Series: Paladin's Quest||Title: Rebirth of Kaiser
Characters: Ryou, Yuusuke||Ship: N/A
Chapter: 4/30||Words: 8,286
Genre: Drama, Friendship||Rated: PG-13
Challenges: Diversity Writing Challenge: YGO GX: canon: K5, 20+ chapters; Slots: 2,000-67,000, 1st person past tense, rated T, reincarnation, gen-fic; One Character Boot Camp, Marufuji Ryou, #44, fade; Epic Big Bang
Notes: N/A
Chaos Hunter tapped the haft of her whip against her thigh, considering her options. There weren't as many of them as she would have liked, and his arrival made them even fewer.
She should have struck sooner, in those moments between her realization that Hell Kaiser lived in this minuscule village, as common and ordinary as if he were any other spirit, and Haou's arrival.
If she'd struck then, it would all be over, and she could move on, her brother's soul at rest. Now she had to take more caution.
What is he doing here? That bothered her more than she wanted to think too much on. Hell Kaiser was human. There'd been few enough humans here before the war and now all these years later, there shouldn't have been that many.
Yet here he was, living peacefully in the village. It didn't seem right.
I heard he was dead. She turned that thought over and over in her mind. She hadn't believed it at first, but she watched him as he spoke with Haou and the longer she did, the more tiny differences she could see between him and what she considered the 'average' human.
His eyes were a haunting shade of blue-green, not one she'd ever seen on any human. There was a faint undertone of gold to his skin, not something she remembered on anyone else. In truth, she wasn't an expert on humans, but these things didn't seem quite to mesh with what she knew.
His ears didn't help either: slightly pointed, not quite to the degree of an elf's, but more so than common for humans. And he moved like a spirit, quick and graceful, unlike the clumsy fumblings of humans.
It wasn't entirely impossible. Old legends spoke of such things. But a human could become a spirit, and the portal most often used to accomplish this could be death.
This also failed to change her mind on her goal to achieve his proper death. He'd killed her brother. Whatever he'd been then, whatever he was now, Chaos Hunter wasn't going to let the death of Chaos Sorcerer go unavenged.
If anything, it only meant that she would have to plan more carefully. If he were a spirit now, then he could be stronger than she was, and he could have abilities that would be very irksome if used against her.
Two ways to deal with that, then, she decided. Many spirits had dueling cards dedicated to them. She could investigate and find out what his was and what he could do. Or she could send servants to attack and see what he did.
Her lips curved up into a rich, taunting smile. She liked the idea of that far better. Now all she needed to do was find some underlings who could accomplish her task.
She whistled softly. She had at least one who could assist in that.
Chaos Hunter hadn't been one of Haou's Death Duelists back in the day. But she was Chaos Sorcerer's sister and she'd ranked just under the Death Duelists, and by all rights, she could claim the remnants of his army for herself. That was what happened in Dark World, and sun or no sun, that was what would always happen there.
And one of the few who remained who currently acknowledged her position lived in this very village, right underneath everyone's nose. A perfect way to get what she wanted.
This world would tremble when she brought down her wrath.
He has a friend. That shouldn't have been so surprising. There were many people who had friends. If Ryou thought about it long enough, he presumed that he and Juudai were friends.
He'd never had any other friends to compare it to, so he wasn't sure, but from what he'd seen around the village, it seemed that way. Close enough, at any rate.
But what was somewhat more interesting was that this friend would be coming to live here, and that this friend was a human.
Had he ever met a human? Did Juudai count as human? More questions that he didn't know the answer to, and which somewhat felt to him as if he should know the answer and yet he didn't.
Perhaps this new person – Juudai neglected to mention his name before leaving again – would have those answers. Ryou made a mental note to ask when he had the chance. There was so much that he needed to know, and the people around here didn't seem to be interested in providing answers.
He'd not asked questions, either, but with this potential new arrival, those questions began to flicker through his thoughts one by one.
Why had Juudai brought him here, of all places?
Where, who had he been before he'd opened his eyes that first time? He had to have existed before that. There were few beings who sprang into existence fully formed. What he'd gathered was that like so many else here, he was a spirit, but that didn't mean he hadn't been born a baby and grown into what he knew himself to be.
Who, exactly, was Juudai? They called him Herald, but why? What did it mean?
What had been the war that people spoke of? That he'd gained a little more information on, just by listening. Some few years earlier, a powerful warlord entitled Haou brought down a reign of unprecedented fury on the world. For months he'd gone unchallenged and unstopped, until a small band of heroes from another world appeared. With great loss they'd somehow brought his reign to an end.
That was, according to all the stories he'd heard, when the blue comet that had once graced the skies of this world vanished, replaced by the sun and moon.
He'd heard many tiny stories about those days, small adventures people experienced in fleeing from the Haou's warriors. There was so much that he didn't know as well: where the Haou came from, why he unleashed such rage and hatred, and who those heroes had been: and what happened to them afterward. What he'd heard was only that the survivors vanished, possibly back to their own world, and the remnants of Haou's army scattered to the winds.
