondering why I bring this up. Ryouga, Durbe, and Rio are Barians, Astral is, well, an Astral, this separation doesn’t make sense. But consider where the characters wind up. The “blue light” leads to the legend of the hero while the “red light” leads to the Number.

With the "red light" path, their intention is to free “Number 44: White Winged Horse - Sky Pegasus”. 

Okay, slight deviation since this is important, but the Mythyrian Numbers are a special set of Numbers that Astral used to seal Don Thousand’s powers away. With Numbers, they do not belong to the Astral as a whole. If that’s the case, the existence of “Number 100: Numeron Dragon” implies that Astral created God, which is a little problematic (or a plot hole, take your pick). This is also why the Barians have their own set of Numbers. Astral is called the Original Number, so I take this as he is conglomerate of a bunch of strong Numbers, and Astral’s whole identity and powers is tied to the Numbers. This is why his memory shatters in the form of Numbers, or how other beings can absorb Astral’s Numbers. The Astrals simply used the powers of the Numbers to create Astral and lock Don Thousand away. I’ll explain this more later when we get to Mizael’s ruins and the whole smitck with the Numeron Dragon because it gets complicated.

BUT if anyone took the Mythyrian Number, whether it was carried out by Astral World, or Barian World, or an Earthling, Don Thousand’s strength will be restored. No matter what, Don Thousand's strengthening is inevitable as long as the characters choose to act on the red path.

For during the path of the “blue light”, or the one that Durbe and Ryouga took, the show hints that the evil Barians maybe aren’t evil. They have another secret to them that we don’t know of. In fact, the legend concludes by mentioning that the heroic Durbe and Mach ascended into Heaven, or into Astral World. This did not happen, of course, since we know of Durbe’s true fate. With Ryouga, his presence with Durbe allows for a crucial scene to play out later in the episodes.  This also steadily connects him to his Barian heritage.

I can’t say much for Rio, but I feel as though the writers were incredibly inept about handling her Barianhood in comparison to Ryouga. They had no idea what to do with her (aside from being a handy-dandy translator and expositioner) and her character suffers for it, but ill get to her later. 

Like, I may have an slight explanation for why Rio stays with the “red light” group. It’s kinda weak, but here we go.

Out of all of the legends, only Nasch and Durbe were not seen to be touched by Don Thousand's direct actions:

All of the other Emperors had a scene where an Over-Hundred goes into their heart or are possessed by Don Thousand. It is highly implied that Durbe also had the Over-Hundred Number monster enter his heart, but this was not shown since the scene cut away before we find out. Far as I know, Durbe was influenced to become a Barian when Donny made the knights turn on him, and the betrayal of his friends was so heart-breaking that Durbe descended into Barian World. Nasch was… well, ill get to him later too, but Durbe and Nasch could be the only ones who aren’t embedded with the curse. At least, on-screen. 

Whether it happened or not is up for your interpretation, but them staying on the “blue light”, in the path of true heroes, makes sense in this concept. 

Weak, yeah, but if there’s anyone that can explain why Rio is on the “blue light” side, let me know, aside from plot convenience. It’s obvious that the writers wanted Ryouga and Durbe to be together in the death rooms for plot reasons though. 

Moving on, more plays on colors could be seen with the drawings in the Ruins.

This handsome, colorful fellow is meant to be Durbe. This depiction of him is much different than the one that is shown in (hopefully accurate) flashback. 

It isn’t known who is responsible for scriptures and drawing in all of the ruins. 

But the person who did this has the right idea of dressing Durbe in this multicolored garb. The story is called the “Legend of the Ancient Hero” and heroes are often associated with the three primary colors: blue is seen his shirt, pants, and helmet; red is seen in his cape; and yellow is seen in his undergarment. Meanwhile, white is a color often associated with purity, peace, and sincerity. All of these colors represent Durbe his legend—as a pure hero. 

Being as he is the first Ruins we visit, using all this imagery to scream to the audience that “the barians are actually fallen heroes! theyre not evil!” is quite a nice, fun touch. 

As well, out of the Seven Emperors, Durbe is the one who tends to be the most pure and heroic. From his deck being based on “holy” objects and his... questionable leadership, Durbe isn’t like Vector. He isn’t cruel or evil; everything he does is “for sake of Barian World” and that’s about it. 

He knows that if Barian World does not attack Astral World, they will die (and vice-versa with Astral World). His motivations are solely to protect his home and his people. Also, I like Durbe I really do, but he is pathetic as a villain. Literally the worst plans and a bad leader who does not know how to use any of his pieces, but I appreciate his noble goals. He’s funny, Durbe is really funny. He just doesn’t have the heart to be the bad guy; but as a character who acts heroic (his duel with Merag for example), he does it pretty well. 

And to rub my grubby little barian-eatin hands all over Durbe’s heroness, I want to talk about his ace monsters—his Mythyrian, his Over-Hundred, and his Chaos Over-Hundred. 

Durbe’s Mythyrian Number also serves as his beloved Guardian of the ruins, Mach. This holds true for most of the Emperors due to the Guardians connection to their Emperors during their past life. 

Now, Durbe isn’t shown with the card like some of the other Emperors, but we likely can infer that he was in posession of the Mythyrian Number, thus being a target of Don Thousand. 

The role of the Mythyrian Number for the Emperors isn’t crystal clear, but what is known is that their being used to seal Don Thousand away. During the original fight between Don Thousand and Astral, Astral won the battle but lost fifty of his Numbers. Among these were the Mythyrian Numbers, which had the power to suppress Don Thousand. I don’t know if it was random chance that the Numbers glided towards the Emperors or it was divine intervention, but what I do know is that anyone who got the Mythyrian original had a good, strong heart and were destined for Astral World. 

My personal theory is that the Barians and Astrals are like Newton’s Third Law, “every action has an equal and opposite reaction”. They complement each other and balance each other out. 

In order to seal Don Thousand’s Chaos away, the Astrals had to counteract with equal forces of Cosmos. In their true life, the Emperors provided the necessary Cosmos to suppress Don Thousand. The Emperors were supposed to be Astrals anyways; the Astrals just harnessing their powers while they were humans to fight Don Thousand.

Since the Mythyrian Numbers are drenched with the power of Cosmos due to their relationship with the human Emperors, they are the antitheisis to the Over-Hundred Numbers whose powers come from Chaos.

Mythyrian Numbers being based more on Astral World could also be seen in how the Pegasus on the coat of arms is often associated with Heaven, or a messenger from God. And as Mach recounted the ending of Durbe’s legend, he does that color thing. That iconic blue, Astral-like glow.

