Disclaimer: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic is not owned by me. The fact fills me with sadness.
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Judar's interest in the fourth prince of the Empire was no big secret. Whimsical at best, the Head Oracle of the Kou Empire frequently visited young Hakuryuu, even as he ignored the Emperor's summons.
By itself, that was little cause for surprise. The Magi often enjoyed the company of the princes and princesses of the Kou Empire, even (to the surprise of many) that seventh princess born of a courtesan.
What did surprise the Imperial Court were the Magi's repeated attempts to take the fourth prince to a dungeon and said prince's repeated refusals.
It boggled the mind!
Metal Vessels had changed the nature of war. A single Metal Vessel user could destroy an entire army. The best strategy would fail against that power. Only a Metal Vessel could fight a Metal Vessel. Indeed, thousands of men had died trying to clear the dungeons spread across the land in order to gain that power. However, only the presence of a Magi could guarantee success.
To turn down that type of invitation was unthinkable!
Yet Hakuryuu did it.
Yet Judar kept offering.
Why? Why him of all people?
Why Ren Hakuryuu?
What worth was there in that boy? He barely socialized with anyone. He was too far down the line of succession. He had no important allies in the Court. His skills in combat may be good, but he had yet to contribute to the war effort. He was educated, as was fitting for a prince, but he was far from brilliant.
What did he have? Where there not people worthier of the power? No generals in the Kou Empire who could greatly aid the war effort if only they had a Metal Vessel?
No one dared to voice those questions aloud. The Magi was to be treated with reverent respect. After all, he had given them five Metal Vessels already, making them the most powerful country on the map. They could not afford to anger such a valuable asset.
Had they asked, they would be surprised to find Judar as confused as they were.
Why did he want Hakuryuu?
No matter how Judar looked at it, Kouen was the obvious choice. Kouen was a brilliant general, a skilled leader, and his Magoi quantity was nothing short of spectacular. Ambitious. Knowledge. Powerful.
As a King Vessel, Kouen was only surpassed by Sinbad.
Indeed, Judar had been quick to offer a dungeon to the oldest of the Ren siblings. Kouen accepted without hesitation. He captured the Djinn. Then he captured two more and won many battles using their powers.
He had not disappointed Judar's expectations.
Koumei and Kouha had been more of a package deal. The two siblings were fiercely devoted to their brother. Where Kouen went, they went.
Which was not to say they were unskilled.
Koumei was smart. There was no other way to say it. He may be an unmotivated bastard who'd rather laze around all day, but there was a damn good brain behind that plain, freckled face.
Then there was the younger brother. Kouha was much better than he thought he was. He had gathered a bunch of skilled rejects and turned them into a cohesive, loyal force. If he ever decided to step out of his brother's shadow, he would be a force to the reckoned with.
Not that he'd ever praise the two.
Of course not.
Because that "if" would always be there.
They were too loyal to be King.
They were content to follow their elder brother. They were too enamored with his ambitions instead of theirs. The two would never rise up against their brother. They would never place their ambitions over his.
They would just tirelessly work to bring Kouen's vision.
Honestly, it was disappointing two guys like that ended up with Metal Vessels. Household vessels would fit them best.
On the other hand, the fact that he could inspire such loyalty from other Metal Vessel users only reinforced Kouen's worth.
Really, Judar should have just stopped with Kouen. Short of Sinbad, who had no intentions of working with him, no one could compare.
But then Kougyoku happened.
There was really no rhyme or reason for that choice.
Kougyoku was the forgotten princes. She was the daughter of the courtesan who had been forgotten by nearly everyone in the palace. Saying she grew up alone was not an exaggeration.
Had it not been for that attendant of hers, she wouldn't even know how to read or write.
Judar had picked her.
He had invited the useless princess to go dungeon hunting. He could remember Koubun's face when he had heard the news. That guy had almost died of shock. Why wouldn't he? There was no reason why the princess who barely knew how to fight should be invited by the Magi.
Judar had felt it was the right choice.
There had been something telling him to take the old hag with him. An instinct that had never been involved in any of choices so far.
He wanted to take the useless princess to the dungeon and that was that.
When the Magi spoke few dared to object.
Surprisingly, Kouen had agreed with him. To this day, Judar still didn't know if it was because he trusted his decision or because he had seen something he hadn't.
In any case, no one could argue with the results.
Kougyoku had surpassed all expectations. In few months, she had mastered Djinn Equip and went from useless princess to invaluable war asset.
Who knew she had it in her?
Well, him apparently. Somehow.
Out of all his Candidate he spend the most time with her. He could say that was also due to some deep Magi instinct, but he just liked messing with her.
It was just so easy.
Meanwhile, Hakuei had been a calculated choice. He had chosen her for one simple reason.
He needed to get closer to Hakuryuu.
Judar couldn't help it. The same instinct that had pulled him to Kougyoku called him to the crybaby of the Empire.
The problem was the crybaby prince did not trust anyone other than his sister. It was annoying really. Judar could go and talk to him, but the annoying bastard just wouldn't open up. It was just more of the same overly formal speech every time.
Maybe it was a roundabout way but if he could get closer to Hakuei, he could get closer to Hakuryuu. Giving her the power of a Djinn should have put him in Hakuryuu's good graces. The two siblings had been in a far too vulnerable position ever since their father died and most of their allies abandoned them.