That wasn't nearly enough for him. His instincts all said that there was far more that he was missing, that hearing the whole story would answer questions and give them both.
And there wasn't anyone in the village who could give him those answers.
He wondered if Juudai's friend would be curious about this. He wondered just who that friend was and what he would be like.
Ryou hadn't taken more than a few steps back toward the village when he could feel eyes on his back. That had happened a few times over the years, but very rarely with the kind of rage he could feel now. He raised his eyes, checking for any sign of who it might be, and as always, saw nothing.
Yet the feeling didn't fade. If anything, it grew stronger for a few moments before it finally did begin to recede, as if whoever watched the area between his shoulder blades finally found somewhere else to be.
Ryou checked around again. He didn't think anyone in the village hated him this much, and he'd definitely picked up hate from whoever this was.
Whoever it is can face me if that's what they want. If all they wanted to do was stare menacingly at him, he had far better ways to fill his time. Such as figuring out what to do with Juudai's newly arriving friend.
Command Angel fidgeted. She didn't like to fidget; it went against every speck of discipline grained into her for as far back as she could remember. She would have preened her wings if possible, but that required far more focus than she had.
Seeing Haou-sama again… no. He was Herald-sama now. He'd never said that, but the way that he spoke and the way that he acted made such a difference. He wasn't here for conquest. He wasn't anywhere for conquest, not anymore.
And yet if he commanded anything, Command Angel knew that she'd work her hardest to fulfill that command.
Such as now. Hearing that he wanted one of his human friends to live in the village for a while, she'd at once made certain that there was a place for them to stay, and that according to Herald-sama's wishes, it was close to Ryou's abode.
Command Angel double-checked everything, then triple-checked on the double checking. The village had enough resources to cover several new arrivals and to have one supported by Herald-sama would surely provide them with more. Herald-sama wouldn't send them a drain on their resources.
Assured that everything would work as it should, Command Angel entered her own home, letting the burdens of worry and command slide off for now. Here she could preen if she wanted to. Here she could relax and let herself have a quiet drink.
That was one of the perks of being in charge, she'd learned. So long as everyone else was well taken care of, she could enjoy a quiet drink at the end of the day.
No sooner had she poured the glass when a familiar voice spoke.
"I'll have that. And take one for yourself as well."
Command Angel's hand shook and she set the glass down before she spilled all of the wine. Slowly she turned, far less surprised than she wanted to be to see Chaos Hunter lounging in her living room.
"What are you doing here?" Command Angel asked, trying hard to keep her voice steady. This wasn't at all how she'd wanted her day to end. She'd been doing so well.
"We need a few words," Chaos Hunter said, gesturing to her. "I said I'll have that."
Command Angel steeled herself and brought the drink over. By the laws of commanding, Chaos Hunter was her superior: sort of. Herald-sama still commanded her respect. But to see Chaos Hunter like this…
She knew she'd do as she was told. She wouldn't like it, but when did anyone ever like all of their orders?
Hunter took the glass and sipped it, lips twitching at the taste. "You have to have something better than this slop."
"That's the best I have."
"Then being leader around here doesn't pay well enough." Hunter met Command Angel's eyes directly. "But that's enough for pleasantries. I have a simple job for you."
Command Angel's wings twitched at those words. "I'm very busy. I can't leave here." She knew she'd obey anyway if Chaos Hunter pushed it. She just didn't want that to happen.
"You won't have to." Chaos Hunter set the glass down and leaned forward. "You have a person named Ryou in this village."
Command Angel nodded, wary. "What about him?"
"I want to know all that you know about him. Where did he come from? What's he doing here? What abilities does he have?" One hand dropped down to tap at her whip's base. "And why is he interested in this person?"
Command Angel swallowed. "You mean Herald-sama?" Oh, this was already starting to look so very bad.
"Yes. Can you answer any of those now?"
There had to be time. She had to have time to sort through all of this. "Not now," she said. It wasn't exactly a lie. She didn't know most of it and what she did know was more from observation than cold hard facts. "But give me a few days?" In a few days, Herald-sama would return with his friend, and she could pass it on to him. Tell him Chaos Hunter was around.
He'd already asked that if she saw anyone from the old army to let him know. He outranked Chaos Hunter, didn't he?
Chaos Hunter nodded, picking the glass up again and tasting it, lip curling. "And one more point: if you open your mouth to anyone about my presence here or what I want of you, I'll destroy everyone in this village. Grind them down into dust and memories." She raised her head to stare at Command Angel mercilessly. "Do you understand me, soldier?"
Command Angel drew herself up as tall as she could manage and saluted, heart sinking. "Yes, ma'am!"
To Be Continued
Notes: Command Angel is having a very bad day. It's not going to get any better.
