Chapter Two
The first thing Yuuri did when he woke up was, of course, check for any injuries. Realizing that he had nothing serious, just a bruise on the forehead for hitting on the edge of the fountain, he checked the state he was in. He was dripping wet, so being sucked inside a fountain was, sadly, real. 'Better then finding out you were actually hallucinating,' he thought.
Yuuri looked around his surroundings and saw a small and peaceful-looking village.
Something was definitely wrong.
For one, there were definitely no villages in Japan, let alone anywhere near Tokyo. Then, he heard soft footsteps and looked to his left. He spotted a pretty blonde lady wearing a dress that no one in Tokyo would ever wear. It was a simple outfit. And it was from the middle ages! A cosplayer in the wrong place? But her expression said she knew where she was, so Yuuri asked, "Hey, Miss! Uhh… do you happen to know where I am? I'm… kinda lost." He finished lamely. After all no one would ever say; "Excuse me. It seems I got sucked in a fountain, do you happen to know how I ended up here?"
The pretty lady looked at Yuuri then suddenly dropped the basket she was carrying, which contained purple… apples? "What interesting fruit – 'or is it a vegetable?' he wondered curiously – you have there, neesan." Yuuri commented politely. He tried to put the fruit back in the basket, but then the lady started screaming in what Yuuri thought was gibberish.
'So… I'm in a mental hospital?' Yuuri thought. He heard shouts the next moment and spotted a group of men with pitchforks. 'Woah! They understood the gibberish of that lady? I haven't even heard of this language. And there are no more people in this world who still wear clothes from the middle ages…'
'I'm going insane, aren't I?'
The pretty blonde headed over to the men and stared speaking the unknown language, an old man around his fifties –probably the young woman's father – looked angry then picked up many stones. The others followed his example, and they all started throwing it at Yuuri. They had rather good throwing arms because at least one of the stones each of the villagers threw at Yuuri hit him. The stones thrown made a few cuts at Yuuri's arms, and one more bruise was added to his forehead.
Yuuri could have avoided them all – he missed most of the rocks – but his experience with the fountain and he thought the villagers had nice, kind faces, got him hit. There was a neighing of horses and, before the villagers could throw another set of twenty or so rocks at Yuuri, they heard something from one of the men that was riding a horse. The man was at the front of the group, and was, obviously, the leader.
That man was a blonde with short hair and green eyes, a really heavy and deadly looking sword was attached to a scabbard which was also on a belt around his waist, he also was heavily-built with lots of muscles and he went to Yuuri and looked at him with eyes that looked down upon him like he was dirt. The blonde warrior dismounted his horse and Yuuri could got a good look of the man's height. Yuuri felt embarrassed, he was easily three times taller than him. It wasn't his fault he was short for his age! It was his mother's genes!
The man kneeled down to Yuuri's height, then placed both his hands on Yuuri's head. Next thing he did was he squeezed. Hard.
Although it lasted only a few seconds, to Yuuri, it felt like forever before the man finally released Yuuri's head from that painful squeeze. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! What did you do that for, ojisan?"
The heavily-muscled guy smirked then said, "You understand us now, boy?" he said it in such a mocking voice, like he was better than Yuuri.
'Jerk.' Yuuri thought at the man bitterly. "Wait, I can understand you! Thank goodness, I thought you people didn't know Japanese! But, beside that, sir… YOU CAN'T SQUEEZE PEOPLE'S HEAD WITHOUT THEIR PERMISSION!" he exploded.
He realized what he just said, then Yuuri's face went red, "A-anyway… you get what I mean, right…?"
The blonde man laughed then said in his mocking tone, "So, the Mazoku picked a child to be their ruler. I know they needed a ruler, but who knew they were this desperate!" He laughed so loud that the cheerful sound he was emitting was the only sound the people of the village could hear for well almost a minute.
One of the villagers interrupted the man's who-knows-why joyous moment, "We should kill that Soukoku first before it can harm us!"
Yuuri was speechless and just stood there listening to all the weird information people were talking about. But he still couldn't get what kind of situation he was in.
Another said, "No, we should sell it to the west countries, I heard that we could sell him there for high prices."
