I do not own YuGiOh! And this is just one of those ideas that cross your mind before you finally fall asleep...
Because it's so AU and innovative that in the morning, you wonder which neurons were playing hopscotch earlier.
On with the Story!
Mokuba huffed as he strode through the forest. He still couldn't believe Seto was off at war. The five Chancellors he had left in charge were starting to stage a coup.
They hadn't been successful yet mostly thanks to Mokuba, and a gang of foreigners that loved to help Mokuba out. Hiring them was a simple matter, and so far, they played courier to his brother across the sea. By boat, or horse, or even dragon, they got the messages through.
Except for the dilemma that assuming the throne meant that Seto would have to dispose of him upon return, Mokuba had found some wiggle room in the politics.
Hence why he was currently hiding in the forest.
The stupid five had hired an assassin to come after him. The assassin, after arriving, spilled everything and then eloped with the foreigner's self-proclaimed thief to get out of the cross fire. But with no assassin, there was no evidence.
Of course, if there was no Mokuba, there was no evidence of a murder, either.
Except that people would start looking for him.
So Mokuba left for a ride without taking any extra supplies, had his friends ambush him, and sent the horse back.
Joey was somewhere in here. Apparently, the war would finally be over, and Seto was on his way back, but as a goodwill gesture, he would be staying another six months to help with the rebuilding.
As it was, his first order of business was to get legitimate ports open and boundaries re-established.
Adjusting the pack on his shoulders, Mokuba finally reached the clearing. The brook happily burbled at his feet as he skipped around the clearing and threw his bag over some brambles that actually covered a steep drop.
Wiggling through, Mokuba landed on the ground. Before him, a tower rose above the ground. There was no door, because the steps were hidden around the towers structure. It wasn't so high as it was round, and to an untrained eye it looked like a giant oak in a clearing. Grabbing his bag, Mokuba stepped further into the room.
Humming, Mokuba cleared his eyes to wipe away the rest of the enchantment. The tower was good enough to house at least a bathroom, a kitchen, and two bedrooms. Hauling himself hands over feet, Mokuba finally found the knot that would let him enter the tower.
"Joey! I made it!"
"About time! Lunch would get cold if it wasn't just some sandwiches!" The blond called back. Swinging his leg over, Mokuba set his feet down on the wood.
"Did this actually grow out of the ground?"
Joey appeared in the doorway to his left.
"It's a center spiral staircase, with the bath on the ground floor, kitchen and eating above that, this is a storage room, and the bedroom's below it."
"Shouldn't the top room be the living room? Or the entrance way or the foyer?" Mokuba asked, dumping his bag on the floor.
Joey shrugged and picked the bag up.
"I vote storage or a disguised library. You'll need to keep up with your studies."
Mokuba nodded, sighing. If he couldn't enter politics, then he had tried his hand at wizardry.
It was thanks to Seto that finally, magic had stabilized into a universal, though diverse, practice. Instead of the usual staffs that were seen in foreign countries, Seto had decided that basing their magic in cards would be easier.
Less inconspicuous, but the drawback was a card had to be made for each attribute a wizard wanted to use. Not to mention, making cards themselves was time consuming.
"Or ya could do what most people do, and just craft one type of card to capture monsters with." Joey cut in. "Seriously, how did you keep those idiots from finding out when you mutter to yourself all the time?"
Joey clanked the plate of food down in front of Mokuba and slapped a glass of water on the side.
"Well, I made sure to mutter a silencing charm before I started musing. Anyway, the tower looks nice, Joey, great job."
Joey nodded. "Right back atcha, it was your idea."
Mokuba nodded.
"It's been decided that I'm to look after you."
Mokuba sighed.
Joey meant well, and he was wonderful in a fight, but Mokuba honestly wondered if Joey really could protect him.
Well, protecting him he had no doubt. It was protecting himself that he was worried over. Joey was always saying that he had received worst wounds, but he couldn't laugh off a collapsed lung.
Thank the stars Anzu had been there with her healing light.
"Ta-da! I was told to show you this if you ever wanted me to switch out with someone as your protector."
