#merag x nasch

[sirdurbe]

"kingdomshipipng"

"without any incest obviously"

[neo-zone]

Zexal Month Week 4 Day 1

Ships, ships, ships, and vehicle appreciation

I only have one OTP so far and it's :

Dilateshipping aka Mentorshipping

... who had gone through many stages of classic angst romance. From first cute meet, tragic separation, bitter reunion, and then reconciliation and happily ever after ending. Yeay.

While pairs that I like and find interesting :

1. Keyshipping (Astral x Yuma)

It's canon and no one can convince me otherwise.

2. Tomoshipping (Shark x Durbe)

Of course I can't forget this compromising position.

Indeed Shark's knight who always come to rescue, right?

3. Foilshipping (Yuma x Vector)

Alternate name = Rollercoastershipping

4. Decisionshipping (Mizael x Durbe)

They are literally the sanest Barians before Nasch and Merag come back. And how they hold each other back whenever Vector doing something that get on their nerves.

5. Blackmistshipping (Black Mist x Astral)

I will never get over the "possess your body" part.

6. Sharkbaitshipping (Shark x Yuma)

Their whole dynamic from the start to the end of the series is *chef kiss*.

7. Dokidokishipping aka Photonshipping (Kaito x Yuma)

Seriously, we need more of this ship.

8. Seraphshipping (Alito x Yuma)

The "imagining Yuma as angel" part and "meeting you was hot" is truly iconic.

@zexalmonth

[higuchimon]

[fanfic] Speaking A Shared Language

 Durbe always admired the beauty of the ocean around Nasch's palace.  That wasn't all he admired, of course.  The city itself, and all the surrounding lands, were incredible as well, clean and well-kept by the inhabitants, who went out of their way to ensure everything gleamed and glowed. 

But one place in particular that caught his interest were the gardens that spread out from one side of the palace.  Flowers blossomed everywhere, scattered among the deep green moss, sometimes hanging from well-kept trees or blossoming bushes.  A section of the gardens had been cultivated with fruits and vegetables, open to everyone in the city, so long as they didn't strip them bare.  He'd mentioned such a thing to his own king on his trips home, and now an area there was being worked to add an open garden for the common folk.

That would be very useful, but what Durbe liked best wasn't something that place would ever have - Nasch himself.  Together the two of them walked through the gardens, the air laced with sea salt and perfumes.  Everywhere he looked he saw something beautiful - especially when he turned to Nasch.  Though he tried very hard not to do that very often.  He didn't want to give away the deep secrets of his heart.  Nasch might understand, or he might not.  Durbe didn't want to take the chance that it might wreck what they'd built between them.

As they walked, he caught sight of something familiar and smiled, nodding towards the vines that wove around a larger bush.  "Honeysuckle.  I always used to enjoy tasting the nectar when I was a child."  He'd fed it to Mach many times as well.  His noble steed loved it as much as he did.

"So did Merag and I,"  Nasch agreed, a light smile touching his lips.  He considered before he carefully broke off a small bit of the vine with two honeysuckle blossoms on it.  He handed one to Durbe and kept one for himself, setting it between his teeth and sucking the sweetness out of it.  Durbe did the same, making a point not to actually look at Nasch when he did. 

When he'd finished, Durbe said quietly, "Honeysuckle has a meaning in my homeland.  A lot of flowers do, in fact.  One can carry on conversations with the flowers that one chooses."

"It's the same here,"  Nasch agreed.  He regarded the honeysuckle before he continued.  "Honeysuckle means devotion."

Durbe tried to hold back a shiver and knew that he didn't do it very well.  He nodded.  "It means that for us as well.  Or -"  He swallowed; did he dare?  He'd held back for so long.  But if he could take the chance, if Nasch would be willing - then - he swallowed again.  "Or the bonds of love."

Nasch's attention caught on him, and his smile was warmer than Durbe had ever seen before.  He moved on to another flower - red lilies.  "These are commonly associated with desire."  The look he shot Durbe smoldered and Durbe, a knight who had been courted by some of the fairest in his homeland, found himself blushing deeply.  In an attempt to cool himself, he looked around until he spied another patch of lilies.

"Orange lilies.  Those mean hatred for my people."  He glanced back to Nasch, who tensed at his words.  Oh.  He had best clarify.  "I suspect these are one of Vector's favorites."

Nasch blinked briefly, then chuckled and relaxed.  "I think you're right.  But let's not talk about him today." 

Durbe nodded.  That was fine with him.  He didn't like or trust Vector, though the so-called Mad King had sent emissaries to his king before.  They had been nothing but polite, but Durbe didn't feel right having them around.  All folk knew that he was a patricide and a regicide and while Vector's father hadn't been the best person either, he didn't deserve to have been murdered like that.  So far Durbe's king had not made any particular gestures of acceptance and reconciliation towards Vector and Durbe wanted it to stay that way.

In an effort to make up for his error, he searched until he saw a flower with a much better meaning.  "This one is purple tulip.  A perfect flower for a King."  With a quick glance for permission, he picked the blossom and offered it to Nasch.  Nasch accepted, smiling down at it, before he stepped over to another batch of tulips, the a deep red.

"These are for eternal love,"  he said quietly, breaking one off and regarding it carefully.  Then he held it out to Durbe.  "Would you accept this from me?"

Durbe wasn't certain at first what Nasch meant.  Then it clicked - and he once again turned a deep shade of red.  Slowly he reached out and took the red tulip from him. "Always and forever,"  he whispered.  "But can we?"

"This is my kingdom,"  Nasch reminded him, a firm smile on his lips.  "I can do a great deal that I want to do."

"What about a successor?"  Durbe had to ask.  He wasn't going to be the cause of any sort of anger in Nasch's people.  "Aren't you going to need one?"

"I can choose someone if I want, or adopt a child,"  Nasch pointed out.  "If Merag ever weds, then any of her children could inherit. It isn't mandatory.  And even if it was -  I would rather have you than anyone else."  He took Durbe's hand in his own, pressing it carefully.  Durbe shivered at the contact, callused palm to callused palm.  They'd clasped hands before, but this seemed entirely different in a far more intimate way.

Nasch stepped closer, still keeping hold of Durbe's hand, and then slowly, cautiously, as if he feared that Durbe might avoid him or run for the stables to depart forever, pressed his lips onto Durbe's.  Durbe had kissed a few others in his time, but for the first time, he kissed with his full heart in the gesture, breathing deeply, sliding his arms around Nasch, deepening it.

Neither of them could have ever said how long they stayed like this.  Durbe didn't think that he cared.  What mattered more than anything else was that this kiss existed at all. 

When they moved apart at last, they still didn't drop hands.  Durbe didn't think he ever wanted to not hold Nasch again.  He knew that he couldn't, but for now, he wanted to keep it like this. 

"When do you have to leave again?"  Nasch wanted to know.  He wore the purple tulip tucked behind one ear now, and wove the red one into Durbe's own hair. 

"Not for another week,"  Durbe replied.  If it weren't for Mach, he couldn't have been here at all.  But his swift steed allowed him to ride between the realms far sooner than the swiftest ship ever built.  He did have to return to his home kingdom for long streaks of time, but he wanted to visit here more than anything these days.  He had to travel around and visit other realms, bringing together kingdoms as best he could. But here he found his heart, as he'd never thought he would. 

Nasch nodded.  "I'll wait for you to come back."  He nipped lightly at Durbe's lips.  "And I can think of a few things we can do when you get back."

Durbe didn't think he could possibly have blushed any harder.  But he certainly gave it a very good shot.  He ducked his head down and breathed in.  "I look forward to that,"  he said at last.  He could face anything or anyone on the battlefield but this was something entirely out of his depth.  Perhaps going back home for a while would help him get matters sorted out in his head.

No matter how far away he went, however, he would always seek to return here, whenever he could, whenever he wanted, and whenever Nasch needed him.

The End

Notes: And then everyone died and became Barians. I had a different idea for “Flower language” but that one didn’t pan out. I’ll keep hacking at it, though. (also, Durbe x Nasch is my OTP for this branch of the fandom!)

[baddyzarc]

7/7 Ruins: World of Chaos

1 2 3 4a 4b 5 6 x  

end

Let’s start with a simple question? What is “Chaos”?

From the show, Don Thousand says that it is disorder and the source of life, Ena says it’s the power to protect others and ones desires created by oneself, Black Mist says it contributes to hatred and malice, Eliphas says it's poison, and Shark says this:

So Trash aliens.

However, this poses a problem.

Chaos is highly prominent to the story of Zexal, but it is difficult to define. The first signs of Chaos (excluding Haruto using it to toss trash in Episode 13) was when Astral’s airship unlocked “Chaos Number 39: King of Wishes, Hope Ray” as early as Episode 18. It constantly shows up with multiple definitions with some describing it as evil while others describing it as good. Both the protagonists and antagonists utilize it, and the meaning gets scrambled as the show progresses. So is this red, gooey stuff evil or good? 

In my opinion, Chaos is a nuanced type of “disorder”. With the word “disorder”, it isn’t clear what the show means by this since disorder (entropy?) is a super broad definition. Comparing it to the Astral’s “order” or Cosmos makes it slightly easier to grasp, but as a set definition that covers everything, I don’t have a good answer. The most accurate is Ena’s definition, where she says Chaos represents the desires set up by oneself. My problem with this is that all characters in this show have desires. Even Eliphas, who desires for Astral World to Rank-Up by ridding itself of Chaos. It’s a good definition and fits into the themes of Chaos, but there’s those glaring issues. However, I’m not here to define Chaos. Think of it as trying to define “species” or a word where a set definition isn’t concrete, but we sorta know what it looks like. With Chaos, I’m not going to be defining it as much as I am categorizing the types of Chaos in the Zexal. 

Going back to this list of Chaos characters. 

It is incredibly tough to define them on the basis of a single type of Chaos other than maybe “disorderly creatures” or people with desires.

