~.~.~

Title: Maoh, A Day Late

Summary: Yuri arrives in the other world late, and the race for the Boxes has already begun. Season 2.

Notes: Yuri meets a beautiful princess (sort of?), and a hero, and a dragon.

~.~.~

Part IV, Chapter 4

Echo of the misty city

~.~.~

Fortunately, Josak had not been seriously injured, just a little scratched and bruised. He recovered quickly, and by the time the village people got the fire under control, he was ready to investigate the remains of the building for any clues.

In the meantime, Gwendal took it upon himself to terrify the village officials and keep an eye on the Big Cimaron soldiers who had arrived to make their own investigation. Conrart, meanwhile hovered protectively over Yuri's shoulder, as the two of them watched from the sidelines.

"We're gonna need another place to stay," Yuri said, sighing. At least he would still have something to wear, since his outfit had been taken away for laundering when his room was destroyed. The amazingly dedicated maids had recovered it from the burning building and sworn to have it ready by morning.

"We could lodge temporarily with our allies," Conrart suggested.

Yuri shook his head. "Absolutely not. What if something else happens? They could get hurt. I'm just glad Josak's going to be alright." He glanced at the inn next to theirs, still dark despite the commotion spilling over into its front yard. "That one's still empty, right? Let's just stay there tonight and work the rest out later."

By the time their group reconvened, it was nearing dawn, and Yuri's eyes burned with exhaustion as well as from the acrid smoke. He shook himself, trying to wake up, as Josak presented his findings.

"It definitely wasn't something magical or even esoteric," he said. "Just a bomb. I think I smelled it just before the explosion."

Gwendal nodded. "I didn't feel any residue either. But it must have been a very powerful explosive device, far stronger than ordinary ones."

He and Josak exchanged a look, and Yuri suddenly remembered what Murata had said in Francia. Big Cimaron was well-known for their technology.

"I did find something interesting," Josak continued. Holding out his hand, he demonstrated a scrap of light blue fabric. It was a little singed around the edges, and the metal button on it had been twisted out of shape.

"It's from a Small Cimaron uniform," Gwendal noted. Comparing it to his memories from Caloria, Yuri supposed it did match.

"Wait, I thought Small Cimaron isn't even here!" Yuri protested, then hesitated. "But Lady Flynn said that she had seen them..."

Josak nodded. "Seems she's right. I tried asking around among the staff. There's a bit of a rumor that soldiers from Small Cimaron were seen briefly yesterday - two days ago, now - before suddenly disappearing." He glanced at Gwendal and added, "They were supposed to be in this part of town, but no one is quite sure."

Gwendal sighed angrily, pinching the bridge of his nose. "So either they somehow knew or made sure which building we would be staying in, or someone else planted the bomb and is framing Small Cimaron," he concluded.

"It's gonna be a fun day," Josak mused, seemingly carefree. "Feelings toward Small Cimaron are at an all-time low. Even if Belar didn't do this, he'll play it for all it's worth."

Gwendal shook his head wearily. "Regardless, we need to check this building over for any more surprises and try to get at least some sleep," he said, his eyes flicking to Yuri, who had begun to nod off.

"Leave it to me," Josak said with remarkable cheer. "But just in case, I would suggest not using any of the bedrooms."

Yuri had jerked himself awake and glanced at Josak blearily. "Are we sleeping in the tatami room like a school trip?" he wondered.

The other Demon Tribesmen didn't understand him, exchanging a quick look, before Gwendal said, "We'll stay in the downstairs meeting room."

"Hope you don't mind roughing it, Your Majesty," Josak teased.

"'S not rough," Yuri muttered. "Just lay out the futon, that's all."

"Of course," Conrart spoke up for the first time. This was something he had remembered from Yuri's long explanation about Japan. Laying a hand on Yuri's shoulder, he began to guide him away. "Let's go get the spare bedding now, okay? It should be in the storeroom."

As soon as they finished setting up, Yuri fell onto one of the pallets they hauled out of storage and sighed deeply. He had already begun to drift off into sleep when he glimpsed Gwendal's large dark figure join Conrart at his side.