Joey showed Mokuba a Red Eyed Dragon, with black scales.
Mokuba sat back in his chair, slowly. An idea was forming in his mind.
If he could convince Seto that there was a beauty in need of rescuing from a magical tower in the middle of the forest that he could only visit, maybe he could kick start his brother's love life!
Of course, Seto wouldn't need to know his baby brother had set him up to rescue a 'damsel' from her 'home' until after he got back with Joey.
"A Red Eyes Black Dragon, Joey? You don't capture any monsters. So how?"
"Aw, this guy wasn't captured. He's my friend, just like Baby Dragon." Joey certainly was an odd one who dabbled in Magic. He used his fists more often than magic, and he never covertly used Magic, either. He always used his friends in a fashion after what the foreigners called the 'heart of the cards'.
In his musings, Mokuba realized that he had attributed a deck of cards to a 'friend' status. Shaking himself, he brought the plate and glass over to the sink.
"So, I take it my days are to be spent in study?"
"Well, I did manage to build an underground pool for swimming, so that you won't go completely stir crazy, but yeah. I'm the only one leaving for supplies. Cloaking an area is useless unless you are in it."
Mokuba nodded, and headed up to his bedroom.
He would convince Joey later that a cot in the kitchen wasn't the only place one could sleep.
…..
Seto kept his aggrieved noise to himself.
"Sir, as important as rebuilding is, I am not looking for a bride." He had been in this talk going on the past three days.
Everyone seemed to think that his gesture of goodwill meant that he was subjugating them, but so far, Seto had no interest in expanding his Empire.
Besides, a colony that could not be directly controlled would only break away. He was not sinking the Royal Treasury into an endeavor that would one day bring him to his knees. Besides, the country was soundly beaten and would not be coming after his Empire again.
To his side, Duke Devlin kept his handsome visage clear.
"Our kind friend, Emperor Seto, has aided us to a great extent. We have worked hard on repairing bridges and roads, and we are blessed with a natural bounty from the woods until our fields thrive again. He has done much for us, and for that we are grateful."
He was also grateful for the asylum. Being kicked out of one's country when a Civil War is about to erupt and get turned into an invasion was not how he expected to spend his days as a youth.
Duke rolled his dice around in his hand.
"But it would be remiss of us to offer him a bride when he already has someone waiting for him at home." Duke gave an honest smile.
The messenger bowed and left.
Without turning his head, Seto intoned, "I do?"
Duke handed over a scroll. "From the horse rider, the Tristan foreigner. Apparently the Chancellors you left in charge have driven your brother to hiding, and the assassin they hired is also hiding from them."
Seto nearly flew out of the tent before Duke gripped his arm.
"You only have the word of foreigners and your brother as evidence." He quickly gasped out. "Make a plan before you make a scene." Releasing Seto, he shrugged.
"If I had known the engagement was that much a secret, I would have paid the messenger off." He announced loudly.
Remembering that he wasn't in his castle were he could storm about, Seto surmised the camp. Then he ducked back into the tent and hung an 'eavesdroppers will be punished' sign out front. Duke trotted in after him.
"Any ideas? I can't just invade with your country, it's too weak. And if I go back myself, they could easily kill me and cover it up. Mokuba's too young to rule, and no one is expecting him to rule, after all. Plus, there's the fact that I'm holding the title, and we both have to be present before the State to hand the crown over with no take backs, unless dead."
Duke 'hah-ed' on his dice and tossed it.
"You've got about ten minutes to mutter to yourself before that spell wears off." Sinking back onto the cushions, Duke watched the Emperor stride back and forth. He understood why Pegasus had kicked him over to the Empire now, so he'd have to send the aging hermit a suitable gift.
Some fine wine, a few blank dice, and a couple of tasteful cloths for the fashionable man should do. Oh, and a thank you card.
Seto was still pacing and muttering.
"The straightforward path that I can see would be to send public word of my arrival, but fixing a date would be hard."
"So don't. Say that you expect to be home before Winter sets in and makes crossing unbearable. The people rejoice, and you'll have time to take counter measures and either kill of the five Chancellors or remove them from power."
Seto nods slowly.