But if you look at it as a spectrum that a character can shift back and forth along, then it starts to make sense. The characters in the show actually point that there are different forms of Chaos, with the clearest distinction being Nasch’s unique Chaos and Ena implying that Chaos has other, important forms.

Since Chaos manifests in different ways, it’s likely that all of the definitions stated above are correct. They get very close to stating what these different forms are, however, but it’s not explicit like “there is good Chaos and bad Chaos in the universe”. 

My proposal is that there are two definable categories of Chaos within the show: “Destructive Chaos” and “Constructive Chaos”. I think if you see it like this, it’s easier to see where Zexal was going with this concept. 

Okay, so what does this mean?

To begin, destructive Chaos can be described most simply as cannibalistic. It devours other Chaos creatures with the sole purpose of bettering its users. It is malice, hatred, selfishness, basically the qualities of the “bad Chaos” that the show speaks of. This could be seen in Vector and Don Thousand, who were literally eating other Barians to make themselves stronger. 

By nature, destructive Chaos benefits one person. It has to destroy everything else. With Vector, Number 96, and Don Thousand specifically, if they’re malicious plans succeeded, all three worlds would’ve been destroyed and they themselves would be standing alone as powerful gods. 

All the Emperors and any persons who inherited Don Thousand’s destructive Chaos were devoured in the end (this also ties in with how Nasch’s unique Chaos resulted in his survival). Also Mr. Heartland burned to death. Destructive Chaos destroys for the benefit of few. 

On the other hand, constructive Chaos can be described as altruistic. Unlike destructive Chaos, which draws its powers by consuming those around it, constructive Chaos gains its powers through combining their strengths. 

It is the power that allows you to protect your friends, or “strength in numbers”. This is the Chaos that Yuma and Nasch heavily relies on. By its nature, constructive Chaos shares for the benefit of many.

Something belongs in the middle too: maybe common Barians or some of the Emperors perhaps? Altruistic but also a little selfish? Giving to some but not to others. The ends could be on the more extreme sides that few probably get to.

As a general example, let’s look at Tron, a character who gravitates along the spectrum. There’s a clear distinction in the transformation of Tron and the Arclights from destructive Chaos to a more constructive Chaos. Not gonna get into it that deeply, but the first half of Zexal, Tron quite literally uses and destroys his sons to progress his own motivations. In the second half of Zexal, Tron shares his crest with his sons via the bracelets, and through this, they are able to create “Rank-Up Magic: Argent Chaos Force”, the symbol used to represent the bonds of humanity and a powerful one at that. 

Another really clear example is the Vector vs. Durbe/Merag. Merag, Durbe, and Vector uses Nasch’s strength throughout this battle. With Durbe and Merag, they send out their strongest monster using Nasch’s “Rank-Up Magic - The Seventh One”, something he shared with them in the prior episode. Vector, on the other hand, uses Nasch as a blood-bag; he sucks the life out of him to increase his own. Lending versus draining. Constructive versus destructive.

These two descriptions pose some interesting relationships. There are probably more than this but i’ll focus on a few.

First is Number 96 and Yuma, and how they relate to Astral.

Yuma and Number 96 are fragments of Don Thousand’s original self, who is a composite of all forms of Chaos. Although, the final Don Thousand clearly utilizes destructive Chaos. When Astral shattered him, I believe that his general from of Chaos split into Yuma, someone who uses constructive Chaos, and into Number 96, someone who uses destructive Chaos. Each individual views their Chaos appropriately. 

Number 96 has a very bleak view of Chaos, often describing it as something born from resentment, hatred, and the such. He also does not believe in the power of bonds, declaring it something used by weaklings. 

Aside from that, Number 96 has a god-complex, something he shares with the likes of Vector and Don Thousand, and is a person who is willing to destroy all of the worlds in order to create his own, ideal world. 

On the other hand, Yuma is the exact opposite. He sees Chaos as a force of goodness that allows different people to come together.

These two characters are supposed to be opposites of each other in regards to Chaos, and this is clearly shown in their relationship with Astral.

Back to Vector’s Royal Palace, this duel states a problem with the theory that there is only single type of Chaos. Number 96 said that Astral must use Chaos if he wanted to gather all the Numbers. 

The major issue with this is that Number 96 utilizes destructive Chaos. If Astral were to rely on his powers, it will destroy Astral in the process. And this occurs. When Number 96 enters Astral, the incompatibility and destructive nature of his Chaos causes both of them to explode. This is likely to be the Chaos that Eliphas fears would destroy Astral and Astral World.

And even Number 96 isn’t immune to this destructive power. When he accepted Vector/Don Thousand’s Chaos into his own, it nearly destroyed him. This just shows how deadly this type of Chaos is to others.

But if Astral has to use Chaos, he will likely rely on the constructive Chaos that derives from Yuma. And I think you guys know where this is going,

It’s those Zexal Morphs. 

The Zexal Morphs are the show’s flagship of “ultimate bonds”. Although probably unintentional, Astral does end up heavily relying on multiple forms of Chaos— the Chaos Hopes and Yuma specifically—which allows him to fulfill his mission (but doing so altered his objective). By using constructive Chaos, they were able to become stronger than they were as individuals.

However, there is one Zexal Morph that needs to be addressed.

The Dark Zexal Morph is a product of a “Vector-influenced” Yuma and a broken-hearted Astral. It’s difficult to say if Yuma is using destructive Chaos here, but due to Vector shenanigans, this Zexal Morph is an embodiment of Astral possibly mixing himself with destructive Chaos. Although it is incredibly powerful, Dark Zexal self-cannibalizes itself.

And then there’s Nasch and Vector. Not really the duel between them, but their entire characters reflect the two Chaos.

These two are on the opposite ends of the spectrum. When Vector said they are incompatible, it means that Nasch uses constructive Chaos while Vector uses destructive Chaos. One will tend to give and the other will always take. They are quite the antithesis of each other. 

Because of this, they simply cannot mix. In this system, Vector will take and Nasch will give (assuming he is unaware the entire time; he trusts Vector for thousands of years and after his return, which,,,,). One will die in this system, and it’s likely to be Nasch because altruism tends to lose to selfishness. This isn’t how Nasch died though; Vector kinda pushed him off a cliff, but it does explain why the two cannot get along. 

But there are a lot of examples in how these characters contrast each other. Their past lives, for example, were prominent in how Vector was willing to slaughter his own men to defeat Nasch, while Nasch eventually tried to keep his army out of his and Vector’s fight in the Labyrinth. 

Their Mythyrian Numbers also showcase Vector’s tendency to ignore bonds while Nasch’s tendency to build bonds. Vector doesn’t even touch the base-form to access his Chaos Number while Nasch summons the base-form first and heavily utilize it. 

Their signature Rank-Up cards too. 

Nasch represents the power of shared Chaos. One of his first moves after becoming an Emperor is giving the power of “Rank-Up Magic - The Seventh One” to the rest of the Emperors. This Rank-Up Magic allows the Emperors to defeat their human opponents during the Barian Onslaught Arc, who they were struggling to beat before Nasch granted it to them. But Vector, after destroying Don Thousand, uses the card “Rank-Up-Magic - Admire Death Thousand” and he is the only person who has access to this card.

Another really good example is how they represent the combined powers of the Emperors.

Starting with Vector, it’s safe to say that he does not cherish the bonds between them at all. He is vicious even to his own team, going as far as to mortally wound two of them for the fun of it, insults them on a regular basis, and then absorbs them to make himself stronger. 

After absorbing four of the six Emperors, Vector uses their powers to make himself god-like. He alters his entire figure and uses this strength to “kill” Don Thousand, absorbing his strength as well. 

Furthermore and like Nasch, Vector uses a monster that represents the combined strength of the Emperors he gathered thus far. “Chaos Number 5: Perishing-Gloom Dragon - Chaos Chimera Dragon” represents this, but it is almost, say, tragic in how this monster represents those bonds? Aside from Vector summoning it before telling Nasch that, “Yeah, i took your dumbass buddies’ powers and made this sick bad boy out of it. Eat my shit”

Now, this monster is different from Nasch’s monster but it shares one similar effect, which is “This card's ATK becomes equal to the number of Xyz Materials attached to it x 1000.” This monster derives its powers from its overlay units (or from the other Emperors, if you look at the subtext) but a key difference from Nasch’s monster is that this monster has a special condition regarding its overlay units. For “Chimera Dragon” to attack, it must detach an overlay unit. This means it must always use and discard the strength of its “allies” in order to fight. Following this, “Chimera Dragon” can reattach its overlay units at the beginning of your opponent's turn, allowing it to use and discard its overlay units forever (provided the user can pay the lifepoint cost). Vector detaches all of the overlay units, essentially ditching the cards that represent his allies in order to use the power of his dragon.

But, for Nasch, oh boy, his duel kinda spells it out in big flashing letters. His moves in this duel is the embodiment of constructive Chaos. 

Before we get to the main monster, the Chaos cards used by Nasch follow a heavy theme of the Barian’s bonds, and Nasch makes several references to his dead friends during this duel.

I mean, just look at them. He’s obsessed.

The main attraction is Nasch’s ace monster, “Chaos Xyz: King of Hope - Barian”, a monster summoned by using each of the Emperor’s Over-Hundred Numbers, giving it seven overlay units that represent each Emperor. This monster is the complete opposite of “Chimera Dragon”. Everything about it represents the ideals of constructive Chaos.

Let’s start with the design. Now I’m a little skeptical on some of these, but according to some, “Barian King” has parts that derive from the other Chaos Over-Hundreds. 

The spear it uses comes from Dark Knight and Noble Daemon (and I’d argue that the shield comes from Noble Daemon too, since Durbe is said to the Barian’s shield), the crest on its head comes from Ragna Infinity, the armored knuckles come from Caestus the Comet, the style of its hair/tail things resembles the neck of Tachyon Dragon, and the color palette comes from Umbral and Giant Red Hand. 