"It was my failure," Conrart murmured, keeping his voice low. "I should have been keeping watch."

"Was not," Yuri grumbled into his pillow, making Conrart and Gwendal, who had assumed him to be asleep, glance at him in surprise. "'S my fault for bothering you."

Gwendal sighed. "We don't know how the device was detonated or when it was placed there. It's probably for the best that His Majesty was with you." They exchanged a look, and Conrart nodded. He would remain close to Yuri.

"Mm, wake me up when it's time to go," Yuri mumbled, finally letting himself rest.

~.~.~

"Why didn't you wake me up?!" Yuri wailed, trying to rush out of the room, only to trip on his discarded blanket.

Conrart caught him by the elbow, steadying him with a reassuring smile.

"It's quite alright, Your Majesty," he said. "Gwendal said to just let you sleep. The other delegates were quite disturbed by what happened, and the talks haven't resumed. He said there was no need for you to get up just to wait around while everyone sent messengers back and forth."

In fact, most of the other delegates were too afraid to leave their inns - an illogical reaction, since their inn was where the Demon Tribe delegation was attacked. Instead, they had sent members of their entourages or even the local staff running back and forth with angry or hysterical letters.

"Our allies stopped by this morning," Conrart added. He carefully guided Yuri to the dining room, where breakfast - now brunch - had been left out for him. "But they asked not to disturb you."

"Antoine and Mr. Heathcrife?" Yuri mused, having calmed a little at the reassurance. "That was nice of them. Maybe I should go visit them, if I've got free time."

He poked at the food for a moment, still a little confused by other world's cuisine, but hunger quickly overcame curiosity, and he began to eat with gusto.

Waiting nearby, Conrart noted, "I don't think Gwendal will approve."

Yuri shrugged, barely pausing in demolishing the meal. "He and Josak already took off to deal with stuff, right? So it's not like he can stop us." But as he said it, something occurred to him, and Yuri shot Conrad a worried look. "Oh... Am I going to get you in trouble again? We don't have to go."

Conrart smiled. "Don't worry, Your Majesty. You are the only one whose orders I follow. If it is your wish, then I will carry it out. Whether Gwendal approves or not."

Feeling a little uncomfortable with that kind of proclamation, Yuri shrugged and focused on the remains of his meal. "Well, my wish is that you call me Yuri," he muttered, taking another bite.

"Of course, Yuri," Conrart agreed, hiding his smile with an exaggerated bow.

~.~.~

As promised, after eating and retrieving his clothes, Yuri headed to the place where Heathcrife and Antoine were staying. To his surprise, not only his friends, but even the representative of Cavalcade greeted him with inquiries about his health and condolences.

"It's an outrage," Mr. Walrus Mustache, as Yuri thought of him, insisted. He had pulled off his hat and wig in a show of sincerity and now mopped off his shiny pate. "To allow this to happen, what is Big Cimaron doing? They can't even ensure security in their own territory, at their own conference."

'Unless, of course, they didn't want to secure anything,' Yuri thought, depressed. But even he knew better than to comment of Gwendal's suspicions or Josak's findings.

Instead, he said, "When do you think the talks will resume? I'm okay, so I think we should focus on the reason we're here."

"You're really fearless, Yuri," Antoine muttered, looking half-impressed, half-concerned.

"I imagine Belar will call everyone together tomorrow, to present some kind of explanation at least," Heathcrife said. "He'll be under a great deal of pressure to at least make a show of taking action."

Mr. Walrus snorted. "With anyone else, I would agree, but there's no telling with Belar. He was always problematic, but since this business with the Boxes began, he's gone completely mad. It's like he's lost all sense of reason. Really, attacking the Calorian representative like that?"

"Oh," Yuri said suddenly, as something occurred to him. "Do you know where Lady Flynn is staying? I want to talk to her."

Heathcrife and the Cavalcade representative exchanged a look Yuri couldn't read. "I believe she will be glad to hear you are well," Heathcrife finally said. "She's staying at the far edge of the village. It seems she came alone, with only the Dragon Knight."