"Is the messenger still here?"
Duke shifted slightly. "I asked him not to leave until first light tomorrow."
Seto rolled his eyes. "For whatever reason he can reduce a three week trip by land to a few days, have him notify Mokuba that he needs to survive the Summer and Fall months before we will see each other again."
Duke nodded.
"If that's the case, I'm going to go review the plans and see if I can pinch some pennies. Good night."
"Sleep well!" Duke called after him. Waving his hand, the dice jumped back to him. "You got that, Tristan?"
"Report back that he may be back by Winter. Got it." Tristan wrapped his upper arms around Duke.
"Something's been bothering me, and it's rather major."
Duke hummed and leaned back.
"How are you going to provide a blood heir with me?"
Duke slowly leaned back forward, and patted the seat next to him.
"It's not actually passed by blood. That's just something believed in order to supply political stability. The land is actually tied to a gem that allows the Ruler to reach to all the corners of it. That's why I was banished. So that I wouldn't go mad from experiencing the war through the land. Every Ruler has to pass the test to officially claim control. I passed last week."
Tristan leaned back.
"So, you can quietly have an heir 'appear' and we'd be a happy family?"
Duke nodded. "Otherwise, it's usually passed to a niece or nephew, but I'm an only child, and I fell for a foreigner."
"A male foreigner." Tristan points out.
"Will you marry me?"
"Let me think about it."
….
Seto yawned, dismissing his card back into the deck. The light that had illuminated the room faded, and Seto crawled into bed.
"Blue Eyes, guard." He ordered. The reduced sized dragon curled under the covers and kept watch over him.
The sun awoke Seto to the crackling bodies of three assassins. Duke had a frumpled look, and was barking orders for identification and a proper barrier.
"Word is spreading fast enough that I decided a Formal Message back to your Empire could wait for you to wake up." Duke announced.
"As it is, we're testing the supplies, so once you've had a cup of coffee, we can sort out this mess."
Seto flung the sheets back and scooped up his Blue Eyes.
"Well done." He cooed to her, stroking her head.
Duke smiled. Dragons were notoriously loyal, and if he could capture the image of Seto Kaiba, feared Emperor and Master Stratagem and Commander, petting a pet diminutive dragon, that would be so funny to show future children.
Grinning, he pulled out a dice and did just that. Tossing the dice back into the bag, he stood aside so that the harmless coffee could be brought to Seto.
Seto drained the coffee in one go, and then stood up.
"Right. We are now in a state of emergency, I want the paperwork for my brother to inherit should I die drawn and submitted by noon, and I want the five current Chancellors murdered for not guarding my location better. Get me Mai Valentine for Treasurer and that Mutou boy for the Secretary and the exiled Pharoah for Viceroy. Yes, I'm aware that I'm promoting foreigners, but they've guarded my and mine during this war, so they get the positions."
The Messengers were dispatched with due haste, and the paperwork drawn up and notarized by noon time's ebb.
Too bad the official news wouldn't hit that Seto was coming in time for Winter by the time it was Winter.
…..
Joey stretched, arching completely backwards.
"I still can't believe that it's going on Winter! We've been up here for nearly four months, I'm about to go stir crazy, and I'm used to lying low!"
Mokuba didn't even glance at him from his book.
"But why do I have to stay in the tower?"
Mokuba flipped a page.
"Because my brother listed everyone except you, and I'm not about to have you killed off by some faceless guard because your fame isn't as widespread. Just stay here where you can't get hurt, okay? I'll have Seto or Roland come and fetch you."
Joey sighed. True, he didn't need the fame or the money, but his friends were in that court. Ergo, he wanted to be a part of the castle.
But after four months of several unsuccessful murder attempts, everyone was on edge, and someone let slip that that first assassin, actually sent after Mokuba, was exotic.
Hence why Joey was watching his back in his own safe house.
He was used to hiding from people who wanted to hurt him, but usually because he was in a fight with an opponent that was more than one man. The fact that Yugi reversed psychology to protect his friends by hiding still crawled under his skin.
It irked him that everyone was out and having fun while he was cooped up. If they weren't such good friends, he would be downright homicidal.