With his Over-Hundred Numbers, I think the most interesting thing about it is that the full Japanese name is “Numbers 102: Holy Lightning - Glorious Halo”. These Number monsters represent the Barian Emperors in some way (despite some of them being weird like the giant handy one). The most direct statement to this is when Vector uses the Over-Hundreds to mock Nasch by summoning Durbe and Merag’s monsters (as in “I ate your sister and best friend and these are mine now”), and the entirety of Nasch’s tragic display during his final duel with Yuma. 

So even in death, even as a Barian, even as one of the villains, Durbe is still sainted as holy and adorned with a halo. None of the other Over-Hundred are dressed in such a positive light (if at all). 

When he turns “Glorious Halo” into a Chaos monster, technically putting extra barian sauce on a plate of fried barian, the name changes into “Number C102: Unholy Lightning - Noble Daemon”. Durbe still has the “Noble Demon” attached to him, even with extra evil on him. 

Durbe’s nobility as a Barian makes since if you see that he isn't deeply infused with Don Thousand's curse in comparison to someone like Vector. Or his strong affiliation to keep Barian World safe from harm.  

Plus, as a little extra snippet that I noticed in the episode, I wanna focus on this scene in the ruins.

This scene is great. It doesn't have much to do with Durbe, but it's an amazing foreshadow. I think by this point, the audience suspects that Ryouga is a Barian. He acts weird sometimes, his past is unknown, he can summon Chaos monsters, the Emperors are missing two and the Kamishiros slide in like a puzzle piece. BUT, I think the most damning evidence is this specific piece. 

Before entering the ruins, Durbe broke his Baria crystal. He is unable to use his Barian powers nor does he have the ability to fix it. But the moment he saves Ryouga from falling to his death, Ryouga begins to glow that iconic red Barian color. 

Not Durbe, but Ryouga. Ryouga’s energy flows into Durbe, which restores his crystal to full power and allows him to reveal his true form. Since Ryouga is the King of the Barians, Nasch, it makes complete sense that his body has remnants of his Barian life. (why this didnt activate before, idk, maybe shark wasnt in the mood) 

Watching Ryouga heal a fellow Barian is conclusive evidence that Ryouga, as well as Rio probably, must be Barians, or at least connected to the Barians. 

Even parts of the duel includes Nasch’s legend in it.

“Labyrinth of Decisions”, “Unfair Treaty”, and “Shield of Conspiracy” are cards used by Mach that fit into Durbe’s story. The labyrinth could be attributed to him leaving the country to aid Nasch in tracking Vector into the Labyrinth of Screams, and the unfair treaty/ or conspiracy is attributed to his own story, where the three knights betrayed the king. 

In the end, the first of these ruins reveals two major plot points about the Emperors with one being much more obvious than the other. First is that there are more to the Emperors than being “plain evil” for the sake of it. Second, the events seen in the ruins hints that this shark-shaped shadow is Ryouga, and he is likely to be the final and missing Barian Emperor(s).

Of course this isn’t everything. I don’t know why his ruins are in South America (Ecuador, i think, go here if you want to know more about geography) when they say his homeland is somewhere else. 

The Pegasus came from Greek mythology which spawns an interesting connection to the legend of Nasch and Vector. Pegasus was borne from the death of a gorgon (Medusa) and reared by Poseidon (who is attributed to being the god of the seas in most pop culture iterations). Gorgons and oceans is basically the story of Vector and Nasch, and as you know, Durbe and Mach participated in that legend too. 

I’m just so fascination by Emperors and their everything, their monsters, their past lives, their ruins, their planet, their composition. Theyre entertaining to explore bc it feels like the writers put something in them for the audience to discover. They're simply fun, and I'll see you in the next ruins

[higuchimon]

[fanfic] Rewards of Losing:  Chapter 21

Durbe bent over the duel disk – or what had been a duel disk. He’d taken it apart and now stared at each individual piece, trying to figure out what they were. He knew how most duel disks worked. This one had a few extra abilities. The first thing he’d identified was the self-destruct mechanism. That one was taken away to be dealt with. They didn’t need it.

But now he looked for the way they could cross dimensions and how to make their monsters solid. He worried at his lip, then glanced at Chris, who stared at some of the software he’d managed to extract.

They didn’t have as many computers as they really needed for this, let alone ones of high enough power, but they did what they could. It wasn’t as if they had many other options.

It wasn’t just the two of them there. Rio and her Healer, Kotori, had also managed to bring in a couple of duel disks – thankfully ones that weren’t frosted over – and those rested to one side, having also been deprived of their self-destruct capabilities. One of their duel disks rested next to it, also taken apart, ready for a point by point comparison.

Rio played with a string of ice between her fingers. “Are you going to need us for anything else or can I go find out what my idiot brother has been doing? I got a message from him – something about having found some defectors or something.” Her nose wrinkled. “Which I sort of doubt. He wouldn't know a defector if one walked up and defected at him.”

Durbe managed not to smile, but it was an effort. He’d known the twins for as long as he could remember and while they sniped at each other constantly, the moment someone dared to snipe at them, he had to deal with the wrath of a Frostflame and the fury of the First Healer of Heartland City. Most people didn’t want to do that.

He’d wondered at some point if he and Ryouga would bond. He wouldn’t have objected, but Ryouga ended up bonding with Thomas Arclight. Durbe certainly wasn’t going to complain – it led to him meeting Chris and finding not just his own Healer but the love of his life.

“Go ahead if you want to,” Chris said with a quick wave of one hand. “Bring them back here if there are any real defectors. Maybe we can get some help working this out.”

Durbe didn’t know if that were possible – any defectors being able to help or any defectors existing in the first place. But he nodded his agreement and focused on the work at hand. His lips pressed together as he stared at what he knew was the part of the duel disk that created the holograms. He couldn't figure out how they made the holograms real though.

“They did something to add mass to them,” Chris said, still staring at the software. “But I can’t figure out how. I don’t understand this code.”

Durbe took a look at it. He didn’t expect to understand it at first glance and he wasn’t surprised when he didn’t. But he regarded it thoughtfully, checking for anything that might make a smidge of sense.

“Do we have anyone else who might be able to decipher this?” Durbe wondered. He didn’t have an accurate list on everyone who’d survived so far. Someone should probably make one of those.

Chris leaned back and closed his eyes, rubbing at the side of his face. “I can ask Kaito. But he’s been very busy lately.”

Durbe nodded. Kaito hadn’t had a single moment of happiness since this began. His father and brother – no one had ever heard a word about his mother – hadn’t survived the first wave of attacks. Kaito hadn’t lost any time ambushing a Fusion soldier and stealing his Duel Disk. Exactly how many people he’d carded by now Durbe didn’t have any idea. Only that Kaito didn’t care about sharing the tech, just about exacting revenge.

“Let’s take a break,” Durbe suggested. “Where did Mizael go?” Almost as soon as they’d made it back to camp, Mizael vanished. Probably going back to bed, since he’d never been much of a tech person. As long as they remembered him once they had the code cracked – and preferably some way worked out to undo carding – he wasn’t going to get in the way.

