Disclaimer: I don't own it, I just like to write fanfics.
Story features genderbent Ryou because the idea just popped into my head so I'm rolling with it. If this isn't your cup of tea I suggest going elsewhere. Story also starts off with some character death. Obviously, this is an AU.
The Touzoku family had been beset with a rather awful curse shortly following two rather awful tragedies. Lady Touzoku had died giving birth to the youngest daughter, Amane. The baby was too early and had not survived. Burying his beloved wife and his youngest child had killed the heart of the already rough Lord Touzoku.
His two sons – Akefia and Bakura were both rather rambunctious boys of 11 and 9 respectively. Both were rather clever for their ages and Lord Touzoku couldn't be prouder.
That pride however was shattered one stormy, dark night.
The Touzoku boys were traveling home with their father from a trip to a nearby city (it was never too early in Lord Touzoku's opinion for the boys to start learning the family dealings in the trade and merchant business).
The carriage hurried along the dirt road, the horses snorting and tossing their heads – disliking the rain coming down in steady sheets. The thunder and lightning had them skittish as well and it was taking an extra firm hand from the carriage driver to keep them under control.
They were rounding a bend when a bolt of lightning tore down from the sky and struck a nearby tree, shattered the wood and causing a small fire, which the rain quickly doused. This was enough however, to send the horses into a panic. They reared up in their harnesses, whinnying and paying no attention to the whip of their driver as they bucked and finally broke into a frantic gallop.
The horses rounded another bend – this time too quickly and the carriage, as well as the four legged beasts, pitched over. The driver was tossed into a tree, breaking his neck and killing him instantly. The horses were pinned in a tangle of broken carriage gear and one another, dying slowly.
Lord Touzoku and his sons found themselves falling out of the carriage as the roof was roughly ripped off by rocks and tree limbs, the body of the carriage collapsing in on itself and its occupants.
Lord Touzoku was the only survivor and forever walked with a limp as a result of his injuries. His sons had been killed – crushed and with their heads split open on the ground.
Now he had only one child left and his grief overwhelmed him at the thought.
Ryou Touzoku was merely four years old when her family was torn apart by untimely events. Her father became a near stranger to her as he delegated servants to her care, unwilling to do the task himself of raising her. He threw himself into his work and left the girl on her own in their huge house.
Ryou would grow up, more than likely, to be the spitting image of her mother and that was something the Lord Touzoku couldn't bear to witness.
So, he threw himself into his work, leaving his daughter in the hands of his staff.
On the eve of Ryou's fifth birthday, Lord Touzoku made a very grave mistake.
Ryou sat quietly in the dining room of the too-big house, eating a piece of birthday cake. She had gotten a new dress for her birthday, handmade by one of the servants. Her father was nowhere to be seen, of course, ignoring his only remaining child to bury himself in trade deals and wealth.
It was storming outside and lightning periodically flashed. Ryou finished her cake and hopped down from the chair, quietly padding out of the room and through the long hallways, standing on her tip-toes to open the door to her room and then entering.
She sat on her bed, watching the rain and lightning out the window, wondering if her Father would come home at all for her birthday.
Lord Touzoku scowled as he beheld the person in front of him. Lord Pegasus wasn't someone that people generally liked to cross – there were rumors that he was rather versed in some kind of dark magic and that he wasn't above using it to get his way.
"I told you a thousand times that I am not selling the Touzoku business," he growled. "There is no offer of money you can give me that will make me change my mind."
"But Lord Touzoku, who will inherit it once you are gone? You know it is no secret that you lost your precious sons a year ago. All you have left is your daughter and clearly you aren't doing a thing about her."
"What do you know? And who will inherit your company when you are gone? Everyone knows your wife, the Lady Pegasus died barren. I will marry off my daughter to a worthy man once the time comes and he shall inherit."
"Lord Touzoku, I suggest you hold your tongue," Pegasus murmured, a dangerous note to his voice. He let his gaze wander around the room until he settled on a photograph of Lord Touzoku with his family, taken shortly before the deaths of Lady Touzoku and Amane. Photography was a fairly new thing and the picture was just a little grainy and sepia in coloration. Pegasus smirked a little as he looked at the picture, picking out which one was Ryou.
"Then I believe our conversation is over," Ryou's father replied shortly. "We are not going to get any further in this discussion, Lord Pegasus. I have no intention of merging business with you, or letting you get your hands on it."
"I believe you are making a mistake most grave," Pegasus laughed darkly. "If only you realized that it is unwise to refuse my offer."
"It would be foolish of me to deal with a madman like you," Lord Touzoku answered. "I have heard the stories of you, everyone has. I have no interest dealing with someone of your nature. The last thing I need is my company to be associated with someone who couldn't even produce an heir. At least I have a daughter to marry off."
The temperature in the room seemed to plummet several degrees and Pegasus's tsk'd lightly, waggling a finger at Lord Touzoku.
"A daughter to marry off, you say? Then I suggest you get started looking..."
"What do you mean?"
The white-haired man laughed, spreading his arms out wide as a strange darkness seemed to fill the room.
"I give you a challenge, Lord Touzoku. Your daughter, Ryou, reminds me of a rather lovely doll. Therefore, she must find true love by her twenty-first birthday, or as soon as the clock strikes midnight on that birthday, she shall forever be a doll. Her limbs shall seize and become jointed. Her eyes will turn to glass and she will cease to be able to see or hear. Speech will leave her and breath shall no longer fill her lungs. Her heart shall cease to beat and she will be nothing more than a life-sized doll. But this transformation shall not be instant – it starts now. Oh-so-slowly shall she turn. You say you've heard I deal with the dark arts and you are correct. And this curse? I'm afraid the only thing that will break it will be true love. True love is what I and my darling Cecilia had and as you have such insulted it, this is what I shall give to you in return."
Lord Touzoku realized then that he had made a rather grave and unfortunate mistake.
And his only child, who he desperately wanted to shun to save his own wretched feelings, was the one who would be suffering the most devastating consequences.
Ryou was beaming as her father came home for her birthday, but the smile fell when the little girl saw that her father was looking upset. She was even more confused when he picked her up and held her tight, not saying a word.
"Daddy...?" the child whispered, wondering at this strange turn of events. She was like her brothers – far more clever and wise than most children her age.
"I am so sorry," Lord Touzoku murmured. "I am so sorry, Ryou. I have made a horrible mistake."
A/N: Randomly thought of this the other day so here we are. See you next chapter...