"Dragon Knight?" Yuri repeated.

"Really? That young man with her is the Dragon Knight?" Antoine wondered, excited.

"That sounds really cool," Yuri decided.

"Doesn't it?" Antoine agreed. "I heard about him! He's supposed to be a great hero, even though he's so young. He wields a holy sword and even rides a fearsome dragon! They say he'll..." Suddenly, Antoine trailed off, glancing awkwardly at Yuri.

"What? He'll what?" Yuri demanded.

"I heard those rumors too," Conrart said, neatly drawing Yuri's attention away. "But I didn't think they were true. Dragons are proud, intelligent creatures. I doubt one would to being used as a mount. The last person to do so was our Dragon King, and if I remember correctly, he had a special ability to communicate with magical species."

"That's really, really cool," Yuri said, suitably impressed. "Now, I really want to meet him."

~.~.~

When Heathcrife said "far edge of the village," he hadn't been exaggerating. Getting directions out of the staff had proven a little difficult, since many of them still flinched away from Yuri, but eventually they found the right path. The inns clustered around the road began to thin until eventually they were walking through an empty mountain side.

Finally, they rounded another bend, and a small, slightly run-down building came into view.

"We're practically on the other side of the mountain," Yuri complained, pausing to catch his breath. From this angle, he could see the other peak, fog or perhaps stray clouds wrapping around its far side. He couldn't help but wonder, "Why is Lady Flynn staying in a place like this? What is she, a leper?"

"It does seem odd, but the staff told me she had requested lodgings far from everyone else," Conrart replied, annoyingly unaffected by their hike.

As they approached the small inn, someone stepped out to meet them. It was the young man who had accompanied Flynn to the peace conference. Looking at him now, Yuri could tell he was only a few years older than Yuri himself. However, he carried himself with the ease of someone who had spent a lifetime training to use his body. The giant sword across his back did nothing to weigh him down.

He crossed his arms as he studied the two Demon Tribesmen, the muscles of his bare arms rippling. Just looking at him made Yuri feel a little inadequate as a young man.

"Why are you here, Demon Tribe?" he asked, barely suppressed suspicion and threat in his tone.

His aggressiveness set Conrart on guard, but Yuri shouldered his way forward instead, spreading his arms and trying to smile in a disarming way. Murata always made it seem so easy.

"We're here to see Lady Flynn," he said. "I'm Yuri Shibuya, and this is Conrad. Is she in?"

Yuri's friendliness seemed to make him uneasy, and the young swordsman hesitated before answering, "I'm Alford. Alford MacKinner. What is your business with Lady Flynn?"

'It's a good thing Wolfram isn't here,' Yuri thought. 'He'd probably be raging by now.' Fortunately, Conrart was a lot calmer, even if he continued to watch Alford for the slightest sign of attack.

Before Yuri could answer, the lady herself appeared through the doorway.

"That's enough, Alford," she said, her eyes fixed steadily on Yuri. "Let them come in. I have something to say to the Demon King as well."

Ducking into the building, Yuri politely muttered, "Sorry for the intrusion." Flynn led the way into the lobby, where all four of them settled down, Yuri and Flynn on the couches, Alford and Conrart both remaining standing, behind their respective masters.

Yuri hesitated, fidgeting a little, but Flynn held up her hand to forestall anything he might have said. "Please allow me to say my piece," she began. "I meant what I said yesterday. Thank you, for closing the Box and taking it out of my country. We owe you a great debt."

"It should've never been opened in the first place," Yuri said quietly, uncomfortable with her praise and gratitude. "I'm sorry I couldn't stop it. I just hope that Caloria will be able to recover, someday."

'I'll never forget it,' Yuri thought. 'That scene...' Washing up at the destroyed port city, the ruins half-hidden by the white mist, the bell tolling in the distance, just before the earth trembled, again and again...

"I'll never forget," he repeated quietly. "Not as long as I live."