Chris stifled a yawn. “You might be right. We won’t make any progress if we don’t.”

Durbe stood up and stretched before heading over to where he kept the tea supplies. He’d managed to save some of those during the invasion’s chaos. One of the smaller gardens had been turned into a tea preserve, with at least three Healers taking the duty in tern to watch over it, along with their Firestarters. Durbe approved.

I wonder if there really are defectors. He held himself back from the temptation to try and contact Ryouga or Thomas. Communications had been very thin since the invasion and he didn’t want to distract them if they had four possibly fractious people to take care.

Michael helped the young Healer along – well, perhaps not that young. He thought they weren’t too far apart in age, though he wasn’t going to ask for an identification card right now. They had too much else to do, mostly involving getting back to camp and making sure that these four could be trusted.

And if they can’t be? What then? Truth to tell, Thomas would probably strip them of their duel disks and render them to ash. Or try – it might be a little difficult when one of them was a Frostflame. Even if he didn’t look as if he were capable of fighting back. The two young women carried him along, though clearly they weren’t having the easiest time of it.

He glanced over to his own companion. “Why did you defect?” He asked quietly. They did need to get some information, after all.

“Because the Professor let Yuuri hurt my brother,” Shou said quietly, his eyes shifting over to the taller young man. “And I found out about what’s really going on from Kei.”

Kei, the Healer Cat. Michael had heard of him; Chris had passed the first warnings of the invasion on to him and mentioned he’d learned of it from a Cat. He wondered if it was the same one.

“And – if I’d stayed behind ” Shou glanced away for a moment. “If my big brother left and I didn’t, I probably would have been carded. Or worse.”

Michael’s free hand clenched. “Why would they do that? You didn’t do anything wrong!”

Shou blinked up at him. “What’s that got to do with it? I’m his brother. They would have either sent me to get him – and risk that I’d never come back – or card me – or turn me over to Yuuri to be turned into mulch.”

Michael’s throat closed. Just the simple way he said it, as if Michael should have known that, as if anyone would have known it – it sickened him. He shook his head.

“We don’t do things like that here. If you want to help us, we can always use help in the Gardens. Or you could duel – my brother will probably want to take a look at your duel disk. We’re trying to figure out how those work.” He knew that Chris and Durbe had gone searching for stray Fusion soldiers earlier that day. They’d probably found some by now; it was getting closer and closer to the afternoon so they’d had lots of time.

Shou blinked. “It’s not that hard. We have classes on it.”

Michael didn’t hold back his grin. “You and my brother are going to want to talk. A lot.”

The Night Garden’s guards allowed them through – mostly because they were in the company of Michael, Ryouga, and Thomas – and they made their way through the lanes to where the tents had been set up. The Garden looked a lot different from before the invasion; it could hardly be recognized as the same place.

“What are you going to do with my brother?” Shou asked, nervous. Ryouga turned towards him.

“He’ll be fine. My sister’s a Frostflame. She can help him.”

“Whoa. You really did find some defectors.” A female voice spoke up without warning and the new arrival turned towards them. She stood there, one hand on her hip, her hair a long cascade of blue-white, and a very curious expression on her face as she strolled towards them.

“How were things with Durbe and Chris?” Michael asked. Rio glanced over.

“They’re over there,” she said with a nod towards a larger area. “They’ve got a few of those duel disks and are working on them now.”

Michael tugged at Shou’s sleeve. “Let me introduce you to my brother Chris. You said that you knew about who those duel disks work, right?”

“Well, sort of,” Shou murmured, a faint tinge to his cheeks. “But my brother-” He cast his attention back towards Ryou, being taken elsewhere by four young women now.

“You can see him later,” Rio said, raising her head and favoring him with a tiny smile. “But he’ll be fine. He’s coming through the change very well.”

Kei nudged Shou for a second. “I’ll stay with him. Go ahead. Help where you can.”

Shou nodded, and Michael guided him through the lines of tents to where Durbe and Chris would be. The farther they went, the more he could see Shou staring at everything around him. He shuddered a few times.

“The plants – they’re so angry,” Shou murmured. “They don’t like people from Fusion.”

Micheal patted him. “Don’t worry about it. They’ll get to know you and they’ll like you too.”

Shou didn’t say anything, just kept on going. When they got to the right tent, Michael poked his head between the flaps. “Hi, guys!”

Durbe and Chris looked up from their cups of tea. Michael could see duel disks and parts spread out on the table before them. He waved, then stepped inside with Shou.

“Ryouga, Thomas, and I found some defectors from Fusion,” he told them, gesturing to Shou. “This is Marufuji Shou.” Now that he thought about it, hadn’t they mentioned Mizael knowing Shou’s brother? He hadn’t really remembered before.

Both of them came to their feet. “Marufuji?” Chris asked. “I presume that you have a brother?”

“Yeah. He’s – over there.” Shou waved one hand a little vaguely.

“He’s a Frostflame now,” Michael reported. “Rio’s taking care of him. Has anyone told Mizael yet?”

“Considering you just told us, probably not.” Chris pointed out with a hint of amusement. “You’d better have someone do that. But I’m sure that you didn’t bring your new friend here just to say hi.”

Michael hated blushing. He didn’t do it often but with the way Chris eyed them and with Shou there – he couldn’t help but feel a little flushed.

“No. He knows about those things.” Michael nodded towards the duel disks. “He can help.”

Both of them turned to look at Shou, whose shoulders tensed briefly before he swallowed and stepped forward. “I don’t know how they work,” he said. “But we were given basic classes in what the parts are and how to repair them if they were damaged and we couldn’t bring it in. That wasn’t supposed to happen a lot, but we were taught anyway.”

“So you know how they put the mass into the holograms?” Durbe asked. Shou nodded and moved closer, looking over the stretch of parts on the table. Michael watched as the three of them fell into some sort of technical talk. Shou didn’t seem as versed in it as they were but they still understood each other.

Michael settled down, made himself a cup of tea, and enjoyed what was left of the afternoon. Perhaps things might just be getting a little better.

Rio, Kotori, Asuka, and Akane settled Ryou down on a cot. Kotori and another Healer started to look him over, while Rio and Asuka stepped back, Akane with them.

“How did he frost over?” Rio wanted to know. Asuka shook her head.

“I’m not entirely sure. It had already started before I got there. But I’m very sure that Yuuri was involved. He’s a Healer – a very twisted one. I’ve heard more stories than I ever care to about him.”

Rio nodded slowly. “Is he likely to come looking for revenge?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised. But not nearly any time soon.” Asuka’s grin was a quick flash of fire across her lips. “Ryou frosted over inside of his garden. And he wasn’t very happy when he did it.”