Some of these are easy to see, while some are obscure-ish (not too sure about the color things since red is a general Barian thing), but it’s highly likely that the artists who designed “Barian King” considered the other Over-Hundreds when designing this monster, especially when you consider what happens in this duel. 

Moving to the effects, this monster also derives its ATK-points from its overlay units too, gaining 1000 points for each material attached. The difference between “Barian King” and “Chimera Dragon”, whereas its effects are unrelated to the monsters attached to it, is that “Barian King” effects are the effects of its overlay units. Since its overlay units are the seven Over-Hundred Numbers, “Barian King” has the unique powers of each Barian Emperor.

Stated in the show, Nasch is fighting alongside the other Emperors (or Yuma is facing all seven Emperors as a single entity).

Not only that, but the Emperors’ spirits are depicted with their duel disks, so they are not simply bystanders in the duel, but active participants in the fight. They are just as involved in this battle as much as Nasch is.

The cherry on top is an additional effect. The user can “detach an overlay unit to use one of the Over-Hundred effects” or the user can “pay 400 lifepoints to use the effect without detaching a material”. This is the major difference from Vector’s monster. Aside from having its effects be directly influenced from its overlay units, this monster gives the user an option of keeping its overlay units (or keeping the other Emperors by Nasch’s side) in exchange for Nasch’s lifepoints. 

And Nasch always pays the lifepoints. Over the course of the duel, in addition to paying lifepoints to SUMMON “Barian King”, he consistently pays lifepoints to prevent the overlay units from being detached, to keep “Barian King” alive, and to stop its overlay units from being destroyed. (I think he paid up to 8600 lifepoints total, so thats yikes)

Unlike Vector, who sees the other Emperors as tools to use and discard, Nasch sees them as invaluable allies who should stand by his side. 

Yuma even points out that Nasch is paying a lot of lifepoints to keep his monster safe. And then he destroys “Barian King” because fuck it. Nasch’s reaction when “Barian King” explodes, however, isn’t seen as an attack on himself but on his companions and their dreams. Like, that’s the face of hurt right there.

Look at his face. He’s so upset :( aw

It’s clear that Nasch derives his power and passion from the other Emperors; without them, he breaks apart.  

(it’s also worth noting that when he loses “Barian King”, or his bonds with the Barian Emperors, he immediately sends out several monsters that are deeply connected to Ryouga (Big Jaws, Aeroshark, Black Ray Lancer…). I don’t know what to make of this. It may be that Nasch is so driven by bonds that once “the Seven Emperors” are defeated, he turns to the bonds he built with Yuma. Or maybe it's just a nostalgic homage before the final battle concludes.)

Before he lost, Nasch’s final moves were to resummon “Barian King” and reattach each of Over-Hundreds on his monster. This final move may have been what killed him (due to some Double Up Chance shenanigans) but Nasch was set on letting all Seven Emperors win as one, or fall as one. 

That brings us to the final discussion of Yuma and Nasch. These characters have resonated with each other since the start of the show. I honestly believe this is due to their similar Chaos, which is why Yuma is able to always worm himself into Ryouga’s heart on multiple occasions, and vice-versa. The most interesting bit of information I found was this scene. 

Nasch understands Yuma because they both utilize the Chaos of bonds. Yuma heavily relies on his friends as much as Nasch does; it’s in their nature, so of course they understand each other.  

Furthermore, these characters seem to be able to fight most effectively in the presence of friends. For Yuma, he usually has Astral, Kotori, or the Numbers Club by his side, and during his duel with Michael, where he loses his father’s Kattobingu spirit and his friends, Yuma is unable to fight against his opponent. Yuma relies on constant support. Heck, his strongest form uses the bonds of Zexal Morph, and during the ceremonial duel, or the duel he fights without Astral or Zexal Morph, all of his (living) friends are there to support him. 

Nasch does this too. Like, a lot, to name a few:

And during his duel with Vector, where Nasch basically lost or assumes he lost all of his friends, he looks to be very distressed when he realizes he’s all alone.

And appropriately enough, when Yuma pops in at this exact moment, Nasch looks slightly less distressed? 

I don’t know what expression mr. no-mouth is doing here but he doesn’t look upset to see Yuma and Astral. He snaps out of his “loneliness” state when Yuma arrives for sure. By looks of it, Nasch fights better when he has certain people by his side, whether it be the soul of Barians or a familiar face. 

It’s this reasoning that both are strong constructive Chaos users, but they see it in slightly different ways. They both believe in strength in numbers, altruism, and friendship, but Nasch is limited to the in-group of his fellow Barians. He wants to protect them above everything else, and since the Astrals want to destroy them, Nasch reacts accordingly. On the other side, Yuma probably doesn’t have any in-groups (like maybe Don Thousand). He wants to protect the Barians, the Astrals, and the humans. 

And if you consider that Yuma is a fragment of Don Thousand’s original Chaos, someone who represents the strongest of all Chaos, it sorta makes sense that Yuma is potentially the strongest user of constructive Chaos (any by logic, Number 96 should be the strongest user of destructive Chaos, but he uh, he exploded.), making him stronger than Nasch despite their similar ideals. It’s this bond, I believe, is why Yuma persisted in the final battle and not Nasch. 

I don’t know how to end this really. There’s still a lot more I want to talk about that i couldn't fit in this entire series, but final thoughts is that barians, uh they’re friend-shaped 

[seven-spirits-of-light]

Rules

General: No God-Modding obviously. Please don’t hate on the characters as they are all Originals. Mun is +20 years old, if you want to reach me, please send an ask or hit me up on my main blog ask-genie! Please note that ask-genie is also the blog that I will be following back from!! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shipping: Each character has a canon Zexal character I ship them with. Avina x Nasch/Shark Vance x Merag/Rio Larissa x Alito Matilda x Dumon Seiko x Girag SongLi x Mizar Eshra x Vector Natalia x V/Christopher Sophia x III/Michael Lady Gothica x IV/Thomas Missi x Kaito Lady Elsa x Astral Yuma x Nora I prefer to single ship them, meaning a character only has one blog character they’re in a relationship with. SHIPPING IS NOT REQUIRED FOR INTERACTION!!! My characters are more than happy to interact with their ‘partner’ characters in a purely platonic way. For example, Nora can interact with multiple different Yumas simply as friends and not romantically. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Format: I’m not horrifically picky about formatting. I use more of a story-telling style, I guess you would call it.  --------------------------------------------------------------------------- NSFW: I am fine with NSFW such as smut and gore, but I would prefer to discuss gore RPs before hand. I WILL NOT RP SMUT WITH ANY UNDER AGE ROLE PLAYERS, YOU MUST BE 18 OR OLDER!! If I find out you are under age, I will block you immediately. I don’t mess around with that, y’all. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Triggers to Tag: I make use of the #suicide, #murder, #gore, and #nsfw tags. If there are any you would like me to add, please tell me!

[city-writes]

16 or 32 for Shark x Durbe please! And extra laughs if it's Rio or Vector that caught them and they're yelling 'I've gone blind'! XD

thanks for this! this was alot of fun to write! i might have stayed up until 3am writing this and i have to get up at 7am rip me

Send me a number and a pairing!

Read it here on AO3!

The night is young, and the king of The Land of Poseidon is wide awake. “Meet me at the stables,” he whispers into the ear of his right hand knight in passing in the great hall after a council meeting. There is no verbal response from the knight, only a subtle nod that sends all too much of a thrill through the young king.

They dare not risk getting caught with one another in the castle; several councilmen had voiced their concerns at the previous king making an outsider the prince’s personal knight, and should they be found out the council just might consider it grounds for the knight’s expulsion. Not even the princess knows, not because they consider her untrustworthy - they don’t by any means, they each trust her with their very lives - but should they get found out, they don’t want her being dragged down with them.

It’s dark now, the sun fully gone from the sky, and the two meet each other in a near empty stable, the only occupant being the knight’s loyal steed, who stirs at the sudden appearance of its rider. With a few shushes from the knight, and an apple from the king, the horse is quelled, and makes no further sound.

Durbe is closing the gate to Mach’s stall when he feels hands around his waist, slithering up his linen shirt, immobilizing him where he stood. “N-Nasch…” Nasch’s lips are hot on his neck, hands warm against his chest, the cool air in the stable making him shiver against the contrasting temperatures. Nasch’s body is warm against his, and every shift, every subtle move he makes invites the cold in to invade where that warmth once was. Through the pleasureful haze that clouded his thoughts, Durbe has half a mind to pull the both of them down into a nearby haystack to try and keep some semblance of warmth from escaping them.

Nasch sucks at a tender spot on Durbe’s neck, causing the knight to cry out, startling Mach in the process. The two of them hush the horse again, and Durbe takes this opportunity to pull Nasch close to a hay pile. He then pulls the kings face gently, closer to his own, and meets their lips together. The action starts off chasté, but soon Nasch swipes his tongue against Durbe’s lower lip, eliciting a small gasp from the knight, which more than enough entryway for the king to slip his tongue into the knight’s mouth, the two of them kissing each other heatedly.

Durbe isn’t sure who initiates it, but soon they’re both lowering themselves down to the haystack, Durbe’s back pressed flushed against the straw material with only minimal discomfort. Durbe’s arms are around Nasch’s neck, and Nasch’s hands are performing separate tasks. One is holding the king up, stabilizing him while the other is travelling back into Durbe’s shirt, resuming what it had been doing before Mach interrupted them, tracing up and down Durbe’s torso, before finding itself at his nipples.

A whine escapes Durbe as Nasch toys with a nipple, and one of his hands goes into the king’s hair, his fingers lightly tangling themselves his purple locks, breaking the kiss as he gently pulls Nasch’s head back to expose his neck to him. Durbe then goes in for the attack, peppering Nasch’s neck with kisses before returning the favor from earlier, sucking at Nasch’s neck in return, at a low enough point that his armor will hide the bruise.