Breathing deeply, Joey lectured himself on how it wasn't any of their fault.
"Promise that you won't take too long?"
"Three weeks, tops. We have to get through the ceremony and everything, but I promise not to forget you. Trying to get away before then would result in mass confusion. You do understand, right?"
Joey sighed and slumped. As fantastic as it would be for Mokuba to turn around and fetch him, who knew if there were any more assassins hanging around?
"I'll survive."
Mokuba nodded.
"Joey?"
"Mhm?"
"You do realize that you're not secluded to just the tower, just to be nearby so we can find you, right?" After all, the cloaking on the tower was to protect Mokuba from scrying, but who would be looking for Joey?
Mokuba shook his head and returned to packing after hearing Joey dive out the window.
Honestly, for all his smarts, Joey could be a little dense.
…..
Joey was having a blast. Being outside meant that Red Eyes got to stretch his wings without alerting any spies looking for Mokuba. That said, it had already been a week.
Maybe he should have asked Mokuba to charm a communicator before the prince left. Why oh why did he think up such a brilliant solution after the fact?
Flopping back onto the ground, Joey arched and stretched. Rolling over, he watched the dappled light on the trees, before falling asleep.
…..
"And you're positive that he'll answer to this password?"
"Of course, Seto! It's his name and the code words we shook on before I left! It's been nearly two months, he's surely suffering from neglection!"
"More like abandonment." The elder prince clarified. They had just settled the affairs, and had been cleaning out the accounts in the treasury when the rabble pointed out that after the accomplished King and Prince died, there was no one to carry on the throne.
Hence, Mokuba was promptly engaged and Seto was under orders to find a bride. Mokuba, finally sensing an excuse to leave the palace, dragged Seto across the country (which actually ate the second month- they had to stop and observe every available woman for the throne).
Finally, though, they were in the forest, outside a large tree like fortress with no openings around the base, and only one window way high up.
Seto stood straighter, before throwing back his head and calling,
"Jounouchi, Jounouchi, let done your gold hair!"
Silence reigned in the clearing.
"You don't sound like Mokuba!" was exclaimed from behind him.
Mokuba was snickering from Seto's other side as his big brother whirled and came face to face with the blond.
"And my hair's a dirty blond color. Mokuba didn't tell you he saw me picking berries back there, did he?"
"He gave me the impression you couldn't leave the tower."
"Well, you could climb it, until the footholds shifted around and now it really is inaccessible. Unless you've got a dragon. Red Eyes can take us up."
Mokuba laughed harder.
"…Did you just say Red Eyes? As in, the Red Eyed Black Dragon?"
Mokuba stopped laughing.
"Yeah? What's it to yah?"
"….nothing of immediate importance. I just need to review something. Come along."
"Hey! I am not some mutt you can order to heel!"
"You did a wonderful job protecting my brother and following his orders- what else would you be?"
"Grrrr."
"Silence, puppy."
Turning his attention from the aggravating brunette, Joey looked at Mokuba. "It's great to see you Mokuba. How the nine hells are you related to him?"
"He's actually a nice person when he's focusing on the matter at hand. Never mind, let's just get out of here. Yugi and Atem are dying to meet you."
Joey paused, before whooping loudly and racing ahead.
"Let's go!"
…
Kudos to all of you who got the Rapunzel reference, the Hetalia (history) reference, the Alanna of Trebond (or Lioness Rampant) reference, and of course I don't own any of those, they just influenced the fanfic. Plus, I'm a Lurker, so kudos to everyone who realizes where the urge to use a fairytale came from. (Here's a hint- some of you bug her to update in a most uncivil manner)
On the other note, ten pages and 3,000 words (or so) much longer, and actually convoluted from the original idea, where Mokuba is a magic practitioner, who catches thieves in his garden, and the story picks up from there. The twist is that Mokuba is 'holding' Joey for Kaiba to rescue and fall in love with, so not the literal 'blind with thorns'. Instead, I cranked out this. Gee. I hope people like it.
And there is a hint that Katsuya will marry Seto in there. I just felt like it was time to wrap up the story.