A Metal Vessel was just the thing needed to tip the scales in their favor.
Which wasn't to say Hakuei was undeserving of the power. As a metal vessel user she was more than good. In many ways, she was much better than Kouha and Koumei.
If anything Hakuei was too good.
With the power of the Metal Vessel and her title as the first imperial princess, Hakuei had managed to win a certain degree of popularity in the court and with the people.
She was Hakuei, the Brave. Hakuei, the magnanimous, who won the love of the territories she conquered. Ever graceful. Ever kind. Ever beautiful Hakuei.
Honestly, it was enough to make him want to gag.
Worst of all, it hadn't even worked!
Hakuryuu was as distant as ever. He kept refusing his invitations to the dungeon!
Even that one time he had invited him to drink hadn't worked… though the details of that night were kind of spotty at best.
Judar really should have just moved on.
He was the Magi. People begged him to take them to a dungeon not the other way around.
Not that he ever begged. Threatened. Demanded. Pestered. Certainly all of those, but never begged.
There was just something that drew him to the scarred prince. Something that told him Hakuryuu would be the most interesting. Not Kouen. Not Kouha. Not Koumei. Not Kougyoku. Not Hakuei. It had to be Hakuryuu. With his painfully honest Rukh and deeply buried hate.
Sure, Judar loved war and Kouen wanted war. That should have been enough, but Kouen only wanted it as a means to an end. What Kouen truly wanted was unification. He wanted to stop wars by conquering everyone and everything, idiotic as it may sound.
Hakuryuu was considerably more honest with everything, even his desires. If he ever used the power of a Metal Vessel for them… well, that would be a sight to see.
Even so, Judar didn't get it. Not fully. Not until Balbadd. Not until he met that pint-sized Magi.
The first time Judar saw the brat's King Vessel he wanted to laugh.
It was a completely pathetic guy.
It was laughable.
It was curious.
What had made a Magi choose one such as him?
What made a Magi choose a King?
It should be natural to pick the strongest and most powerful so why did that not feel like the right choice?
He never got an answer from Aladdin. Not a direct one. Instead, the brat had done something better.
He had shown him the truth with that odd power of his.
He had wondered a couple of times. Why had he never met his parents? Where was he born?
From the beginning, he was raised by Al-Thamen. He had asked a couple of times but never gotten a straight answer from them.
Judar ignored the slight unease caused by that.
It was not that important.
He already had everything he wanted.
Then Aladdin had shown him how his parents had died, how his hometown was butchered, how Al-Thamen had taken him and made him fall into depravity.
He was not such a nice guy that he was heartbroken over his parents' deaths and now wanted vengeance.
That was not him.
Still, Judar was angry.
He was furious, but not over them.
Judar could only mourn the life that had been taken from him. From the beginning, his life had not been his own. From the beginning, his choices had been made for him.
That single revelation had been enough to make him understand. It was the piece that made everything click. It was so simple he wanted to laugh.
Hakuryuu was just like him.
When had that crybaby ever been in control of his destiny? Even now, his actions were controlled by the hate he held for his mother. No matter how much he rebelled, no matter how much he hated the damage was done. He would never escape the prison she made for him.
That was the quality Judar had been looking for.
That was what drew him to Hakuryuu and what he had seen in Kougyoku, the miserable princess abandoned by circumstance.
People trapped by destiny.
People who never had a choice.
People who would never escape.
Like him.
To hell with that!
He got it. He understood!
Judar did not need a powerful King. He did not need a vicious King. He did not need a King who loved wars.
Judar needed a King who understood that feeling, because only a king like that would be able to hate destiny from the bottom of his heart.
Judar needed a King who would smash the prison they were trapped in without caring about the consequences.
Judar needed Hakuryuu.
He knew it now, and Hakuryuu would understand too. He would understand they needed each other. Who cared if he had a Metal Vessel now?
Only he could provide what Hakuryuu truly needed.
Hakuryuu would see it in time. He would realize the truth.
And Judar would help him every step of the way.
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AN: And that's the end of that.
Funny thing, the first time we ever see Hakuryuu in chapter 25, Judar invites him to go to a dungeon. The guy does this while ignoring the Emperor's summon and saying Hakuryuu is better. While it is not certain if the character of Kouen had been created yet, this remains an interesting moment. Besides Judar's interest in Hakuryuu still remains as seen by what happens when they do meet again.
Those little scenes plus Aladdin's conversation with Yunan about a Magi's instinct to choose a King gave birth to this little one shot.
I like the idea that a Magi will naturally be drawn to the one most suitable to them instead of someone who will, on paper, be the best King.
There will be a sequel of sorts, but that will be another one shot which will deal with Hakuryuu. I guess you can think of this as the first in the Darkness Bros series.
Finally, a couple of things:
King Vessel: At the beginning I was using King Candidate but switched it after checking the Wiki.
Old Hag: Judar calls Kougyoku this in the extra material found in the volume release. I'm uncertain if he has ever done it in the actual chapters.
Hakuryuu and Judar walk into a bar: Also from the extra material found in the volumes. Just a couple of pages titled "Something that could have happened between Judar and Hakuryuu" or something similar where Judar invites Hakuryuu to drink.
Hope you guys enjoyed this and don't forget to review!