'They're calling me an it!'
Then the blonde lady from awhile ago spoke, "I heard of that, those people would then hand any Mazoku over to Dai Shimaron for judgment. The bigger their position in Shin Makoku, the more they'll give us. And this Maou is a Soukoku as well!"
Then, the warrior smirked, "No, he is still a child, he doesn't know anything, we could use him. We all know how powerful the Maou is. We could shape him up." Yuuri obviously knew they were talking about him.
'Maou? So I AM in a mental hospital!' Yuuri exclaimed mentally, 'So… that means I'm insane doesn't it? I bet Akito-sama sent me here. But what about mother? She MUST be feeling lonely right now, but she does have Momiji-niisan with her, so I guess she'll be alright.' He though hurriedly, he needed to examine the situation quickly. But the only thought in his head was, 'What are they talking about?'
The blonde man then kneeled down to Yuuri's height then suddenly aimed for a nerve in Yuuri's neck, wanting to knock him out. Yuuri saw it coming and dodged leaping two times longer than a normal child could. The blow aimed for Yuuri was fast and Yuuri missed it with only a split second to spare. 'He's good,' Yuuri praised the man mentally but he wasn't the type to admit it. It would just distract him –although slightly - from the fight, anyway.
Turned out what the warrior did was just a distraction, once Yuuri's feet touched the ground, he was hit by one of the man's men with the flat of his sword. "That's not fair you…" and Yuuri was knocked out.
X
He ruffled his dark hair and groaned at a sudden headache that struck him, 'That hurt, darn it! That guy… he doesn't fight fair! And I thought warriors were supposed to be these big shots with lots of pride and honor and whatnot.' Yuuri opened his deep, black orbs and sat up straight, finding that he was laying down on a couch.
"My, my, what a cute Maou we have here."
Yuuri jumped and turned to where the voice was coming from.
The voice was a woman's. She had an unnatural color of hair red-violet. Perhaps she dyed it? She appeared to be around her late twenties, but if you think about the insanity that's been happening around Yuuri, you never know.
"Why do you people always call me 'Maou'?" Yuuri demanded the answer from the woman.
The lady smirked and giggled, "Such a strange Maou you are, little boy. The meaning is obvious isn't it? It's because you are the Maou. Ruler of the Mazoku, enemy of the humans – including me, of course – and other whatnot."
"Fine, let me change the question, why am I" Yuuri pointed at himself and stressing 'I' " of all people, a Maou? Maou's don't even exist! Let alone demons and other fantasy things!" He was getting tired, why won't the lady just answer his question straight?
"I don't know, I'm just following Adelbert-sama's orders, go ask him," the lady said, shrugging her shoulder, "I was just told to guard you until we reach Shou Shimaron."
'Adelbert-sama?' Yuuri thought, she was probably talking about that super-macho guy that cheated in the fight? 'I hate him. The cheater,' Yuuri decided.
"Adelbert-sama was the man who knocked me out, right?" he finally asked the lady who was guarding him.
"Correct."
Yuuri sighed, this wasn't helping him get anywhere.
After a few minutes of awkward silence, Yuuri started up another conversation with the woman, "I'm sorry, I didn't ask your name first…" Yuuri apologized, back to his ever polite manner of speaking.
"It's okay, I didn't ask for your either, it was rude. My name's Velma," Velma answered.
Yuuri smiled and held out his hand, "Nice to meet you, Velma-san. My name's Yuuri. " Velma grasped Yuuri's hand and shook it.
X
The ones in charge of bringing the Maou back to Shin Makoku arrived some time later in the village Yuuri was in when Adelbert came. The result was messy.
The leader of the group from Shin Makoku, Conrad, was completely furious. He had met Yuuri's parents before, he was also the one who named him. He even swore he would protect him with his life. But when he heard he was captured by that man traitor of Shin Makoku, Adelbert. He went straight back to Blood Pledge Castle to discuss what they should do next. Ashamed of himself for being too late when he promised…
X
"What kind of Maou is he? Getting captured so easily," Wolfram von Bielefeld, Conrad Weller's younger brother complained at having a ruler so weak.