They’re both panting heavily, Nasch rolling his hips into Durbe’s. The move causes Durbe to moan against Nasch’s neck, sending a shiver down the king’s spine. Nasch then pulls himself free of Durbe’s hold, and begins to pull up at Durbe’s shirt. The knight quickly obliges the action, shifting his arms so that Nasch can pull the shirt over his head. The straw from the haystack feels more prominent against his back, but Durbe tells himself that soon he wont even be feeling it anymore, that soon he’ll be feeling something much better than that.

They’re back at it again, kissing one another, Nasch’s hands unabashedly exploring Durbe’s chest now. Durbe’s about to return the favor in kind, his hands going to the hem of Nasch’s linen shirt when–

“To think, you’ve both somehow perverted horse stables for me forever.”

At Merag’s voice, the two young men startle, fumbling over each other in an attempt to save face, but to no avail. Durbe is red as a beet, spluttering all sorts of choppy excuses as he pulls his shirt back on. “It’s not– we were just– you aren’t–” Nasch however, finds it in him to stand and meet his twin eye to eye.

“You’ll tell no one about this.”

“Who would possibly want to know, aside from the horses in the stables on the west side of the castle, in case you plan to sully their stable with your perversions too.”

Nasch practically growls at his sister, but does not get to retaliate, because Durbe finally speaks a coherent sentence. “How did you find us?”

Merag folds her arms, smirking mischievously, “Unlike you, my brother is not known for his subtlety. He made it all too obvious he was whispering to you after today’s council meeting. The councilmen probably took it as the childishness of boys, but I could tell Nasch was up to something. So I followed him, but stayed inside, watching from a floor up as he met you here. It was only when I heard Mach startle that I decided to come down for myself to see what you both were doing.”

Nasch nearly glares daggers at Mach, but restrains himself, telling himself its not the pegasus’s fault they got caught, but his own.

“I’m not going to stop you,” Merag says, “and I’ll try my best to protect you both, but I’d find someplace better than a stable to do this in.” Durbe and Nasch both mutter their thank yous, Durbe now standing up himself. The mood is now gone, and whatever plans they had are now ruined. “Now I’m going to go make late night prayers to Abyss.”

Nasch frowns slightly, tilting his head somewhat. “Why at this time of night?” Durbe’s curious too, and awaits Merag’s answer. She looks torn, as though she doesn’t want to tell them the reason why, but whatever qualms she has about it are gone as she then opens her mouth and speaks.

“Because perhaps if I pray enough, Abyss will free me of the blinding image of you two going at it in a stable.” She smirks then and walks off, leaving both Nasch and Durbe red from embarrassment.

[zexal-shipping]

two things please.

1, Zexalcest for zexal form x zexal form since that one seems to have been forgotten from past lists

2, can you add ultimateedenshipping for Ryoga[Nasch]/Zexal II 100% named after the doujin

Thank you!

Ships added, thank you.

We also added a note about Ryoga/Nasch (and Rio/Merag) ships. There was no distinction between them in the other lists, so it's assumed they're used interchangeably, unlike Vector/Rei, for example. If people want to specify Nasch or Merag ships, they can do that. In this case, the ship is written as "Ryoga [Nasch]".

[checkurselfb4umachuwreckurself]

since you brought it up earlier, Masumi x Merag

*finger guns*

Nasch blinked. “What exactly is the meaning of this?”

The girl wearing a face mask and held a spray bottle looked up at him. “She’s mine, dear brother,” Merag said, patting her head.

“Yours how so.” Nasch asked. “Is this…” he looked around, “consensual?”

The girl nodded. Pulling down the mask she said, “my name is Masumi. I met Merag-domo back in Heartland City and I admired her gems, which I had never seen before. She invited me back to Barian World after.”

Nasch squinted. “How long has she been here.”

“A week.”

“H-HOW DID YOU KEEP A MORTAL SECRET FOR AN ENTIRE WEEK!?” he exclaimed.

Merag pointed at the face mask, which was back up over Masumi’s face. “She’s quiet, unlike your visitors.”

Nasch went to walk away. “I cannot believe you abducted a child just so she could look at your gemstones.”

“I have a job, ya’ know.” Masumi responded, muffled by the mask. Nasch turned around to see Masumi was polishing Merag’s gems. “You can be next if you’re nicer to me,” she said with a masked smile, as Merag gave a small whine.

Nasch gave a disgusted look. “Get each others’ rocks off later.” Nasch said walking away, much faster than before.

[sirdurbe]

[sirdurbe]

somehow my zexal rewatch has gotten me obsessed with doruvec when i haven't even made it to the wdc finals yet

[sirdurbe]

people are so lukewarm about holyice and then on yuuma's first turn of their final duel nasch was like i activate my trap card, holyiceshipping is best ship

[higuchimon]

[fanfic] Invitations

Nasch’s attention flickered from the tiny girl seated on the throne to his left hand to the door, then over to the knight who stood to his right.

“Everything’s working fine,” Durbe told him, voice pitched low to avoid being heard by anyone who wasn’t the King. “All of the invitations were delivered properly.”

Nasch’s eyebrows narrowed ever so faintly. “Including the one to Vector?”

“Yes,” Durbe nodded. He’d been in charge of seeing to that particular invitation, while common heralds and messengers managed the others. The effects of their work showed here and now.

As did the effects of his – there wasn’t any sign of Vector anywhere, nor had any of the guards posted sent a warning of any sort. Perhaps the false celebrations they’d set up elsewhere would be enough to keep him distracted.

Tiny Princess Isis – a child Nasch and Merag found after a harsh battle in a distant land and brought back with them – sat on the finely carved throne, her hands resting on her lap, glancing nervously about. This party celebrated her official adoption by Nasch and Merag, bringing her into their family.

Neither of them were inclined to marriage or offspring. Merag had pledged herself to the God of the Ocean and while it wasn't forbidden for her to wed if she’d met someone, everyone knew that the odds of her meeting someone she’d choose were slim to non-existence. Nasch had other reasons for not wedding – reasons that Durbe knew very well indeed.

Almost all of the guests had arrived. Emperor Leonius arrived early, along with his favorite gladiator Alit. Rumors ran that Alit was far more to him than a mere gladiator – a common arena fighter wouldn’t be brought along on this sort of trip. Nasch didn’t question. It wasn’t as if he didn’t know the teasing allure of those who weren’t born to a royal title.

Someone new entered the chamber – two someones, in fact. Nasch glanced up to see who it was. Durbe knew them at once, of course.

“Mizael!” Durbe moved over, smiling. Nasch recognized the name as that of a famous dragon tamer who protected a land to the north and east. Someone he didn’t know stood next to Mizael, glancing around, a bit uncomfortable here. “Who is your friend?”

“This is Ryou,” Mizael said, nodding towards him. “We met a few months ago. I thought he would enjoy visiting here too.”

The stranger nodded politely. “It’s as lovely as I was told.”

After a few more words, Mizael and Ryou moved on, while Durbe returned to his position at Nasch’s right hand. He didn’t move away from it except to greet another famous guest, a general who’d won great acclaim on the battlefield and appeared here with his newly wed wife, an accomplished singer and musician. Not every guest deserved to be greeted by either the King or his Knight personally.

Nasch considered having a meal brought. It had been a very long day and his stomach rumbled. He started to gesture for one of the servants, when a noise came from the entryway, and Durbe stiffened at once.

“He wasn’t invited,” Durbe muttered. Nasch’s eyes narrowed as whoever it was moved closer.

“Who is it?” He demanded to know. Durbe glanced back at him.

“Do you remember the sorcerer Arclight?” the knight asked, his attention returning to the approaching figure. Nasch nodded; he’d heard many tales of the sorcerer and his three sons. “That’s Thomas, the middle son. I know no one invited him. But he’s here.”

Nasch’s lips thinned at that. It looked as if he wasn't going to be getting his dinner as soon as he hoped he would be. But he wasn’t going to allow anyone to ruin tonight’s celebration. He could see Merag also glaring at the approaching sorcerer – or whatever he was.

“Does he share his father's mage-talents?” Nasch asked. He’d heard a few things about how the youngest of the three was a skilled swordsman and the eldest took after his father in mage-craft, but not very much about what this middle child could do.

“He’s a fire-mage,” Durbe murmured. “Very talented with them, too.”

Fire-mages were rare and hadn’t appeared often in his realm, which was far more dedicated to the ways of water magic than anything else.

“What are you doing here, Thomas?” Merag asked, standing next to Iris and glowering with all the fury of the ocean at the newcomer.

The fire-mage laughed, tossing his mane of red and gold hair, sunlight glinting off of it. “Well, hello, there, Merag.” His eyes glittered hungrily. “I suppose I should have expected to see you here.”

“Considering this is my realm too, yes,” Merag snapped back. “No answer me. You weren’t invited.”

“What does that have to do with it?” Thomas crossed his arms over his chest. “You invited all of them.” He waved one hand to where Emperor Leonius and Alit, Mizael and Ryou, General Gilag and Sanagi, and everyone else. “So why can’t I show up if I want to?” He smirked. “Not enough golden plates to eat off of?”

“We don't’ eat off of gold,” Merag replied flatly. “You weren’t invited because no one wanted you here.”

Silence fell. Thomas’s lips thinned before he looked past her to where Nasch began to rise to his feet.

“Well, if it isn’t His Majesty.” Thomas smirked, waving one hand, tiny flames dancing on the tips of his fingers. Nasch tried to tell himself that the sight wasn’t attractive and failed rather miserably.

You have Durbe already. But there stood Thomas, blazing bright, with gleaming dark red eyes.

“What do you want here?” Nasch asked, fingers twitching. He knew his guards watched carefully; if Thomas made a move that he didn’t like, then he’d be a pincushion inside of a handful of seconds.

Thomas smiled. It was much like the smile of a shark. Normally Nasch liked those, but this gave off a different feeling.

“I’m here for the same reason as everyone else is.” Again he waved one flame-tipped hand. “This is a party. I even brought a gift for the new little princess there.”

Merag moved closer to Iris. It had been her idea to adopt the little girl, who now wrapped one hand around Merag’s, trembling. Nasch stood next to his sister, glaring sharply at him.