Rio didn’t even try to muffle a snicker at that. “So let me guess – it’s covered in ice?”

“Covered in ice,” Asuka agreed. “It probably won’t melt for days. Maybe even longer. It is a tropical island, but Frostflame ice doesn’t melt easily.”

“No one knows that better than me.” Rio nodded before she looked back to the other Frostflame. “All we can do right now is let him rest. How is he doing, Kotori?”

Her Healer looked up, pushing hair out of her eyes. “He’s going to be all right as far as I can tell. I can sense the presence of two proto-bonds, though.” She nodded towards Kei, who sat there with his tail neatly coiled around his paws watching. “One for you, Kei.”

“Of course. It’s begun to sit in since we cleared the drugs out of his system.” Kei replied with the typical smugness of a Cat. “The other would possibly be to Mizael. Who should know that we’re here as soon as possible. They have a lot to deal with.”

Rio nodded thoughtfully. “Are you all going to need some bonding time?”

“I know that he and I will.” Kei flicked his tail slowly back and forth. “But you’re going to have to ask him and Mizael about them.”

Rio nodded again before she gestured for them to leave. “We can find you two a place to rest and wait for him to wake up.” She cast a quick glance to Asuka. “Are you – looking for a Healer? I know a few who aren’t bonded right now.”

“Not right now,” Asuka said with a shake of her head. “I’ll let you know if that changes, though.

Rio let out a laugh. “I should introduce you to Kurosaki Ruri. She’s a Firestarter too and she hasn’t met her Healer yet. Just don't burn down things if you two do meet.”

“I haven’t burned down anything since I was seven years old,” Asuka told her. “At least not without meaning to.”

Rio tilted her head. “That sounds interesting. What happened?”

“You could say it was all my brother’s fault.” Asuka began to tell the tale as they headed out of the tent, leaving Kei to guard Ryou, who slept on and on.

Mizael thought when they got back that he would just return to his tent and finish up that nap. But halfway there, he realized that he was far too restless now. He wouldn’t be able to close his eyes at all.

So he took a walk through some of the lesser Gardens, offering them his energy, and chatting with a couple of the other Healers he crossed paths with there. One point came up fairly fast – no one had seen Vector in a while.

I should probably not care about that. Vector had asked him out once or twice while they were in high school but Mizael hadn’t been interested. He’d been too busy dueling and developing his talent, and then he’d gotten interested in Kaito.

But he always remained aware of Vector’s presence in the city. It was hard to avoid knowing when he did something, since his antics were the talk of the Gardens for weeks. To have him vanish without warning – Mizael couldn’t help but wonder if he’d somehow ended up carded. He wasn’t sure of how likely it was – Vector was an amazing duelist as well as a powerful Healer. But if someone struck him down from behind, it wasn’t impossible.

Mizael settled himself on a pile of rubble that hadn’t been cleaned up yet and probably wouldn’t be – it was becoming home to a very attractive species of vine – and watched the Night Garden. Something felt off and he had no idea of what it was. He didn’t even know if ‘off’ was the right word. Something made him antsy and aware.

Is he ever going to come back? Could I trust him if he did? There were too many answers that he didn’t have and he wasn’t sure of where to get them except from Marufuji Ryou himself. The question of trust hung there no matter what.

A thin thread of cold ran up his back and Mizael shivered. It wasn’t winter – if anything it was late summer. So why was getting cold? Was Rio in the area? Frostflames brought down the temperature wherever they were as a matter of courses.

He could see the main entrance to the Night Garden from where he sat. Coming through it just then was a small group. He peered closer; was that Kei with them? It was a Cat at the least, and two members of the group carried a third. He didn’t recognize some of the others, though the longer he stared, the more he recognized Michael and Chris Arclight. Their hair colors were rather distinctive, after all. But the others…

Mizael frowned. He couldn’t see who they were very clearly. They were too far away. But – but – he wanted to believe. There was something about the shape of the carried one that told him – he – it could be -

Only one way to find out. He leaped down from his perch and headed for the Night Garden. It might not be Marufuji – but if it was, then Mizael had a lot of questions.

To Be Continued

Notes: I can’t believe we’re so close to the end. Ryou and Mizael need a long talk. And I’m sure you want to know what’s going on with Vector and Yuuri. (I would have made Vector a Firestarter but him and Yuuri bonded would do nothing for Yuuri’s sanity. I know who will help with that but that won’t be for a while to come. Definitely not in this story.)

[higuchimon]

[fanfic] Fair Won Prize:  chapter 3

“Excuse me, what did you say again?” Durbe didn’t look as if he could yet convince himself that he’d actually woken up and heard what he did.

Vector loved playing with people like this. He wrapped his arm around Mizael’s shoulders and leaned closer to him, ignoring the way Mizael rolled his eyes.

“I said, Mizael finally agreed to my courting and we’ve agreed on a relationship.”

Rio stared over at the pile of empty cups they’d drunk from the night before, then looked back at Durbe and Gilag. “I suggest we test whatever’s left to find out what else was in those drinks aside from that sleeping potion.”

Ryouga looked quite as if he wanted to agree with his twin. Instead, he gave Mizael a very firm look.

“Is he telling the truth?”

Mizael pushed Vector away – successfully, after trying two or three times – and stepped forward. “He’s leaving things out. Such as this isn’t romantic at all and is far more in the way of conveying my thanks for his actions last night. It’s also in no way permanent. Either one of us can cancel it at any point.”

Vector held back a smirk. He would let Mizael think that for now. Now he put a pout on his lips.

“I was rather heroic last night. I’m sure you can put it into a song, dear Ryouga.” The pout turned into a smile that was a hair’s breadth from a smirk. He waved one hand ever so dramatically. “There you all were, sound asleep and completely vulnerable to anything and everything those beasts wanted to do to you.”

He recited everything he’d heard on their plans, saving Mizael for last, letting his words linger over those schemes. He did not miss the sudden fury boiling in Alit’s eyes at what would’ve been his own fate, nor how it was flavored with sorrow. Something to keep in mind for the future, he thought, before returning to his recitations.

“Then that one idiot dared to lay a hand on Mizael here,” he said, gesturing so his fingers brushed by the ranger’s hair, but didn’t touch it. His every action he chose to make it clear how different he was from those fools who’d never heard of asking for anything.

Not that Vector himself especially liked asking or that the would-be slavers would’ve ever gotten a ‘yes’ in the first place.

“I decided at that point, it wasn’t worth being amused by their idiocy anymore.” With a flick of his fingers his knife was in his hand once more. He admired the edge of it, which would need a bit of sharpening before he used it again. “And I cut his hand off.” No one touches what’s mine. Even if Mizael didn’t know he was mine then.

“And you got blood in my hair,” Mizael pointed out. Vector tsked at that.

“I helped you get it out, didn’t I?”

