Disclaimer: I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.
Fandoms: Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal
Series Title: Hating Humanity
Title: To Find The Lost Ones
Characters: Ryouga, Rio, Durbe
Romance: Nasch x Durbe/Durbe x Nasch
Word Count: chapter 1: 1,101||story: 1,101
Genre: Drama, Supernatural||Rated: PG-13
Challenge: Written for the Diversity Writing Challenge, section I19, a multichap with chapters between 1000-2000 words; Written for the Advent Calendar 2015, day #12, write a gift-fic (this is for SilvorMoon)
Notes: This begins shortly before the duel between IV & Ryouga, pre-canon.
Summary: Durbe wanted to find Nasch so much that he made his way to Earth far sooner than expected. What he did not expect was to run across Kamishiro Ryouga at the worst time of his life.
I wish I'd brought Mizael along. Durbe tried his best not to look as if he disliked everything around him, but it was all so different from his own world. For untold years, he'd had the company only of a few people, his fellow Emperors and the lesser Barians who they ruled over. Those lesser Barians seldom actually interacted with their leaders, however, and the Emperors remained accustomed to only associating with one another.
But here in this world, this Earth, there didn't seem to be any separation like that at all. Everyone mixed with everyone, and there were so many more everyone than he'd ever imagined there being. Barian World had at least a few thousand or so people in it, but they never congregated like this at all.
He'd spent days in this world already, darting here and there in his attempt to find Nasch and Merag. So far, he hadn't had a single drop of luck.
At least if he'd brought Mizael along, he would've had someone that he could talk to. All he had here were humans, humans everywhere, and none of them gave him so much as a glance. Which he didn't object to; he needed to adjust to being here so he could blend in, and if they tried to talk to him now, then he'd probably say or do something that would show he was very much not from around there.
I don't think they execute you for being different here, though. He'd seen enough people who didn't fit in to the local standards to gather that much.
Still, getting used to all of this took time, and the more he considered the matter, the more he decided leaving Mizael in Barian World was probably the wiser choice after all. Mizael had opinions of his own, and while Durbe shared them to an extent, Mizael was much more likely to start throwing around bolts of power if humans pressed in too closely around him.
Not to mention what Mizael would probably do if humans ended up thinking he was attractive. By Barian standards, Mizael was most certainly a prize, so it was likely enough he would be so even by human standards. Durbe had seen what humans could do to those they found beautiful and Mizael would not have been pleased at all.
Anyway, someone needed to keep an eye on Vector. He'd been up to things recently and while Durbe wasn't certain of all the details, he thought Mizael could handle anything Vector tried.
He wandered his way through the crowds, almost invisible in his human garb, and wondered if he were doing the right thing. Nasch and Merag had to be somewhere. But here, in the human world? Why would they be here and what would they be doing if they were?
We've looked everywhere in our world that we could and they're still not there. They wouldn't be in Astral World. We'd know. The Astral World would've sent some kind of message, demanding their surrender in exchange for the return of their overlord and his sister. But there hadn't been anything from them at all.
So Earth remained their best chance, so far as Durbe could guess. He still couldn't figure out why or how or why they wouldn't return to Barian World if they'd somehow arrived on Earth without warning, but perhaps he could ask once he found them. And he would find them, without a doubt at all.
If it weren't for those little signals, I might not have even bothered. He'd almost missed them entirely when they'd happened. Tiny little sparks, nothing more than the vaguest drips of energy that didn't belong to Earth at all, but he'd caught them anyway. They weren't Astral World related, which by default meant they had to be related to the Barian World.
And those little sparks, scattered as they were, could very well be Nasch or Merag. Preferably Nasch and Merag, but Durbe didn't want to hold onto too much hope, not after all this time.
So he'd made his way to Earth, which he hadn't expected to do for some time to come, if ever at all, and began to figure out how matters worked there. Seeing himself in a mirror had been more than a little unnerving. He wasn't the tallest Barian by any means, but he looked so different. So soft. Not a warrior of stone and strength, but a creature that looked as if he could be broken by little more than a harsh word.
I wonder if humans wear armor when they go into battle. The idea both intrigued and amused him and he decided when he had some free time, he'd look into it, just to see. It made sense, if they were all this soft.
He hadn't been able yet to track down those sparks, though he'd narrowed them to this city, called Heartland, or so he'd picked up from listening to the humans talk among themselves. This place was a hub of duelists, though none of them seemed as fierce or as powerful as the least of the Barians.
That didn't surprise him either. Barians were renowned for their skill in duel combat, and he'd seen for himself that duels here were for amusement and entertainment, not fighting amongst one another.
Humans confused him. But he kept on looking, no matter w hat, because where there were duels, there could very well be Nasch and Merag. Perhaps they weren't dueling; perhaps they were watching, but there was always the chance that they would be there.
So when he heard of a tournament that would be held, Durbe decided that this was just as good a place to go check out as any of the others that he had. He'd wandered by schools to see what their pick-up duels were like, and not been impressed at all. He'd checked out a few of the pro tournaments, and while they were somewhat better, he still hadn't met anyone that even slightly reminded him of Nasch or Merag.
He wouldn't say that this duel called to him, but he was tired and he wanted to enjoy himself just a little bit before he threw in the proverbial towel, as he'd heard humans say, and went back to Barian World to rest. Supposedly there were two favorites for the finals, and the glimpse he got of their posters was at least interesting.
A duel between someone called 'IV' and someone called 'Shark'. He hoped it lived up to the hype the humans were throwing around for it.
To Be Continued
Note: Thank you for reading and I hope that you enjoyed the chapter. Please let me know what you thought of it if at all possible.