“What kind of gift are you talking about?”

“Why, just this.” Thomas twisted his hands and then held out a small gem to Iris. “This is a sunstone – a gemstone connected to the power of fire. It will always keep you warm, no matter how cold it is around you.”

“We don’t get cold weather here,” Merag said. “Why do you want to give her that?”

Nasch wondered the same thing. It never got that cold here. So what was he thinking about?

“She might not spend her entire life here,” Thomas pointed out, doing his level best to appear innocent, and not being very good at it. “But it also carries a powerful protective spell in general. You can throw it in the ocean if you don’t want it. But it’s hers – shouldn’t it be her decision if she takes it or not?”

Nasch glanced at Iris, whose attention focused on the sunstone. Thomas flicked his fingers again and now a silver chain hung from the gemstone. He offered it to her, and she reached for it slowly.

“Thank you, sir,” she murmured. “It’s beautiful.”

Thomas smiled. It was probably the most genuine expression that Nasch had ever seen on his face. “It’s yours, then. Slowly he moved forward. Nasch found himself tempted to alert the guards, but he didn’t. Maybe the fire-mage actually meant well. He was just an ass – it wasn’t as if Nasch himself wasn’t the same way sometimes.

He slid the chain over Iris’s neck, then stepped back, glancing at Nasch and Durbe. “I didn’t just bring presents for her.”

Again his hands flashed with fire that coalesced into two polished gemstones, both of them a reddish-brown, a great deal like Thomas's own eyes, along with flashes deep inside of red, orange, and gold. It reminded Nasch thoroughly of fire itself.

“I brought these for you two,” Thomas said. “They’re fire agate.” A twitch to his lips. “Would you like to know what these gems mean?”

Nasch started to open his mouth, but Durbe beat him to it. “They increase physical energy and stamina. Or so the stories say.” He rested one hand on Nasch’s shoulder, and Durbe suspected there was something more to those gems than just stamina.

“That they do,” Thomas agreed. “But I also added something else for them. When you want to see me, all you have to do is touch them and call my name.”

“Why would we want to see you?” Nasch wanted to know. None of the tension had faded since he’d entered the chamber.

“Oh, who knows. You might want to talk. Or something else.” Thomas smirked. “Now, I came all this way. I want something to eat. You do have refreshments, don’t you?”

Nasch crossed his arms. “I could use something myself.” And he would definitely want to make sure that Thomas still didn’t cause any trouble.

He wasn’t sure of where those gemstones vanished off to. Perhaps Thomas just made them disappear again. But perhaps it didn’t matter, as for the moment, the fire-mage seemed content to accept a plate of food and settle down to eat. Durbe and Nasch picked up their own food, while Merag had a couple of plates brought to her and Iris.

Thomas nibbled on one of the finger foods and sipped from his wine cup. “This is a very nice party,” he said. “Let me guess, you didn’t invite Vector either?”

Nasch didn’t question how Thomas knew Vector. Everyone knew Vector, whether they wanted to or not.

“Of course we sent him an invitation,” Durbe said, a quick smile over his lips. “It just didn’t invite him to this party.”

“Clever.” Thomas leaned backwards. “I’m surprised you didn’t try the same trick with me.”

“We didn’t know you’d even want to come,” Nasch admitted. The Arclight family had been considered for the guest list, but Merag hadn’t wanted to. Nasch suspected that she knew more about the scar on Thomas’s face than either of them were ever going to talk about.

Thomas rested one hand over his heart. “I should feel wounded. Why wouldn’t I want to come? Now, my brothers – Christopher is busy with Prince Kaito. I think they’re sending a present of their own. Michael is busy somewhere else. I couldn’t say where – he’s trying to collect some ancient treasure or something. His lips pursed. “I think he teamed up with the son of an adventurer. They’re probably going to be busy for a while.

He shrugged and nibbled more of his food. “But I wasn't doing anything and if you’d sent me the invitation I probably wouldn’t have bothered.” Again that fiery glint in his eyes and Nasch tried to avoid thinking about it. He knew very well he was doing a very bad job of it. “But you didn’t – so I did.”

Durbe took a deep drink of his own. “So you just showed up because you weren’t invited.”

“Yes.” Thomas admitted without a care. He tilted his head up. “I probably won’t stay long. Too wet around here.” He caught Nasch’s eye and grinned. “But you can always invite me back with those gemstones. They’ll only work if you both use them at the same time. I wouldn’t want to break the two of you – up.”

The pause between words had to have been deliberate. He licked his lips slowly, eyes still fastened on Nasch and burning with an intensity fit to evaporate the ocean. Nasch didn’t look away, not even when he felt Durbe’s hand closing around his.

He’s offering – is he? Nasch wanted to think he knew but this was the first time Thomas had ever stood face to face with him. Why would he make an offer like that? He couldn’t possibly mean it.

Durbe’s thoughts ran in the same direction. “You hardly know us. Why would you claim that?”

“Claim what?” Thomas needed a lot of practice if he were going to sound innocent but he certainly gave it a good attempt. “I said you could invite me back. What do you do with guests to your kingdom?” He waved both of his fire-tipped hands again. “Really.” He also tried to sound offended. He was much better at that.

Nasch refused to commit himself and concentrated on getting his dinner finished. The other party-goers ate as well, mingling and chatting amongst themselves. Nasch could hear a few whispers that seemed more or less wondering exactly what Thomas was up to. No one else dared challenge him, and Nasch wanted to believe they thought that he could handle the matter if necessary.

Once Thomas finished, he rose to his feet. “It’s time for me to go. But as I said, invite me back any time. Perhaps I could get used to your realm if I see it often enough.” He glanced to where Merag glowered towards him. “And a good day to you as well, Highness.”

In between one breath and the next, a column of fire erupted from his feet, and when it faded away, Thomas wasn’t there anymore. Nasch glanced at Durbe, who looked more than a little relieved at his departure.

“Later,” Durbe murmured. “After the party.”

Nasch agreed; this was something far better discussed behind closed doors. The party didn’t last much longer after that; everyone finished their food, bid Nasch, Merag, and Iris good night, and retired to their quarters. The celebrations would go on for another three days, and Nasch expected everyone would be exhausted by the end.

He hadn’t been in his room long before the expected quiet tapping came, and Durbe followed a breath afterward. He moved over to embrace his lover for a few seconds.

“Do you think he was serious?” Durbe wanted to know as they settled down on the bed. Nasch brushed his fingers through Durbe’s wind-roughened hair. He’d probably gone on a flight with Mach before coming over.

“I doubt it. But we can test him to find out if he is. He claimed he’d be a guest. Let’s show him what the real hospitality of the realm is.” Nasch smiled his own shark-like smile. “He’s a fire-mage. He should know it’s not wise to play with water or air either.”

Durbe regarded him for a few moments before he laughed. “You’re right.” He slid one arm around Nasch and pressed a kiss against the king’s lips. “But we can talk about that later, too.”

Nasch definitely agreed. Planning how to turn the tables on Thomas could wait until after he and Durbe relaxed enough to truly enjoy it.

On the table next to the bed, two fire agates gleamed.

The End

Notes: I couldn’t resist sneaking my new OTP in there (Ryou x Mizael) and I’m beginning to like the idea of Durbe/Nasch/Thomas as well. The sparks would fly in every direction!

[higuchimon]

[fanfic] Divine Will

I have lived all of my life – all of my lives – working to divine the will of the Gods whom I serve and speak it to others, be it an entire kingdom or a handful of people who are already as devoted as I am, whether they were aware of it or not.

We carry the signs of the Gods not just in our power and our form, the very rock from which we sprang, but in markings upon our wrists, showing us when the one or ones who are meant as our companions, lovers, and truest friends will cross our paths.

My brother and his knight share that bond. For some reason even I cannot fathom – and I fear not even the Gods can – it also exists between Vector and Mizael.

Alit’s marking binds him to two of our enemies: that of Michael Arclight, known also as III, and our greatest foe save Astral himself – Tskumo Yuuma.

I want to believe that this means we will win the war. Would any God be so cruel as to shatter the bonds crafted thusly? III and Yuuma will learn that the side they serve is in the wrong. They will join us. They will be happy.

Or they will die.

It is not a thing I desire. But it is what will be. What must be.

I feel something of the same choice awaits the one I am bound to as well. But Kotori is not a warrior, not a duelist. She will not have to fight, only wait to see how the war itself ends.

When it ends with our victory, we will be together. Aside from our victory, there’s little that I want more. From the moment I saw her and realized that our counters ran out together, I knew that we would have some sort of an ending together. I could not place what kind, only that it would be.

We haven’t as of yet touched. She wanted to wait until we were older. I respected that then and I respect it now.

I don’t believe I’ll get much older than I am now, though. Finding out that one has experienced multiple reincarnations and is more or less an immortal servant of the Gods does odd things to one’s perception of time and aging.

But the war will end and I will still wait for her to give me her hand, if it takes a thousand years and another dozen lifetimes.

I could not look her in the face at the moment, though. She would call me traitor. She would call me enemy.

She would not be wrong.

But this is the will of the divine and I cannot turn that aside, nor would I if I could. In the end, she will understand. I must have faith in that. I must have faith inher as I do in the Gods. She will learn the reasons I’ve done what I have.

I still love you, Kotori. Stay safe.

The End

Notes: I should write more female POV. Really.

[higuchimon]

[fanfic] Savor The Display:  Chapter 1

Mizael quite liked the fact that his human clothes – wherever did those come from, anyway? - covered up his arms. He didn’t have to see the names written in elegant markings there. He knew what they said, of course. He’d been able to read them as far back as he could remember.

On one arm, the name was that of his soulmate. On the other, the name of his mortal enemy. Not everyone was blessed with such clear knowledge of their love or their enemy. He knew well that Durbe and Nasch were soulmates – they shared marks that glowed when they stood close to one another.

Or so they had. Mizael didn’t know if they still did, with Nasch being missing. But they were soulmates.

