Hello, everyone!
After witnessing the somewhat unsatisfying ending to Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V, I found an alternate ending of sorts on Tumblr (enter "pyrachan . tumblr / post / 158875202791 / another-arc-v-ending" - remove the spaces and quotes) that I found much more enjoyable - one where Yuya, Yuzu, and their counterparts all get their chance at a happy ending, along with Zarc and Ray. I was inspired to write a continuation that provided a look at everyone's life a little down the line, especially Zarc. Someone with a story like his is just begging to be fleshed out.
Enjoy!
(I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!, nor do I own the Tumblr drabble that inspired this story.)
Slowly, quietly, Zarc slid open the window of his and Yuya's shared bedroom and stepped up into the window frame. He turned to grip the edge of the slanted roof and pulled himself up, boosting into a roll and ending up on his back, looking up at the stars so far above. His legs dangled off the roof, captured in the open window.
He doubted that anybody would come by to see him at this deep blue hour. Yuya was sleeping soundly in his own bed, and Zarc could hear him snoring down below. Meanwhile, Yuya's parents – Zarc's parents as well, he remembered – had finally begun sharing a bed once more, after more than three long years apart.
Even after Sakaki-san had returned, it had taken a long for Yoko-san to resolve her feelings of abandonment and anger. The years of silence between them wouldn't be undone in a matter of days. There had been yelling, and more silence, and no small amount of tears within their shared residence, but things had begun to change again.
The spouses talked and laughed more. They'd started Dueling together frequently. A few days ago, Yoko-san had even said that she could finally remember what having her husband with her had felt like before. That their home was finally starting to feel like a home again.
Zarc hadn't understood what she'd meant by a home, but Yoko-san hadn't been dismayed. She'd given him a firm embrace and assured him that one day he'd understand, and that there wasn't any rush.
Home. As Zarc understood it, that was a place you felt drawn to, that provided comfort and security. A place you could return to – that he could return to at the close of every day. His house was his new home in the Pendulum Dimension, as was Maiami City itself.
He still remembered when Yuya took him to the bridge over the great river through the city's heart, and showed him the setting sun reflecting off the wide expanse of water in fiery, warm colors. It had been Zarc's first sunset as himself in a long, long time. It may as well have been his first.
Now that he'd had time to see it, Zarc was happy that he hadn't destroyed Maiami City. He was happy he hadn't destroyed anything else also, but those places were farther away now. It reminded him of the cities in the Original Dimension, which his career as a Pro Duelist took him and his monsters around the world to visit. Before everything had changed, had become about winning and acceptance and keeping the only love he'd known no matter what the cost, Zarc had loved seeing the endless variety of life within those bustling kingdoms of iron and glass, with his cards always by his side. He had loved meeting new people, and the look in those people's eyes when they came to love him like all the others.
Looking back with aged eyes, that love had been one of the darkest, most treacherous aspects of his Dueling career. It had always held him close and hummed praises into his ear after he'd worked so hard to entertain it, before retreating far before he was ready to let it go, never feeling like enough. He'd struggled to keep that love focused on him with every card he drew and every Duel he won. The audience would smile and applaud, and the love would return to him.
But it had always wanted more, always asked him to work harder before it would come back once more. And even when his opponents would have to be carried away, even when his own monsters were screaming in pain, and especially when he wanted to join in with them, Zarc craved that love.
And it had destroyed everything – he had destroyed everything. Time couldn't erase the screams in his nightmares, or the way his chest quaked and his legs became useless when faced with those memories in reality. It hadn't erased the monster he'd become either, not entirely; not if the card in his Extra Deck bearing the name Supreme King Z-ARC was any indicator. It always appeared to him, just out of sight behind another card, whenever he looked through that part of his Deck, bands of brown and violet and white and starry black making an accusation that needed no interpreting.
He'd tried to rid himself of that accursed card, but it always returned before long. In Zarc's darkest moments, he could sometimes hear it calling him. Not merely speaking to him as his other monsters did, but calling him, uttering promises of ascendance, godly might, and retribution – a return to the being he was meant to be.
The rumbling of a passing car reached Zarc's ears, and the Duelist brought his legs up onto the roof and scrambled further back out of sight. Sometimes it angered people to see him about. He couldn't blame them, no matter what the others told him.
Zarc lay still for several minutes, curled into a tight ball and breathing as quietly as possible, almost fearing that an angered busybody would clamber up to join him at the slightest hint of his presence. A soft voice – two of them – brushed against his ears, and he pulled out his Deck and drew two cards without looking at them. There was no need for sight, when their voices rang so true.
He flipped the cards around and met the faces of Stargazer and Timegazer Magician. They had been Yuya's first comrades in the world of the Pendulum, and Zarc could still remember the moment they had been changed by his power. Yuya's helplessness against overwhelming might, then his drive to continue, to entertain in the face of those scornful odds.
It was Zarc's first powerful memory after years of slumber. His and Yuya's souls had intertwined long enough for Zarc to finish the job in Yuya's guise, and Yuya had been left with a power that was never meant to be.
The two Magicians had recognized Zarc, when Yuya had given them to his past self for his new Deck. They were the halves of Zarc's Astrograph Sorcerer, as Yuya and his counterparts were parts of Zarc; much like Zarc and his counterparts, the Magicians of space and time now existed separately from their sorcerous predecessor, who had taken them under their wing like students, or even children. Like Zarc, the sorcerer felt an urge to repent for their actions in their original life – they had encouraged Zarc and the dragons to vengeance.
Even so, Zarc knew the blame fell squarely on himself for choosing that path.
The Magicians asked a worried question, and Zarc mumbled an assurance that he didn't truly feel. Slowly, he uncurled himself and stretched his legs back toward the edge of the roof.