“You killed all of them.” Durbe observed. “So where are the bodies?”

“We dragged them out there,” Mizael said, gesturing with one graceful hand. “And I asked Jinlong to set them on fire.”

“It was very beautiful to see,” Vector added. He toyed with the tip of his blade. “Though some of the locals tried to wander by. They didn’t stay long.”

Ryouga groaned, leaning back in his seat. “Tell me you didn’t kill them too. They haven’t done anything that we know of...have they?”

Mizael shook his head. “They didn’t stay long. They took one look at us sitting there and left.” He turned a look toward Vector. “I don’t think Vector playing with his knife and my hair at the same time inclined them to want to stay and talk.”

“I didn’t want them to stay and talk!” Vector defended himself, widening in his eyes in the best indication of innocence he could manage. “You’re right, though. They didn’t do anything to us, so they might not have been in on what was going on.”

He didn’t know if that were true or not. But he had ways to find out before much longer.

“So with all of that, you decided that Vector could be an acceptable… companion?” Durbe reached the point he clearly wanted to be at the most.

“I’ve known those who would be worse,” Mizael acknowleged, and Vector let himself smile broadly and openly this time, stealing another caress to the side of Mizael’s neck now. With their bargain made – if not fully consumated yet – then he let himself take a few more liberties with Mizael. Small ones, but only ones that he knew Mizael would agree to.

Durbe sighed, leaning his head back on the wall in mimicry of Ryouga, who just shook his own head.

“You don’t need our permission for this,” Ryouga said, “but I’m glad that you let us know.”

Ponta peered up from Gilag’s lap and giggled, an eerily human sound. “Because if you hadn’t, one of you would probably take his head off!”

Vector shot the tanuki a very annoyed look. As always, though, Ponta didn’t even seem bothered by it. Instead, he licked a paw and curled himself back up, while still watching everything with far too wise eyes.

Vector didn’t like Ponta. He’d always thought the magical creature knew far more than it possibly should have and that was something he preferred to no one else but he did.

But there wasn’t any real way to say that right now, so he turned back to the group as a whole. “Now that you know, I think we should head on to the next city. Some place with a good inn we can spend a night or two in.” Or three or four. “Just to make certain all of that drug’s cleared out of you all.”

He didn’t think he fooled any of them on that score. He’d not hidden his desire for Mizael for a moment since conceiving it. He wasn’t surprised when Alit buried his face in one hand and shook his head.

“I didn’t need to hear that. I didn’t want to hear that. I don’t want to know anything at all about it.” He lifted up his head and turned to Rio. “Can you make sure no one hears anything they do?” He turned toward Durbe and Gilag. “Or one of you? Please? Some kind of… I dunno, a silence spell?”

Vector snickered. “Do you really think we’re going to be that loud?” He would make a special point of it, just to annoy them all, spell or no spell. Not only would it annoy them if it didn’t work, but if it did, he’d know how loud he could get Mizael to be. Sometimes the best victories were personal ones.

“I don’t want to know if you are,” Alit pointed out. Gilag, Rio, and Durbe were already muttering to one another, even as Ryouga got up and started for the door.

“I’ll check on the horses. Be ready to go soon,” he said. All of them nodded; they did have a job to do farther along, and as much as Vector looked forward to his personal triumph, he wanted to get that taken care of as well.

Mizael knew quite well that he hadn’t made anything like a perfect choice, but one thing remained clear: if Vector hadn’t been there and been awake, then right now he’d likely be in that slaver’s bed. He knew and trusted his own skills, but he’d been at least mostly asleep, unable to properly defend himself. He had no idea of if the other would’ve been able to restrain him in a way he couldn’t get out of or not.

At least, he reminded himself, Vector remained honest about what he wanted. He restrained himself from touching Mizael in any way except which Mizael allowed, even if he did do that much more frequently now that they’d made their bargain.

He wasn’t at all the best, but he wasn’t the worst, and Mizael owed him now. Honor meant a great deal to Mizael, as it did to the dragons who’d raised him, and he would repay the debt in the only fashion he knew Vector would accept.

In the long run it wouldn’t make much of a difference in his life. Vector was human; Mizael wasn’t. A thousand years from now, Mizael would still roam the lands, free as only a dragon-trained elven ranger could be, and Vector would be little more than a passing memory. Perhaps one softly thought upon from time to time, depending on how their trysts went.

That was part of what he’d spoken of with Jinlong when he’d called him the first time the night before. Jinlong reassured him that dragons had done the same thing in the past. That was how some human and dragon hybrids now existed, or dragon and elven: sometimes even elven and human. A deed worthy of such a bargain wasn’t common, but Vector’s actions came under that heading.

Vector’s fingers touched the side of Mizael’s arm and he turned toward him.

“Ryouga says we’re ready to go.” Vector gave him a thoughtful look before he leaned over and touched his lips to Mizael’s. Vector was, amazingly, a good kisser, one with plenty of practice.

Mizael returned it, not surprised to find Vector sliding his arms around him and holding him close. Vector was warm and strong, and Mizael thought it wouldn’t be hard to get used to him.

The next proper inn, the kind of place that not only had good beds, a place where they could all get good meals and good drinks that weren’t going to put them into any unwanted sleep – none of them really wanted to touch any sort of ale again for quite some time, regardless of how clean they knew it was – and where they could repack their supplies wasn’t for another three days of travel.

Vector restrained himself. They stopped at inns along the way, but none of them had what everyone else wanted: privacy. Putting up a group of seven, plus horses, wasn’t something most village inns could handle, and certainly not in individual rooms.

Even with Mizael having accepted the courting and their arrangements more or less worked out – they dealt with small details as they came along, most of which included Vector not actually touching him that much – Vector could hardly wait for the actual consummation of the bargain. The fact it would include intimate relations – sex – had been implied and agreed upon from the very beginning.

I saved his ass, so now I get to have it. Vector held back a snicker. He really wanted to say that out loud, but the various annoyed looks that got shot his way whenever he opened his mouth lately kept him leashed.

To a degree. He had so many plans set up for when he and Mizael finally took that step. No one would be able to ignore him then.

“Looks like we’ll be staying in Deepflower tonight,” Ryouga said, checking the map he kept. “Tomorrow we can finally cross the border and we’ll be on the high road to the Echoing Woods.”

“What is it we’re supposed to do there again?” Alit wondered, rubbing the back of his neck. “I can’t keep this stuff straight.”

Vector wondered if Alit even knew how to read. From what he knew of the ex-gladiator’s history, it wasn’t likely. Good enough excuse to not know where they were going.

“The Echoing Woods are inhabited mostly by dryads,” Gilag said, turning his gaze in that direction. Ponta lifted his head up as well, watching the way the wind blew.

Or something.

Gilag kept going. “There are also stone spirits and a dwarven city in the area. Someone is robbing the city and all the signs are that magic is involved.”