Mizael didn’t know if Alit had a soulmate or not. He’d never said anything, and even when he did talk about something, Mizael seldom listened to him in the first place. He remembered Merag having mentioned once that she saw no color and likely wouldn’t until she met her soulmate. He didn’t envy her that.

He knew very well about Vector’s soulmate.

Humans, and apparently Barians, had an infinite number of ways in which one’s soulmate could be detected or observed or discovered. Mizael’s names were just one of them. For the longest time he’d wondered what the name on the left arm had meant…

He did wonder exactly what humans thought about marks like his, and decided that it wouldn’t do any harm to do some research. Humans were inferior to Barians in every possible way, but they did have a long history of soul-marks, so perhaps someone had written something about that.

Thusly, Mizael made his way to a place he’d heard about – the local library. The unfortunate part of that was that he didn’t know where the library was in the first place. His avenues for information about the human world were few and far between, unless he wanted to grab a random human and demand information.

I think I’ll have to. He had a suspicion that Vector might know, but he didn’t really want to ask Vector, for a multitude of reasons. Amongst those being that he didn’t know where Vector was right now. Probably still in his ‘Shingetsu Rei’ disguise, which Mizael didn’t really approve of to start with.

He cast a few glances around, trying to determine who he could ask. There weren’t many humans around who looked his apparent age and the adults all seemed too busy. Not that such would stop him if he couldn’t find anyone else, but he presumed someone who would be of ‘school age’ would be more likely to have the information he wanted.

A noise caught his attention and he followed where it came from until he stood in a tight, dirty alleyway. His lip curled at the stench that slunk through the air. He’d never seen a place so foul before. Empty boxes had been tossed here, subject to the whims of the weather, and from the lack of light, only one exit led in or out. Tiny puddles of oil-streaked water splattered here and there, gleaming faintly in what little light managed to work its way down there.

That little light also revealed those who lurked here. A half dozen burly humans – the largest of them wasn’t even half the size of Gilag – lounged on piles of boxes, chatting amongst themselves. Mizael regarded them with a definite air of turning around to leave, when one of them glanced up and saw him there.

“Hey, who invited the pretty boy?” That one half-shouted. “I mean, we could use a few more decorations around this place!” He seemed to think he’d made some sort of amazing joke, throwing his head back and guffawing.

Mizael wasn’t impressed. He didn’t know a great deal about humans but he had a suspicion that these people weren’t going to be able to tell him where the library was. That was just his luck.

“Well, pretty boy?” The one who’d spoken leered at him. “Come on over here. I want a better look at you.”

“No.” Mizael didn’t move for a second. Nothing else needed to be said, and he turned around. He stopped a breath later; had he seen someone lurking over there, just out of sight? It seemed nothing more than a flicker of something, but he couldn’t be certain.

He hadn’t really taken a full step before the idiot human spoke again.

“He really is pretty, isn’t he? Bet all he’s good for is -”

Hearing what the human thought brought Mizael back around, hand dropping down to his deck at once. Dueling humans wasn’t really fair; these weren't Kaito, they couldn’t give him anything close to a fair fight, but right now, he didn’t care. For what he’d said, Galaxy Eyes would feed very well. “What did you say?” Mizael refused to yell. He didn’t need to. The earth under his feet shook with the force of his rage. How dare these humans say something so vile about him? Who had given them the impression they could get away with such filth? The human grinned at him. “Oh, didn’t you hear me? Let me repeat it.” “That won’t be necessary.” Mizael bit the words off. “If you think you can speak of me like that, you will regret it. Do you duel?”

“Sure do!” The thug laughed. “I’ve got a perfect win record, too! You want a duel, you got one!” He started to lever himself to his feet.

Mizael looked forward to tearing this idiot apart. He hadn’t yet pulled out his deck before a very familiar arm slid around his waist and he was pulled back against Vector, who dropped a small kiss on his neck.

“You’re not going to have fun without me, are you?” Vector purred. Mizael suspected Tskumo Yuuma wouldn’t even recognize his ‘friend’ Shingetsu Rei right now. “That’s very cruel of you. You should at least let me get some popcorn first.” He laughed softly, breath puffing against the side of Mizael’s neck. “You know how I love a good show.”

The humans muttered among themselves, then the leader laughed even louder than before. “Look at that! He’s got a boyfriend! One of those prissy schoolkids!”

Vector’s eyes glinted softly. Mizael doubted the humans would have seen that, but he did, and he knew what it meant. How much pain these fools were in now depended on which one of them dealt with them.

“Are you my boyfriend?” Vector murmured. His right hand brushed against Mizael’s right forearm. A great rush of warmth swept through Mizael at the contact, even though his clothes. The touch of his soulmate on him – Mizael hated the direction his thoughts turned after that.

“We are soulmates,” he growled the words out. Vector’s name on his right arm, Tenjo Kaito, his mortal enemy, on his left arm. He’d known for ages, but that didn’t make it any easier.

The humans howled even more at that.

“A soulmate?” The leader shook his head, snorting. “What a joke. So, you gonna duel or not, pretty boy?”

Vector stepped back, not even gracing the thugs with a look, regarding Mizael in anticipation. “You take care of this and I’ve got a couple of things to teach you afterwards. Have you ever had a chocolate milkshake?”

“Never heard of it.” Mizael wasn’t afraid to admit that. Humans treats had never appealed to him, but he’d also never spent much time in human form. Perhaps it would be worthwhile to see what pleasures this place had to offer.

“The sooner you’re done with them, the better, then,��� Vector promised. Mizael glanced over to the humans, who had no idea of what was about to happen to them.

He wouldn’t make it hurt as much as he could. He wanted this to be quick and clean. It would probably be the only clean thing in this disgusting alleyway.

“Duel!” He snapped the word out, and waded into battle.

Chocolate milkshakes were, Mizael decided, quite a worthy reward for the effort that he’d put in. The thug hadn’t really given him many issues, nor had the two who’d demanded to duel him afterwards. When he’d finished them both off in a two on one duel, Mizael decided that was all he felt like doing. It probably helped that the rest of their gang ran screaming in fear.

Vector took the time to search the pockets of those Mizael defeated, and used that to pay for their treat. Mizael might have cared, if those idiots hadn’t been human and hadn’t insulted him the way that they had. Besides, something useful should be done with their funds. They weren’t using it on hygiene, obviously.

“What are you doing around here anyway?” Vector wanted to know. His eyes narrowed briefly. “You’re not trying to find Kaito again, are you?”

“What if I was?” Mizael snapped back. “He’s the enemy of my soul.” He rested one hand on his left arm. “It is our fate to fight one another.”

Vector made an unpleasant noise before he returned to his own milkshake. “You didn’t answer the question.

“I was looking for the library,” Mizael admitted. “I have something I want to look up.”

That got a very suspicious look from Vector. “What?”

Mizael regarded the depths of what had been his milkshake. Being in possession of a mouth and throat was much more interesting than he’d first imagined it might be. Was this one reason Vector seemed to enjoy spending so much time as a human? He could taste things? Eat things?

It was a much messier form of intake than absorbing energy through one’s gems, of course. But perhaps it did have something to recommend it.

“Mizael?” Vector prodded at him with the tip of one foot. “What did you want to look up?”

He turned a bright blazing glare on Vector, who basked in it briefly, then shrugged. “I wanted to research how humans view soulmate marks. Especially like ours.”

Vector glowered at him. “Why? What else would you need to know? Right arm, we’re made for each other. Left arm, mortal enemies destined to slay one another.” He snickered softly at that.

Mizael didn’t know if Vector had a name on his left arm. He’d never seen it, which he knew wasn’t usual, given their existences in Barian World. But more than once he’d seen the way Vector snickered over the thought of a mortal enemy. Perhaps it was Tskumo Yuuma? It would certainly explain Vector’s long-term disguise of ‘Shingetsu Rei’.

“When are you planning to drop that facade?” Mizael wanted to know. “It doesn’t really get you anything.”

“Oh, you’d be surprised about that,” Vector replied, laughing softly. “But you’ll see what I have planned soon enough. I might even need your help before it’s all over with. You and Durbe both.”

Mizael wasn’t so sure about that. Though if it meant he had a chance to come up against Kaito again, he might go along with it. Power sang through his veins at the thought of Galaxy Eyes Tachyon chewing through Galaxy Eyes Photon once and for all. It would happen, sooner or later. He knew that for a fact.

Vector toyed with a napkin. “You know, there’s a chance that he could see us here.”

“What?” Mizael stiffened a trifle. He cared very little for Vector’s actual plans, but the overall goal to destroy the Astral Messenger and save their world meant more than anything, no matter how little he liked it. He started to get up, but Vector shook his head.

“He’s not here right now.” Vector waved Mizael back down to his seat. “He’s running some after-school errands on the other side of town for his grandma.” Vector’s lips twitched. “Apparently he does this a lot.”

Mizael wasn’t even certain of what a grandma was. Perhaps he would look that up if he ever got to the library. For now he just shrugged. “If you say so.” He was more interested in finding Kaito and finding the information he wanted than anything else. Yuuma was a respectable duelist, but not nearly on his own level. Though he wouldn’t turn down the thought of Yuuma calling Kaito to him.

Vector finished the last of his milkshake, then met Mizael’s eyes. “Are you done?”

Mizael knew that look very well. He pushed his own glass away and stood up. Vector joined him, the two strolling out of the shop and heading away.

Vector knew the city better than Mizael did, and guided him carefully through it, making a point to avoid any gatherings of younger humans. Once or twice he darted down alleyways and less populated thoroughfares, tugging Mizael after him, until Mizael had no idea whatsoever where they were.

They didn’t stop until they reached a long alleyway, more brightly lit than the one they’d crossed paths with those ignorant thugs in. Vector gestured to the far end of it.

“Alit and Gilag’s place is down that way. Are you staying there?”

