I don't own Yugioh Zexal or any of the characters in it. They belong to their respective owners. I only own my OC.
A/N Sorry for the wait. Writer's block is evil!
Chapter Twenty-Five: The Battle of the Century
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Due POV
Cahira Millennium. Where had she heard of her before? Certainly she was some kind of duel champion, but from what tournament? Even her accent was indistinguishable. Her hair and clothes reminded her of the look of the queen of the Vectorian Empire, but she had died thousands of years ago. Could they be related somehow?
Cahira smiled to herself and pushed one of her small pigtails off her shoulders. She called her duel disk to her arm, a wild forest of twined gold wire tied with white ribbon. Four opalescent plates extended outward to hold her cards.
Her left eye flashed blue. Black lines cut down each eye like a scar. Scarlet lips bent upward.
"Let's duel!"
"I'll start. First I'll activate Prophecy of the Millennium. This lets me summon a Level Two monster from my deck. I chose Second Queen. Her ability activates, which lets me summon a Level Five monster from my hand without paying tribute cost. Fifth King's ability lets me summon two monsters from my hand that have levels that add up to the levels of all the monsters on my field combined, so say hello to Third and Fourth King! However, all the monsters I have summoned this turn can't attack or use their abilities for three turns. That is, unless you free them by summoning a Level Six monster. Your move, Miss Arclight."
She would have taken her turn, but each of the royals held an unmistakable resemblance to her brothers and she. It was uncanny. The only difference was that they all had one gold eye and were dressed like 1500s English royalty.
She shook out her worries. It had to be a coincidence. But then again, the Trey-fire had told her that her family would be her downfall.
"I draw! I summon Shadow Knight!"
"I activate the equip spell, Shadow Ribbon, to my Knight. This raises his attack by 400 points as long as I send a Level Eight monster to my graveyard. I place two cards facedown and end my turn." She had to play it safe this time. This was no normal duelist.
The crowd screamed their names. "Du—e! Ca—hir—a!"
Cahira clapped. "Playing it safe, eh? You'll regret that. Meet Tron the Young Leader! This little guy removes anything that stops my monsters from attacking as long as I cut all of their attack down to the number of their level times one hundred. Go, Fifth King! Attack her Knight!"
The young warrior exploded into gold glitter. Her life fell to 3600. Due clenched her teeth angrily. How was she able to do that?
"I activated a spell, you see. It negates all equip spells on one monster for one battle phase." She grinned smugly. "Don't underestimate me, Arclight."
Due seethed. She had to find a weakness in her strategy.
Cahira whipped her hair again. Much like Shadow Jinxer Girl, she traced a finger down her eye like a tear. "Now your field is empty, which sucks for you. So go, Fourth King! Attack her directly!"
The Quattro-like king almost looked like he regretted something as fire burst from his fingertips and sent her life to 3200.
"With that I end my turn!" She pirouetted teasingly.
"Fine." Due drew. "I summon Shadow Dragon. He doesn't like to be lonely, so his ability activates. If you didn't know, Shadow Dragon can summon a level Six or above monster to the field from my hand while ignoring summoning costs. Meet Shadow Agent!"
First only a shadow of the monster appeared, and from it came a woman in all black, a hat covering her face.
"By compromising my battle phase, I use the Shadow Regain spell to return Shadow Knight to my field. His ability lets me change his level to one identical to another monster on my field. With my two Level threes, I Xyz summon! Number 53: Fairytale Author! By detaching an overlay unit she uses the effect of one of her Xyz material. Shadow Dragon's second effect brings your monster with the lowest attack to my side for two turns."
Surely a scary number would stun her for some time. She'd have some time to plan a new strategy.
"Too bad that only lasts two turns. Because the three turns are up, Third, Fourth, and Fifth King get their attack back. However, Third King is still yours. So, I'll just have to destroy him. See, Millennium Bargain makes me sacrifice one Millennium Royal to add its attack to another. So much for using him."
Smoky black hands reached for his heart and mercilessly tore it from his chest. They crushed it, him and his heart explode into red powder which was sprinkled on Tron. His attack rose to 2300.
"I attack you with Fifth King!"
Why would she do that? She had no visible traps placed.
"Too bad for you. Thanks to the quick-play trap, the damage I would have taken is dealt to you instead!" She smiled maliciously. "At the small price of the eldest king, your life drops to a mere 500! Might this remind you of anything, Due?"
What could she possibly mean—wait.
This duel was a representation of her life. And she had a feeling that the ending wouldn't be a happy one.
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Past Cahira POV
"My lord, I have collected for you what you asked." In her ribbon-wrapped arms she held a basket filled to the brim with liquidified Amoréinian crystal. In it bobbed Numerian flowers.
"Good. Have you found a pitiful soul yet? He is the keystone of my plan. He alone is the one that shall free me from my prison."
She nodded. "Yes, I have. His name is Vector. King of the Vectorian Empire. He is just around my age and so happens to be looking for a queen. I have no doubt with a bit of pushing he will be loyal to you. I do not mean to prod, but why do you need the crystal, anyway? I did travel all the way to Amorénia to collect it," she added, hoping for a reason.
"I cannot reveal myself to the king just yet. I must come in his time of ruin. By pouring the crystal in his drink, he shall fall in love with you until he grows to truly love you. It will make sure he picks you as his queen. Meanwhile, the flower petals will make the emotions of his father overflow. He will doubtlessly attempt to, shall we say, rid the world of his son. However, his wife will step in and die by his hand. The emotional strain will destroy his heart, and he will die. The young king will have survived, but he will have witnessed the death of both his parents in one night. That will leave him weak enough to let me slip into his mind and change his intentions. Everything shall go according to plan. It all depends on you completing your assignment."
She would do it. For the sake of Don Thousand she had to. He was the one who had rescued her from death all that time ago. He was the one who had bent time itself to change her from a miserable and unimportant peasant to the crown princess of Dimensiané.
"Get up, you miserable excuse for a worker!"
Cahira had collapsed after failing to chop a log in half perfectly. It was far too heavy for he to hold. Her cracked fingers bled and her feet ached, but still she attempted to continue to work. She had to work tirelessly to gain enough money for her family to live. The job she had paid well enough, so she didn't have to worry about the possibility of selling her sister into slavery.
She bit back a sharp remark and continued chopping wood. They were for the oh-so-benevolent royals themselves. The thought of them living happy and comfortably because they were born into it made her sick.
Her situation as a whole made her sick. And there was no freedom from it. Never. Forevermore she would be a laborer working for practically no pay. Trapped because of society.
"How would you like to be free?"
She scoffed at the voice. "Great, now I'm ill-paid and ill-minded."
"On the condition you serve me loyally forever, I will save you and your family. You will switch places with the princess and her family, and no one will remember this world besides you."
Hm. Well, she could always run away from him if need be. And it would sure be great to be free.
"Alright, Head-demon. I'll do it."
With those words she lost consciousness and awoke in the finest garments and the softest bed. Her wish had indeed been granted. And she would serve him forever because of it.