Flynn watched him with an unreadable expression. "It's not your fault," she said. "You weren't the ones who opened the Box. It was because of them, Small Cimaron." Her lovely face contorted into an expression of cold rage that sent a shiver down Yuri's spine.

Swallowing, he said, "That's what I wanted to ask you about. Small Cimaron, I mean. You said you saw them. Can you tell me where or when?"

Startled out of her furious thoughts, Flynn hesitated, glancing back at Alford. It seemed the decision would be up to him.

Alford studied Yuri for a moment before sighing. "You're not what I expected of the Demon King," he said.

"I get that a lot," Yuri replied wryly.

"But I suppose my expectations have been very wrong before," Alford continued, frowning, though it didn't appear to be directed at Yuri. He jerked his head toward the back of the building. "Come on."

Standing gracefully, Flynn followed him out onto the back porch, into the overgrown garden. Yuri hesitated, uncertain how this related to his question.

He glanced at Conrart, hoping for some clue or insight, but the soldier's expression was pensive. Noticing Yuri's attention, Conrart smiled reassuringly, but Yuri still caught the way his right hand moved to grasp at his left arm.

"It wasn't your fault either," Yuri said quietly, laying a gentle hand on his arm.

The words startled Conrart, though he regained his composure quickly. "You don't need to concern yourself with me, Your Majesty," he said, smiling again.

Somehow, it annoyed Yuri. 'How am I supposed to not worry?' he wondered, frustrated. 'And if I don't, who will? I can already tell you don't.'

"I'll worry if I want to," he muttered, stalking after Alford and Flynn.

The pair were waiting on the back porch, which looked out on an overgrown garden and, beyond it, the wild mountainside, dotted with clumps of trees and rocks.

"Did you see the Small Cimaron people from here?" Yuri wondered, looking around. 'It's a pretty out of the way place...'

"Not exactly," Alford said, sighing again. Turning to the garden and mountainside, he called out, "You can come out! It's okay!"

'A secret contact?' Yuri thought as a moment passed without any change. 'So they...'

But whatever he would have thought next flew from his mind, as a large shape uncoiled itself from behind a rocky slope and a thick grove of trees. Blue scales shimmered in the diffused light. Wide wings flapped tentatively, sending gusts of wind buffering Yuri's hair and clothes.

"It's a dragon," he muttered dumbly. "It's really a dragon."

The dragon lowered its blue snout to nuzzle at Alford, who patted it gently and ran a hand through its white mane. Trilling lightly at Flynn, it turned its gaze on Yuri and Conrart and made a snuffling sound.

"That's enough now," Alford chided as Yuri continued to stare, awestruck.

"It's really a dragon," Yuri repeated, apparently stuck on the notion. 'A European one,' he added to himself.

"Yes," Conrart agreed with a straight face, "a rather young one. He's a fine specimen."

"Does that mean you really are a dragon rider? The Dragon Knight?" Yuri wondered. He swelled with excitement. "That's so cool! Does he breathe fire? Does he really let you ride him?"

Alford shrugged uncomfortably. "I'd prefer if you didn't call me that. It's not a title I can bear proudly," he said, looking at the dragon with a frown. "My foolishness got this little one's mother hurt, so I took care of him while she recovered. He got rather attached and often goes looking for me..."

"Little one?" Yuri parroted, looking up at the dragon dubiously. At his full height, he would tower over the two-story inn. There didn't seem to be anything little about him.

"He was born this past spring. He was just this big back then," Alford said, making a cradling gesture with his arms. The size he implied was about the same as a cat or a small dog. Yuri stared at him in disbelief.

"That sounds about right," Conrart assured him. "Dragons grow very quickly after they hatch. But the time right after their hatching is the most vulnerable for them. In fact..." his eyes narrowed as he studied Alford, "we had an incident this year at one of the dragon preserves. An attack by poachers that led to a mother dragon rampaging through a nearby village."