“So we’re going to find out how and fix it up,” Alit said, nodding and stretching his arms out to work out the kinks. “Sounds good to me.”

“It’ll take us another few days to get there once we’ve crossed the border, so Deepflower is where we’ll restock it all,” Ryouga said, rolling up the map and tucking it away again. He cast a glance toward Vector, who rode beside Mizael, as always these days. He looked as if he wanted to say something. Vector inched closer to Mizael, a quick slash of a smirk across his lips followed by an anticipatory look at the ranger.

Ryouga held back whatever he had in mind to say and started down the road one more time, the rest of the Order of the Outcasts following behind.

Score one for me, Vector praised himself, stealing another look at Mizael as they rode. And tonight I’ll score even more.

The Golden Griffon was, without a doubt, the best inn in Deepflower. It had a lot of competition; Deepflower was one of the hub cities of the kingdom, where all manner of traders, travelers, and merchandise of every sort made its way from here to the various points of the kingdom and to many other kingdoms as well. Situated beside a swift-flowing, wide river that led to the ocean, from there one could go almost anywhere, and have supplies bought to make the trip that much easier.

With that much traffic, it wasn’t surprising at all that the team had a wide selection of inns to choose from. Vector made that choice this time, though.

“I’ve been here before,” he said, riding directly for the Golden Griffon and the familiar welcoming staff. “They know how to treat everyone like royalty.”

He could use a little pampering before they got back on the road for the serious business of saving people who couldn’t save themselves. He rather thought they all could, no matter who would admit it.

The owner of the Griffon knew exactly who he was, of course, and knew better than to speak of it to anyone else. He simply bowed low the moment he came out and saw who his new guests were.

“A pleasure to see you again, your worship,” the owner murmured, head bent respectfully. “Do you have any special requests today?”

Vector wrapped an arm around Mizael and pulled him close. “I’ll take the Grand Suite for the two of us, and have it well stocked.” He waved his other hand toward the rest of the group. “We’ve been shoved together enough on this trip. Individual rooms for everyone else.”

The owner glanced up, eyes going from one to the other of them, and Vector wasn’t at all surprised to see a gleam of greed there. He would be well rewarded for his services here and he knew it.

“As you wish. Would you like to eat in your rooms or in the main dining area?”

“Main dining area?” Durbe murmured, probably to Ryouga. “Most inns I know just call it the common room and be done with it.”

“Upscale place,” was all Ryouga said in return. Without looking, Vector had a feeling that the bard had his lute in his hands, idly checking the tuning. He had a habit of doing that whenever they were in a new situation. It helped make people ignore him as less of a threat, which meant he could watch what was going on and be ready to step in when necessary.

Vector hadn’t fallen for it, not once. But he had always had insider information anyway.

He focused his attention right now on the innkeeper, and enjoying the mildly startled look on Mizael’s face.

“We’ll eat in the suite. It’s much quieter.” He glaned at Mizael. “You don’t mind, do you?” He really hoped Mizael didn’t. He had one more order to give in regards to dinner.

Mizael shrugged. “I don’t care, as long as we eat.”

Perfect. Vector returned his attention to the owner. “I’m in the mood for the fourth special tonight. It’s still the one from last time, isn’t it?”

“Of course, sir!” The owner bowed again. “Also, the bathing facilities are empty at the moment, if you’d care to make use of them.”

Vector let out a very satisfied sigh at that. “I think we will.”

There were two sections to the bathing facilities. One for the usual sort of guests and the one that Vector led Mizael to. Both of the sections had the exact same features and were built to the highest of quality. But the one Vector wanted had something that the other one didn’t: absolute privacy. No one was going to get in there without passing by the guard on duty and having been granted permission by whoever used the facilities at that moment.

Vector made it clear that he didn’t want anyone else in there unless armageddon happened, and maybe not even then. He could think of few better ways to spend an apocalypse than with Mizael in his arms.

Not that there was one planned to happen any time soon that he knew of, anyway.

Mizael glanced around, a slight frown tilting his lips. Vector understood the ranger far better than some might’ve expected, and stepped up to enfold him in his arms again.

“It’s a little different from what you’re used to, isn’t it?” he murmured. The bathing room here was as wide as the tavern they’d stopped at with the would-be slavers, tiled in cool blue and pale green, with one large pool sunk into the floor. Warmed towels hung over a silver-wrought rack and lovely scents arose from the pool itself.

Another rack awaited their clean clothes, while a basket of finely woven reeds covered in silk awaited their laundry. Part of the service included all of their dirty clothes washed, dried, and mended, then returned to them.

Mizael didn’t move away from him, something Vector found pleasing. “Yes,” was all he said in response, though, and Vector nuzzled against him.

“We’ll only stay as long as we need to in order to rest up and get the supplies,” Vector promised. Overwhelming Mizael with sensual pleasures – of all kinds – wouldn’t work very well. He simply enjoyed the wilds too much.

But a small immersion in this luxury would please Vector himself quite a bit, and it was long past time that he and Mizael consummated their bargain, in every kind of way.

He started to fiddle with his clothes. He knew exacty what kind of supplies the innkeeper would provide, and where they would all be. This wasn’t even close to his first time bringing a new lover here for their first tryst.

And he so looked forward to introducing Mizael to every bit of sensual pleasure imaginable.

To Be Continued

Notes: Next chapter is the last one, and that's when they do it. It isn't graphic at all, so use your own judgment.

[higuchimon]

[fanfic] Fair Won Prize:  chapter 4 [end]

No one said very much until they were all in the bathing facilities. Alit muttered under his breath something under his breath that no one could quite hear clearly, but he didn’t sound very pleased in general. Gilag took a long look at the facilities and sighed as he got ready to clean up. He likely would’ve preferred a lake of some kind to these, Ryouga mused, getting himself ready as well.

As far as he was concerned, and he suspected Durbe as well, given their shared past, this reminded him just a fraction too much of home. Enough so he could appreciate it, enough so that he wished they weren’t here and he wasn’t thinking about it.

He could imagine Rio felt the same way on her side, where they weren’t allowed to go. Very strict in some ways, this place was.

But sooner or later they all settled in to wash, and once the aches and pains of riding began to soak out of them, they relaxed. And it was Alit who said what hovered in the back of everyone’s mind to some extent.

“Are we supposed to be trusting Vector with this? How do we know he’s not going to… I don’t know, do something?” He waved one hand in the air to convey everything that his words couldn’t.

Durbe scrubbed at his shoulders thoughtfully. “He hasn’t done anything to hurt any of us before. I don’t think he’s going to start now. And if he does, I think Mizael can manage him.”

“If he doesn’t have plans to manage Mizael first,” Alit muttered, sinking until only his head remained out of the water. “That’s kind what I’m worried about.”