Once again Mizael’s lip curled upward. “Why would I stay with them?” He would if he had no choice, but his first preference would always be to return to Barian World. Technically speaking he wasn’t supposed to do that until the mission had been finished. Being able to control feeble human minds meant he could acquire lodgings wherever he chose.

Vector’s lips twitched the tiniest fraction. Something pleased him a great deal. Then, without warning, he grabbed hold of Mizael’s collar and slammed him against the nearest wall. He crushed his lips hard against Mizael’s.

Truth to tell, this was the first time in his entire life that Mizael had ever kissed anyone. He’d never had lips before. Feeling Vector’s against his wasn’t something he’d ever thought about. It sparked a rush of heat to flow through him, and he started to lean into the kiss, as something began to intrude against his lips.

Tongue? He’d managed to get used to having a tongue. It was useful to speak with in this form. But he’d never thought about using it in kissing.

He wasn’t sure if Vector had that much experience in kissing, but he clearly knew what he was doing, and as far as Mizael could tell, they were both enjoying the situation a great deal.

Mizael focused so much on Vector’s lips on him, on the way that his hands traced against Mizael’s own skin, that he almost didn’t hear the quick footsteps, or the sudden sharp gasp of breath. He only noticed something as off when Vector broke the kiss and stepped back, turning towards the end of the alleyway that they hadn’t entered by.

“Yuuma-kun?” Vector sounded different, a little higher and quivering. Mizael turned to see Tskumo Yuuma standing there, packages dropped around his feet, staring in surprise and shock. Astral wasn’t there, which worried Mizael a trifle.

“Shingetsu??”

To Be Continued

Notes: Vector does love a good show – even if he has to arrange for it himself. More than once…

[baddyzarc]

5/7 Ruins: Legend of the Cursed Royal Palace

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we like Vector. we’re not going to try to convince anyone that hes, like, a good person. Because he isn’t. But we do think he is a good character. Also we got the blog deleted while prepping this section so vector is cursed and we hate him

Vector is a spectacle. But he’s is a bit of an awkward character, at least for an Emperor. Unlike the rest of the Barian Emperors, who are morally gray at worst, Vector is pure evil for the sake of it. And generally, villains who are evil for no reason are considered weaker among the cast of villains. Yet he shines through in how yikes he is, and he does have one valid(ish) reason for his appalling behavior. 

Vector’s story is one of the most fun out of the Emperors due to how unhinged he is. He is the only Emperor with a near-complete tale. But his story also mixes deeply into Nasch and Merag’s Legend, which creates some problems in how to organize this thing.  

To begin, let’s go to his ruins. 

Vector’s ruins are located in a dilapidated castle on his island.

Personally, I have nothing to say about this location since this post already did an in-depth analysis on it. 

The advanced machinery and layout is interesting. It reminds of the Winchester Mystery House, but that's about it. 

Vector’s story is divided into two categories. First is the story of the Legend of the Cursed Palace. This consists of only the text provided within the palace. The second is all the additional information we obtain through Vector’s memories, Nasch’s memories, and Abyss’ intervention. Because of this, Vector’s past is the most vast out of all the Emperors. But is is also the most confusing due to conflicting information.

The Legend of the Cursed Royal Palace is told to us by Rio, and it is rather simple. 

Long ago, there lived a cruel prince in a palace. The prince was so cruel that everyone died. The end. Vector was a childish king who lacked faith in humanity. He executed anyone he doubted by beheading them as he watched. According to the legend, when he was “the last one standing” he took his own life by stabbing himself with his sword. 

That’s all the information from the ruins. This legend gets complicated with the rest of the story, so I’m gonna recount it as briefly as possible without any additional analysis. 

Starting all the way at the beginning, Vector was born as this little uggo peanut right here, and he was the herald of peace.

He came from two persons that are complete opposites of each other. One is a kindly mother who desires peace and the other is a ruthless warlord who wants war.

While sleeping in his crib, the Mythyrian Card “Number 65: Split-Decision Djinn - Judge Buster” fell onto him from the sky. Vector absorbed the Number into his body.

Years later, Vector’s father fell ill. Vector took over the kingdom, and he promised his mother and his citizens that he will bring peace to their kingdom. He did this by signing a peace treaty with the nations his father was warring against. 

Angered by this, his father pulled out his sword and attempted to kill Vector with it. His mother shielded Vector with her body to protect him, resulting in her death. His father then collapsed from his illness and died on the spot. 

Vector mourned for a brief moment before Don Thousand approached him. Don Thousand embedded the Over-Hundred Monster “Number 104: Masquerade Magician - Shining” in him to make him believe he killed his parents, thus saying the lovely line “You shall not be the prince of tragedy, but a prince of madness” and Vector followed suit, becoming cruel and sadistic. 

An unspecified amount of time passed before Vector ran into Nasch, Merag, and Durbe. 

Vector attacked Nasch’s kingdom with his fleet of ships and “Gorgonic Guardians”, which are Medusa-like monsters. Nasch counterattacks by using mirrors on them. As he was close to losing the battle, Vector performed a blood sacrifice to summon a god, which also happened to be Nasch’s Mythyrian Number “Number 73: Abyss Splash, the Roaring Waterfall Deity”. In order to purify Abyss, Merag sacrificed herself to summon another god, which is her Mythyrian Number “Number 94: Crystal Zero, the Princess of Polar Ice”.

Nasch gained control of both gods and used them to force Vector to retreat. Vector ran as Nasch and Durbe pursued him, destroying villages and kingdoms as he did so. 

Eventually, Vector was cornered in a Labyrinth, where he tricked Nasch into sending his army to their death via a Shadow Game. Regardless, Nasch defeated Vector again.

Vector fled back to his kingdom this time. In a fit of rage, he murdered everyone in his kingdom. Nasch followed him to the palace and found Vector surrounded by the dead bodies of his people.

They had a final showdown; Vector lost once more. Upon losing and in Nasch’s words, “... those you murdered... dragged you into Hell”. 

And that’s Vector’s story. 

Now, the only thing that is up for debate is how Vector died. The Legend of the Cursed Royal Palace stated that he committed suicide while Nasch’s recount said that the souls of his victims killed him. This may be a plot hole, but in the prior episode, both sides of this story were mentioned. Vector had a nightmare where he was being chased by the restless souls and Astral mentioned that the mad prince took his own life. Vector originally denies Nasch’s recount of his death at first, but quickly the souls manifest (because they were dueling on the field where Vector held his executions) to prove that this scenario did happen. This means that the writers are semi-aware of the situation, but they don’t state which is the true fate. 

Since it is unknown who scribed the legend onto the ruins, Nasch and Vector’s shared memories + the final scene in the Vector vs. Nasch Duel outweighs what is written in the palace. 

If anything, it’s possible that the tormented souls drove Vector to the tipping point of his madness, resulting in Vector taking his own life to escape them. Although, that is just my interpretation.  

But from here, we can finally discuss Vector because he is just full of it. 

Firstly, I want to talk about genetics. Specifically these lines right here. 

I find this extremely fun because there are two things at play here. First is that Zexal specifically states that his cruelty derives from his father—on the other hand, his kindness should derive from his mother—and second is that Don Thousand is able to kick this into overdrive. I doubt that the writers were thinking about any of this when they made this story, but this is a fun observation that I noticed (but if they were, kudos to them).  

Forcing some real-life concepts onto yugioh again, let’s talk about heritability. Heritability measures the variation between a trait of a parent (such as hair length, body size, temperament, ect.) and the traits of an offspring within a population of individuals. High heritability means that the phenotypes (physical characteristics) of the parents correlates to the phenotypes of the offspring, and vice-versa with low heritability. In humans, personality is a heritable trait, and in our species, one of the most heritable personalities is neuroticism. High neuroticism attributes to emotional instability and plays into emotions such as jealousy, loneliness, anxiety, anger, ect. 

There are four other major personalities, but for this, I’ll focus on neuroticism. Honestly, you could put any trait here since any of them loosely applies to this concept.

Okay. So does this mean that Vector was doomed to a life like his father. His genetics oughta leaned him that way. But NO, no because humans are far more complicated than that, and genetics is not the only thing that affects a person's behavior. But it does influence it some, and this is the basis of it’s influence.

What this says is that within a population, (genetics + environmental influence) = variation of a trait. Some phenotypes are heavily controlled by genetics while others are not. A simple example is if you have tall parents produce an offspring who have the genes for being tall (assume that it is moderately controlled by the environment). If the offspring grew up in a poor environment (less food or something) it will be short relative to the rest of the “tall” population. But if the offspring grew up in a good environment (more food), then it will be tall relative to the rest of the population. 

For the five different personalities in humans, each of them varies in how much it is influenced by genetics and how much of it is influenced by the environment (this is stingy since studying the effects of environmental influences on humans is very difficult and hard to replicate). But neuroticism is one that may have significant interactions between genetics and the environment. 

But enough science, let’s go back to Vector. Vector is really fun because his situation allows him to exist on all of the spectrums. He went from incredibly kind-hearted and peaceful to just not. This is possibly due to his inherited neuroticism and the environment he was exposed to.

It is likely that the “current” Vector’s neuroticism is rather high. Scoring high in neuroticism means that an individual tends to have low emotional stability, which attributes to frequent mood swings, high irritability, insecurity, and emotional volatility. This trait is more complex than that, but that’s the general gist of it. Most of this could be seen when it comes to how he treats others and how others treat him. 

With Vector, he hates it when other people mock him or control him. This is why he despises Nasch for being better than him and why he betrays Don Thousand for toying with him. He is someone who needs to be in full control of the situation; this could be because of his insecurity (like, he got really pissed when Merag gained the upper hand and began to insult him during their duel). Vector is also described as being incredibly untrusting of other individuals, hence why he kills anyone he doubts. These traits are similar to that of his volatile father, whom he also shares a similar vocabulary with when describing people they hate, or anyone against war.

On the other hand, scoring low in neuroticism means that an individual can handle stress very well. Often, they are calm and composed. This could only be seen in Vector prior to Don Thousand’s interference; i.e. when he was handling the kingdom after his father got ill. He also maintained his calm composure while his father scolded him and pulled a sword to kill him. 