Shamefully, Alford hunched under Conrart's gaze. "...Yes, that's what happened," he said, swallowing heavily. "I will make no excuses for my mistake. I had foolishly believed that dragons were just dangerous monsters and sought to gain glory by defeating one. My selfish actions led to this child being hurt. His mother went on a rampage and only stopped after I wounded her heavily." His expression darkened. "...And it was all for nothing, in the end."

"Poachers? Preserve?" Yuri whispered to Conrart.

"Dragons are an endangered species," Conrart whispered back.

Turning back to Alford, Yuri smiled reassuringly. "It's okay," he said. "You tried to make up for it, didn't you? You looked after him, and he looks like he's doing well now. What's his name?"

Alford stared at him for a moment, with a look of bemusement and surprise that was quickly becoming familiar to Yuri. "...It's Rissair," he said finally.

"Liesel," Yuri tried.

"Riseir," Alford repeated.

"Re-sell?"

"Riz-air."

"Rizu... Ree..." Groaning, Yuri gave up. "I'm gonna call him Pochi," he decided.

"Pochi?" Alford repeated, making a face. "That's so... undignified."

Yuri ignored him. "Wow, Pochi, you're amazing! You're a good boy, aren't you, Pochi?" he cooed to the dragon, reaching out and stroking his head. The newly-named Pochi snorted happily as Yuri cheerfully embraced him.

"So Pochi often escapes from the preserve and comes to visit you," Conrart mused. "And that's why you've become known as the Dragon Knight."

"Like I said, it's not a title I bear proudly," Alford replied shortly. "I would prefer if you didn't use it."

Conrart nodded, accepting Alford's request. "Then, when Pochi came here to visit you... You and Lady Gilbit saw the Small Cimaron contingent from his back," he continued his line of thought.

Amusingly, Alford blushed, glancing quickly at Flynn. "It's just... well, I..." he stammered. "I wanted to..." He glanced at Flynn again.

"He agreed to take me for a ride," Flynn said, smiling kindly at him. "I confess I was rather excited by the prospect."

"Wow, really? Riding a dragon must be so cool," Yuri marveled. Snorting, Pochi lifted his head, and Yuri, arms still wrapped around his snout, was pulled along as well, his feet dangling in the air.

"No, Pochi, put him down!" Alford scowled, before cringing as he realized that even he had ended up using the silly nickname Yuri chose.

Yuri's hold slipped, and he began to slide off Pochi's head. Rather than let him simply drop, Conrart caught him easily and lowered him to the ground.

Watching them, Flynn had to hide a giggle.

"It was amazing," she agreed. "I am very grateful for being given that experience." Her expression darkened. "But then as we were passing over the harbor, I saw the Small Cimaron ship arrive. I know they came to the island." Her fists clenched.

Yuri and Conrart exchanged a look. "This was two days ago, right? It matches up with what the staff told Josak," Conrart said. Thinking for a moment, he asked, "Did you see the ship depart?"

"...I think so," Flynn answered, a little uncertain. "Yes, it was leaving. But I'm sure I saw them drop off a group."

"I saw them too. They wore those blue uniforms," Alford agreed.

"So how were they planning to get back then?" Yuri wondered.

"They might not have wanted to linger in Big Cimaron waters," Conrart suggested, but even he appeared dubious. "But we didn't pass them on our way in. Many of the other delegates arrived on chartered vessels, but that would be strange too..."

'Something doesn't add up,' he decided.

"Well, it's not like they could have been planning to stay here," Yuri pointed out, confused.

But his words gave Conrart an idea. 'Not stay here, exactly,' he thought. 'A one-way trip on a mission with no return. So was the assassination attempt by Small Cimaron after all? But why? To what end?'

~.~.~

((Nngh, to be honest, I'm not particularly happy with how this entire Part goes. I had some ideas, but I feel like they didn't really carry over properly.

((In any case, here's more on Flynn and Alford in my continuing attempts to explain what happened to all the adventures Yuri didn't get to go on. Just so you know, Yuri failing to pronounce Pochi's "real" name is due to my inability to find any semi-official spelling. And of course, a continuing joke at Japanese people's expense about the L/R issue.))