“I don’t blame you,” Ryouga agreed, through the noise of busily washing his hair. Alit couldn’t help the occasional peek; not only was Ryouga a generally attractive specimen of humanity, but Alit hadn’t ever seen him with his hair absolutely soaked. It was kind of an interesting look, really. But then the bard kept talking. “But Mizael’s good at what he does, and he has a good head on his shoulders.”

Durbe chuckled, a soft, amused sound. “He also has a dragon. If he gets into anything that he can’t handle, Jinlong will help him.”

Ponta splashed through the water, floating on his back in the next moment. “He wants the ranger very much. But he hasn’t taken what he wanted until the ranger agreed to it.”

True enough words. Whatever other plans Vector had – and none of them were so foolish to think that Vector, connected in some way to their employer that none of them fully knew – didn’t have plans of <some kind, they didn’t involve assault of that kind.

Seduction, more than likely, but not assault.

Ryouga ducked his head under long enough to wash the shampoo out of his hair and resurfaced with a loud noise that Alit couldn’t help but laugh at. He laughed even more when Ryouga gave him a very annoyed look about it.

“What kind of a sea creature sound was that?” The ex-gladiator wanted to know. Ryouga grinned, his teeth flashing in the magically created lights.

“When I was a child, my nickname was Shark.”

Alit blinked. “What’s a shark?”

“May I touch your hair?” Vector despised asking. He wanted to take what he wanted and have it as long as he desired it, but when dealing with five skilled fighters of various disciplines, a winged horse, a creature that just was magic and could do too much for his personal comfort, and a dragon – perhaps especially the dragon – then he had to ask.

But as he’d observed before, it made getting his desires that much more satisfying, and even better, people wouldn’t try to take what he craved away from him when he’d been given it freely. For a small sacrifice, he got much, much bigger rewards.

Mizael considered him for a few moments before he nodded, and Vector lost no more time. He ran his hands carefully over Mizael’s hair, still damp from the bath, and shivered.

“That fool was right about one thing,” Vector murmured, stroking over and over, slowly sliding his fingers deeper into the strands of living gold. “Your hair is like silk. Only better.”

Mizael leaned further into Vector’s touch, making a somewhat contented noise. Vector kept on stroking, and with his other hand, turned Mizael’s face toward him, moving forward to kiss him.

He’d kissed Mizael many times since that incident at the tavern, savoring each one. Kisses when they woke up. Kisses before sleep or going on watch. Random kisses throughout the day. Not all of those kisses were on the lips: only those that others might see. When it was just the two of them, Vector indulged them both by finding new places to rest his lips.

Now he pressed Mizael closer to him, neither of them with a stitch on, the long length of the elf’s body so warm against him. Dinner would be there soon, but he wanted an appetizer first.

His kisses wandered downward to Mizael’s chest, then up again, hands beginning to roam away from Mizael’s hair to play with his strong shoulders, then tease at his hips and legs.

Vector found himself a little surprised at Mizael’s own actions a brief moment later. The ranger not only returned the heady, intoxicating kisses, but slipped his lips downward to rest at the hollow of Vector’s throat, his tongue flicking out to caress there repeatedly.

No one had ever tried anything like that with him before. All of his other trysts focused on him enjoying himself with the use of whoever shared his bed. Very seldom had they tried anything new with him, but only obeyed whatever orders he gave them.

Mizael wasn’t much of one to take orders, he’d learned, and part of his anticipation had been to train that out of him.

Now, as Mizael teased and nibbled there, and pleasure Vector hadn’t experienced before stirred, he considered a different approach.

He didn’t consider it for long, mostly because Mizael started working his lips and tongue and a bit of tooth on his neck, and Vector didn’t find himself able to think about anything very clearly for quite some time.

When he got his thoughts working again, he stared into one of the mirrors in the bathing area, touching the part of his neck where Mizael did his work.

“What is that?” It was like a bruise and it would stay there for a while. Mizael shrugged.

“It’s like something dragons do. It’s similar to a mating bite, but it doesn’t mean permanence.” His teeth flashed in a sudden smile. “I’d have to draw blood for it to be permanent.”

Vector wondered for a few moments if he should’ve done research on how dragon relationships worked, as well as what checking he’d done for elven ones. Mizael was an odd mixture of the two, and somehow different from both of them at the same time.

He couldn’t say that he didn’t like it. What was rare as well as beautiful appealed to him, and Mizael fit that category easily enough.

He touched the mark again. He would have to return this favor, something that told all who looked at Mizael that he belonged to Vector, be it now or be it forever.

He would think about it. It would have to be just right.

A quiet tap on the door interrupted his thoughts. He knew what that was: the alert that dinner had arrived. Pulling a robe on, he went to get it, pleased now that he could take more control of the situation. Having Mizael willingly join in was a fresh thrill he appreciated, but he’d planned this once he realized their first tryst would take place here in the Gryphon. He wanted Mizael to enjoy this as much as he did.

It was a quick trip up to the suite they’d occupy for their time here and he kept one arm around Mizael the whole time, releasing him only when they arrived in the main room, where a delicious set of aromas arose from the covered tray awaiting them on a low table. A single lounge rested on one side of the table and he guided Mizael there, both of them settling down on it. The lounge, like everything in this suite, had been arranged to be perfect for two people to entwine around one another on it.

And like that, the dinner was exactly what he’d ordered: the lovers’ meal, everything cut into small pieces, suitable for sharing between two, and arranged so that one could feed the other, every bit of it designed to please and tempt the diners.

Not that Vector needed tempting very much. But he picked up a cut of meat he knew Mizael enjoyed and offered it to him. Seeing the ranger accept it, eating from his hands, sent a jolt of raw pleasure through Vector. He couldn’t wait to see it again and reached for another.

Mizael beat him to a piece, however, setting it against Vector’s lips. Vector had somewhat expected this, after Mizael’s earlier actions, and licked it before taking in his mouth, making sure his tongue brushed over Mizael’s lips when he did.

Piece by piece they fed each other dinner, stealing kisses and touches in between, and sipping from the shared cup of wine – imported from Kuragari, and not often seen outside of the royal household.

Vector had many privileges.

Mizael wasn’t at all inexperienced in acts such as this. He’d never met someone that he wanted to stay with for longer than a handful of years, and to one of his blood, that meant nothing at all.

Vector wouldn’t be any different. A handful of years, if even that – the meat of their bargain was more or less that they’d continue in this vein either until one of them chose to end it or until they both agreed that the debt Mizael owed to Vector was paid in full. That, of course, was something only Vector could decide though Mizael had his own thoughts on what would constitute full payment.

Given that in effect, Vector saved him from what could’ve been an entire lifetime by elven standards of enslavement, then it could indeed be that handful of years.