Suddenly, a hand reached up from the edge and grabbed Zarc's foot. He let out a strangled yelp and tried to yank his leg back, heart hammering against his chest.
"Wait, Zarc, it's just me!"
Zarc stopped. After a moment, a face rose up from the edge of the roof. A young man, with two boyish red eyes and hair like a tomato. Even in the dark night, its wide-eyed look of concern was apparent.
Zarc's heart began to slow down. "Yuya. I'm sorry. I didn't realize it was you," he apologized. "Why are you awake? Did I disturb you by coming out here?"
"Nah, I just woke up a little bit ago and realized your bed was empty," Yuya replied. "I saw your legs out the window before you pulled them up, so I knew you were up here again. Are you okay?" Even at this late hour, Yuya's voice was good-natured in a way that wouldn't be clouded by mere exhaustion.
"I was…lost in thought," Zarc said. "Thinking about all that I once had, and what I've been given now to replace it." He absently held up the two Magicians in his hand to illustrate his meaning. "I'm grateful for all that you and your loved ones have done for me, Yuya, but…" He sighed. "I can't quite believe that I deserve it. Not after what I've done."
"Zarc…" Yuya muttered. He gripped the edge of the roof, then swung in and out of the room for a couple of cycles before a mighty backswing that flipped him vertically. The entertainer released his grip and sailed past Zarc, landing feet-first with a firm clatter on the roof some distance above Zarc's head. Yuya dropped as he landed and rolled onto his back, ending just above Zarc with the peaks of their hair separated by a short distance.
"Was that necessary?" Zarc asked, smirking nonetheless at his counterpart's excessive display. He' d never known Yuya, the born showman, to pass up the chance to play a trick like that.
"Of course it was!" Yuya said. "It's an Entertainment Duelist's job to give smiles to people. I couldn't leave you feeling down up here, Zarc. I know you enjoyed it, nii-san."
Zarc smiled faintly. Despite everything weighing him down that night, he was grateful for the momentary reprieve. Yuya had always shown a keen sense for when his prime counterpart needed some good cheer, and he was always eager to perform for his…brother as much as for any other audience.
In the present, Yuya slid his hands behind his head and kicked one leg over the other. "It's okay, Zarc. You don't have to be that person anymore. You said it yourself, you only ever wanted to entertain people. Things might've gone bad once, but now you can try again. You've got people rooting for you now, you know. People who know you beyond who you are as a Duelist. If you really do start to become the Supreme King again…well, we'll be right there to bring you back, nii-san."
The Magicians clutched in Zarc's hand pulsed in agreement, along with many other voices of support from within the silver-haired man's Deck. Zarc hadn't known most of those voices for long, but after every Duel he felt a little closer to them. Fighting alongside his new companions reminded him of the days long ago, when he would ride his dragons into battle with a smile on his face.
"Yuya, you aren't worried at all?" Zarc asked. "Even if tomorrow goes by without a problem, there will always be…well, every day after. Every Duel after, with you or the others. What if I let my guard down, and then…" He released the air from his lungs in a burst, cutting himself off. He didn't want to think of the worst-case scenario, but he couldn't afford not to after everything.
"It's not gonna happen," Yuya replied firmly. "I don't think anything could happen with you, me, Yuto, Yugo, and Yuri anymore. We've all Dueled a bunch with each other, and nothing happened to any of us. No one lost control or hurt anyone, so I don't think it's a problem anymore. Besides, how could we become you again? You're already here!"
Yuya chuckled, and Zarc couldn't help but smile softly. His Pendulum counterpart had always been a much-appreciated counterweight for Zarc's lower moods, quick with calming words or a witty display, or merely a comforting presence.
The two lookalikes watched the stars in silence for a time, allowing the night to flow by. "Is your Deck ready for tomorrow, Zarc?" Yuya asked, breaking the silence.
"As ready as I could ever make it," Zarc answered. "I can hear my monsters' voices. They're eager to introduce themselves to Maiami City. What of yours?"
"Odd-Eyes and I are ready to go!" Yuya looked up at his older brother. "But do you feel up for it? It's probably not too late to postpone anything."
"No, Yuya," Zarc said firmly, brushing away his resistance. "This will need to happen eventually. I might as well show this city my Dueling sooner and not later. I doubt waiting will do anything to change the public opinion of me, and I've been working hard for this. I may be frightened for my future, but I won't look away. You've all taught me better than that."
Yuya nodded. "That's what I like to hear!" He said.
A moment later, Yuya chuckled sheepishly and sat up. "But if we're gonna be our best tomorrow, we should really get back to bed, huh, Zarc?" He asked over his shoulder.
The Magicians in Zarc's hand pulsed in agreement.
Zarc smiled. There was much to be determined – so little he understood about his new state of being – but he was no longer alone. His family and friends would not forsake him, and neither would the companions in his cards.
"I believe you're right," Zarc said. He sat up, slipping Stargazer and Timegazer Magician back into his Deck. "Thank you for coming out to speak with me, Yuya. I can always count on you for a smile."
Yuya grinned. "Of course, nii-san! That's my job as an entertainer!" He rose to a crouch and held out his hand for Zarc.
Zarc took his brother's hand readily, and they both rose to their feet and made their way to the edge of the roof, over their open bedroom window. They took turns hanging off the precipice and stepping back through, before collapsing onto their beds and allowing sleep to take them.
And Zarc, for the moment, felt at peace.
And here's the prologue. It was getting long, so I cut it off here. Next chapter we'll be seeing everyone else come together, along with the beginnings of a Duel that I'm looking forward to trying my hand with.
Until then, Tomorrow's Hero, signing out.