His mother was kind and his father was not; Vector likely inherited some mix of neuroticism from them. Kindness and evilness was always inside Vector. And this allows him to exist as the kind “Rei Shingetsu” and the cruel “Vector” depending on the environment he was exposed to. 

So what were the different environments? I think it was the Mythyrian and Over-Hundred Numbers. 

Genetics played a role in shaping the core of Vector (“the same cruel blood as the king is running through you” and all) but it was the environmental influences added onto his core. Here’s a simple graphic. 

Vector is a baby who inherited his father and mother’s neuroticism (perhaps he has an intermediate; I do not know the mode of inheritance of this). The Mythyrian Number card pushed him hard into the low neuroticism section. The Over-Hundred Number pushed him into the high neuroticism section, and this was where he stayed until his death by Don Thousand. 

What I’m getting is that the “gentle prince” persona is not the actual Vector, but a Vector under the influence of a Number Monster (albeit a kind one). You could say the same with the “Prince of Madness” Vector, that he is also a false Vector influenced by an evil Number Monster, but there’s some glaring evidence that this evil Vector is closer to the actual Vector than the kind one. I’ll get to this later when I talk about his Guardian.

It’s highly possible that a “Vector” untouched by the Numbers would have existed somewhere in the middle since his mother and father would be the environmental influences in that case (or maybe they would’ve pushed him to one side too). The closest we get may be the one at the very end of the show, where Vector is “not evil” but still a trickster, mischievous type of guy. 

Overall, Vector is a character who had great potential for kindness, as stated by Don Thousand, but he also had the greatest potential for darkness as well. Don Thousand took advantage of this and gave Vector the environmental influence he needed to become the cruel, lovable character we know today. 

I just think it’s neat that Vector has a plausible reason why he went from baby to killer. 

Alrighty. So about those dang Number cards. 

Both of these cards and their respective Chaos upgrades represent the two sides of Vector. “Number 65: Split-Decision Djinn - Judge Buster” to “Chaos Number 65: Split-Decision Demon King - Judge Devil” and “Number 104: Masquerade Magician - Shining” to “Chaos Number 104: Masquerade Magician - Umbral”. There is one specific play with these two that makes me enjoy Vector so much.

But before I get to that, I need to talk about the influence of each monster on Vector and his Guardian.

As stated previously, these monsters altered Vector’s personality. “Masquerade Magician” is the more obvious of the monsters. It’s a masquerade; it hides under a mask and fools people. That’s just a normal Vector. A neat factoid is that the “Shining” to “Umbral” at the end of “Masquerade Magician” is related to the reveal of Shingetsu to Vector. Shining obviously means light (hence the light-attribute) while umbral means shadow (hence the dark-attribute). Number 104 and its Number c104 were first played when Vector revealed himself to Yuma during the Sargasso Arc. Light to Shadow, Shingetsu to Vector. 

“Judge Buster” is more difficult due to its relationship as a Mythyrian Number. It is a monster who altered Vector to be as good as he can be. It is supposed to be a fair and truthful judge, the polar opposite of “Masquerade Magician”.

But this is where things get very complicated. Despite being Vector’s “good” card, it is no different than the Over-Hundred that infected him. From the perspective of his father: 

Vector is a “cursed” child because he lacked any of the ruthless characteristics of his father. The way the Numbers “65” flashed on the screen is also similar to when other characters use or get possessed by a Number Monster. Vector was cursed, or possessed, to be a kind and gentle prince. In this case, despite being a very positive force on Vector’s life, the curse of a Number is still a curse. Eventually Vector loses his initial curse to inherit Don Thousand’s curse.

But the story of “Judge Buster” doesn’t end there. It continues into the story of Vector’s Guardian and it’s ascent into a Chaos Monster.

The Guardian of the Cursed Royal Palace is a very interesting one. Vector is unique because his Guardian is completely unrelated to his Mythyrian Number, unlike Jinlon and Abyss for example. Vector’s Guardian does not speak and can only be described as a feral, bloodthirsty beast.

This guy is based off of another card called “Minotaurus” or (“Battle Ox” in the TCG). Despite not being related to the Mythyrian Number like the other Guardians, Minotaurus is completely related to Vector’s story. It’s flavor states “A cattle monster with tremendous power. It mows down anything with a single axe swing.” 

Now, there are several things to note here. An obvious one is that the Guardian is a Minotaur. In real life, the Minotaur derives from Greek Mythology. It is a beast that commonly resides in Labyrinths waiting for sacrificial maidens. With this detail, there is a direct connection to Vector’s story in two ways. 

First is that Vector describes his palace as a “Labyrinth of Screams” and second is that he lured Nasch into a Labyrinth to kill him. Two very prominent settings in the Vector’s story. 

Minotaurus is a deliberate choice made by the writers to tie this theme together, but this is just a neat easter egg. It is the actions of Minotaurus is what counts. 

The other thing is that Minotaurus’ weapon of choice, its axe, is located on the execution slab where Vector beheads his enemies.

Finally, and the one that I think is the most interesting and peculiar, is that the axe has Vector’s Mythyrian Number embedded in it. 

This is highly significant because if we look at all the other low-grade Emperors, their Mythyrian Numbers were abandoned when Don Thousand infected them (and they died shortly afterwards while Vector lived a part of his life with his Over-Hundred inside of him). In the end, most of the Mythyrian Numbers we see are held on a pedestal, or given some type of reverence in the afterlife. 

Vector’s card has an axe going through it, like he was trying to get rid of it. 

There’s a lot of assumptions to be made here with the most basic argument being that this detail bears no significance to Vector. BUT my theory is that the spirit of the card manifested to him at some point after he became a ruthless warrior. “Judge Buster” may have been trying to help him, or it was trying to convince him that the Over-Hundred infected his mind. Since Vector is a character filled with doubt and trust-issues, he likely ordered his executioner (Minotaurus or someone else) to behead “Judge Buster”. 

(Also, Vector said he noticed that Don Thousand altered his memories “a long time ago”? It was never stated how Vector found out. I think that he may have gotten this critical information when “Judge Buster” manifested in his past life. Perhaps it told him everything that happened. This means that Vector known the truth about his fate since his past life, and given his slick shrewdness and foresight, perhaps)

So you know when I said that “evil” Vector is probably closer to the “true” Vector than the kind one? It’s due to his relationship with his Mythyrian Number. From this possible encounter in their past life, the end result is that Vector actively rejected the Mythyrian Number’s blessing to accept his cruel heritage, which is thoroughly reinforced in this scene. 

In his duel against Nasch, Vector used “XYZ Discharge” to give Nasch all of his monsters to feint surrender after he found out about his true past. Vector immediately turned around and used “Trick Buster” to blow them up and kill Nasch while his guard was down. This move tells us everything we need to know about Vector. Vector knows of his two lives as a “good” and “terrible” person, and he chose to actively ignore them. The card “Trick Buster” could be seen as a combination of his two curses and what Vector got out of it. “Trick” comes from the trickster nature of “Masquerade Magician” and “Buster” comes from “Judge Buster”. Like with his past encounter with “Judge Buster” (which should’ve been able to repel the curse of the Over-Hundred) Vector rejected and executed his Mythyrian Number as he did with this new, possible redemption. 

He made that choice. He made both of these choices on his own free will. This is a major reason why Vector is described as “evil for evil’s sake”. When given a chance at redemption after he “found out” about his true past, instead of rejecting the life that Don Thousand gave him, Vector staight up said he doesnt give a fuck if he was supposed to be a good person. It’s kind of incredible and I think that’s just,,, wow i love him. 

And to add onto this fact, we need to talk about the Mythyrian Chaos Numbers, which is an oxymoron in the Zexal universe. “Judge Buster” and “Abyss Splash” (Vector and Nasch’s Mythyrians respectively) are the only Mythyrians who become Chaos monsters as well as being the only Emperors who use their own Mythyrian Numbers (Gilag doesn’t count due to raccoon-related shenanigans). This holds some discussion between these two, but I can’t really talk about it until I talk about Nasch.

However, what I want to say is that Vector chooses to use his Mythyrian Number. Although he randomly summoned it with a card effect, Vector plays his Mythyrian Number. Likewise in my discussion with Alito’s ruins, the Mythyrian Numbers have a purifying effect on the Emperors. It reveals their true, unaltered personalities. By choosing to use a Mythyrian and subsequently revealing his true nature, the cruel person we see is just how Vector is. His usage of “Trick Buster” backs this up. I don’t think it's a coincidence that Vector and Nasch, arguably the strongest of the Emperors, are also the ones who accept their Mythyrian Numbers yet still end up in Barian World. They are also the only ones that were able to Chaosify their Mythyrians, with Nasch performing a proper Chaos summon while Vector pulled into “Chaos Number 65: Split-Decision Demon King - Judge Devil” by luck.

Because of his denial of the Mythyrian Number despite being aware of its existence, Vector is the only Emperor that isn’t described as heroic in his legend. By being an active participant in his descent into Barian World, Vector cannot have a heroic legend like the others. He is simply a vile person who likely deserved his spot in Barian World. 

Now that we got that down, why did Vector end up in Barian World despite being his “true personality”? A simple answer is that Barian World represents Hell, and Vector deserved to go there. However, it’s repeatedly stated in the show that Chaotic persons end up in Barian World, not bad persons. 

And Chaos is complex due to the range of characters it goes through.

Like, this is a massive list of personalities, and they are all canon Chaos creatures. 

And if you haven't noticed, I haven’t discussed the Cursed Royal Palace’s duel yet. This is because it occurred between Black Mist and Astral, and it has little relevance to Vector himself. However, that battle ties into the complexities of Chaos that I will continue with Nasch and Merag’s Legend, as well as the rest of Vector’s story.  

Bye.

[baddyzarc]

6/7 Ruins: Legends of Labyrinth

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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.