Only time would tell that. And now time had nothing else to say, leaving Mizael and Vector to soft touches with a hint of an edge to them, and the slow removal of robes to reveal more and more skin that could be and was peppered with teasing kisses and the brush of fingers and tongues, pleasure mounting between them with the friction of flesh against flesh.

Mizael found himself at one point hoping that there was either some kind of silence spell such as the others had discussed, or enough space between here and there that no one could hear anything anyway. He wasn’t always noisy with his lovers, but Vector wasn’t inexperienced either, and soon enough the first waves of sensual delight hit their peak for both of them.

Once everything eased enough so they could talk, Mizael cupped himself around Vector and stared into those so mischievous eyes.

“It was worth waiting for,” Vector said before Mizael formed a question. He played one hand through Mizael’s sweat-streaked hair. “And to think it’s only just begun.”

Mizael slid his own hands through Vector’s orange-red locks. He didn’t hunger for the human like Vector so clearly hungered for him, but it had been a long time since he’d sated those desires. Long before he’d met Ryouga and Rio and Durbe, in fact.

“How long did you plan to stay here?” While no one had said, they were clearly here on Vector’s schedule, even with the mission they had ahead of them. They’d lost one day’s worth of travel but they weren’t on much of a schedule.

Vector closed one eye and twisted the side of his mouth. Mizael didn’t help his looks all that much. “I’d rather like to stay a couple of months, but I think dear Ryouga -” He said it as if the name offended him, a taste to it that Mizael had never heard him use before, “would probably want to be on the trail again at dawn.”

Mizael couldn’t argue that point. But he didn’t think he’d be up to riding after the night Vector clearly had in mind. “Three days,” he offered. “Long enough for all of us to rest from everything.”

Vector smiled a slow, sensual smile and then slipped out from the couch, rising to his feet and offering Mizael one hand. “I think in three days, I might be ready to leave.”

Mizael took the hand and was pulled to his own feet. Vector turned them both toward the bedroom, one arm again pulling Mizael close. They stayed that way until Vector lowered Mizael to the bed and joined him, hungry lips taking kiss after kiss, on Mizael’s lips and everywhere else that Vector could find that would bring any sort of enjoyment whatsoever.

Vector knew very well how to please a lover, and how to show his lover what he enjoyed as well. All through the night he and Mizael learned more and more about one another, with the seemingly infinite resources of the Golden Gryphon at their disposal. Vector found him a quick study and their evening rolled onward.

Vector let his thoughts drift, Mizael resting in his arms. He’d seldom felt this sated, even on other occasions when he’d brought a new lover to the Gryphon and enjoyed all it offered him. Perhaps it was because of how much effort he’d put into winning Mizael here in the first place. Or perhaps it was because Mizael was the first elven lover he’d ever had.

As for that, if all elves were like Mizael when it came to wanton pleasures, Vector knew a few places he’d recommend to recruit among the fae people. The Pearl Whistle came to mind. Nearly as fine as the Golden Gryphon it was, though it focused on matters other than simply lodging guests in royal splendor.

Once he grew bored with Mizael, and he and his father had their other plans brought to fruition, perhaps he’d have him installed at the Pearl as well. He could still visit him on occasion if he desired, and Mizael could hardly complain about the luxurious food or the splendid accommodations or the work he’d do. The Pearl’s employees weren’t common harlots at all, but serviced the highest ranking folk in the land, and infrequently at that. Great generals and even some heroes – carefully chosen so they would not be offended by being granted time at the Pearl – were sent there at Don Thousand’s command only. In between times, the king himself sometimes would call one to his quarters. Vector’s own mother still lived at the Pearl, forever honored for having given Don Thousand a son and his only heir. She wasn’t high enough in birth to be his official bride, but he favored her with his attentions still.

I won’t send him there for a long, long time, though. It would take years for the plans to all be accomplished, and maybe even more for him to grow weary of Mizael. The ranger proved very inventive and possessed of even more stamina than Vector imagined.

And until that day did come, he could enjoy himself with Mizael whenever he desired. He rested now. Dawn would come soon, and he looked forward to a full day of Mizael’s undivided attention.

Ryouga, Rio, Durbe, Alit, and Gilag waited outside of the Golden Gryphon’s doors. Early morning sunlight already gleamed off dew-dampened grass. They’d been awake since before the sun crested the horizon and all of them wanted to get moving.

“Aren’t they done yet?” Alit grumbled. None of them had seen or heard a thing from Mizael or Vector since they’d arrived here and Vector swept Mizael off to what they’d later been told was the finest suite in the entire hotel. They’d received one message alone, stating today would be the day they left, and after that, nothing at all.

They all knew what the two were doing, and once or twice, they’d heard hotel servants whispering about it, about how beautiful Mizael was and how lucky he was that Vector – though they never called him that without prefacing it with m’lord - chose him.

Alit hadn’t been able to keep a straight face around most of the servants after hearing that.

Other bits and drips of news concerning Vector and his previous visits here made them all a little wary for how long this ‘tryst’ might last and what Vector might do when it was over, but aside from warning Mizael when they had some time to do so, there wasn’t much else that they could do.

Finally a door opened and Mizael stepped out, every inch well rested and relaxed, and wearing his usual riding gear. Vector was only a step behind, every bit as relaxed, and with the most satisfied smile on his face any of them had ever seen. Alit kind of wished he wouldn’t smile like that. It creeped him out.

“Good to see you,” Durbe said, nodding toward both of them. “I trust matters went well?” He was the soul of discretion, Durbe was.

Vector flashed a grin at him, one that spoke of mischief as always. “Absolutely perfectly. We’re going to stop in here on our way back, of course.”

Ryouga just rolled his eyes. “Come on, let’s get going. The more time we can make, the better.”

Soon enough the small group headed down the road that led away from here and on to their mission. No one wanted to ask any more details from either of them. Especially not after Vector rode close to Mizael, entwined an arm around Mizael’s waist, and pulled him in for a deep kiss that Mizael returned. Perhaps not with as much enthusiasm, but returned all the same.

They also didn’t ask about the fresh love-bites on both of them. Alit really didn’t want to know about that. It was all Gilag could do to keep Ponta from asking questions that he didn’t want to know: the questions or the answers.

For long days after they left the Golden Gryphon, whenever they stopped at an inn of any size, Vector always made certain to get a private room for himself and Mizael, and the next morning, he always had the same smug, satisfied smile on his face.

But no one heard anything, because by then they’d perfected a spell of silence, and no one complained about it at all. Least of all Vector.

He had so many plans, and he needed the occasional tryst with Mizael to relax himself. The future was right in his grasp and he would need someone to share it with. Mizael, he considered, might be a good choice.

The End

Notes: Someday soon (uh, maybe in 2017?), there will be another story in this world, involving what Yuuma and some of the non-Barian people are doing. Until then...