The lords inside Blood Pledge castle were currently having a meeting in Lord Gwendal von Voltaire's, Conrad's older half-brother, in-charge of most of the Shin Makoku's military affairs – office.
Gunter, one of the Demon King's retainers, said this to the young – and bratty – Lord, "Calm yourself Lord Bielefeld, we must take into consideration the fact that His Majesty was born in another world. He was most probably confused and thought that Adelbert was trying to help him." Then after realizing this, posed dramatically and cried, "Ah~! Whatever shall happen to His Majesty… if that traitor even dares try to HURT his Majesty, I'll ERASE him from this world!"
"Calm yourself, Lord von Christ," Gwendal said to Gunter. "But if the human countries hear about this, they will be looking for the first chance to attack. We must find the Maou as soon as possible."
Gunter nodded his head, "True, I suggest we go to Shinou Temple and ask Ulrike if she is able to search for His Majesty."
"Then let us depart as soon as possible," Conrad ushered, his voice full of worry and stress. 'Yuuri… I'll find you soon.' He then opened the door to Gwendal's office and closed it softly, to prepare for the short trip. While everyone else was quite clearly worried about the surprisingly – to humans, at least – 120 or more-year-old man.
X
The trip was short and uneventful, they were able to enter Shinou Temple easily. Because the head priestess, Ulrike, said "Shinou has permitted them to enter." Because men weren't allowed to simply waltz into the temple, unlike women.
Gunter was the first to speak, his lilac hair falling gracefully as he bowed, "Greetings, Ulrike-sama. We apologize for disturbing you during these times, but we must ask a favor of you."
"Think nothing of it, Gunter-sama. It is my duty to assist Blood Pledge castle in times of need." Ulrike told Gunter and his companions.
Conrad looked up from the floor where he was thinking very deeply, the floor would probably have holes already from Conrad's intent stare on it if he didn't look up, "Then will you be able to tell us where the location of His Majesty is?"
Ulrike's purple eyes widened in surprise, "The Maou has not returned yet?" she paused for a few moments then said quietly, "It's probably my fault."
But of course, all the trained soldiers in the room heard this comment.
"Why would you say that, Ulrike? You've done a perfect job at everything!" Wolfram exploded, forgetting to even add a '-sama' after her name. But everyone thought nothing of it.
Gwendal stared at Ulrike, more wrinkles appearing on his forehead, "Yes, Ulrike. You've done nothing wrong, have you?"
"It's because I… I… predicted the time of His Majesty's coming… wrong," Ulrike sniffled her eyes watery, "that's p-probably why… His Majesty was captured…"
"But what's done is done," Conrad cut-in, "It's too late to change it, although you can still help, of course. Please tell us the location of Yuuri."
Ulrike wiped the tears that were threatening to fall and concentrated. Soon, a dark orb with sparkling objects – like stars - within it, appeared.
"What does it do, Ulrike?" Wolfram asked curiously.
"This sphere, has the power to track the power of the present and previous Maous no matter where they are in this world," she answered the Lord, still looking at the sphere searching for the power of the present Maou.
Everyone looked closely at Ulrike then the sphere, then at Ulrike again, her face holding a lot of concentration. Gunter couldn't help but ask a question from Ulrike, "Do you know which star that one belongs to?" Gunter said, pointing at a large and brightly-shining star.
For a split second, Ulrike's face lost the stress that was showing, "Ah, that one belongs to Lady Celi," she said, then went back to work. 'How fitting' everyone in the room thought, thinking about the former Maou and also mother of the three half-brothers.
"I found him!" Ulrike cried with joy. "Where?" everyone demanded at the exact same time.
Ulrike looked carefully at the small star, shining dimly where there was no other star anywhere near it. Then she gasped, "No… no… he can't…"
Conrad couldn't take it anymore, "WHERE, Ulrike?"
The sphere disappeared from her hands and she answered meekly, "Shou Shimaron."
X
A/N: Chapter was a bit longer, but not much. Sooo sorry I updated so late! Hardly anyone's reviewing… I'm sad . Please give me only THREE more reviews and I'll update in maybe 2 weeks!