Duel Terminal
By 7th Librarian
A/N: And we're back! It's been two months! Welcome to the third story in the Heirs of Fate series! If this your first time, welcome! I hope you enjoy! If you're a returning reader, I also hope you enjoy!
Also, this series now has a TVTropes page that could use some love and attention, so feel free to pop round and add some tropes if you've got the time!
Chapter 1: The Breath Before The Plunge
Bellerophon Pegasus hated this hospital room. It was too clean, too clinical and altogether so sparse that calling it 'tidy' was an insult. The light was too bright, the walls too eggshell white, the floor too smooth.
For a man defined by his creativity, spontaneity and eccentricity like Maximillion Pegasus, this place might as well have been his father's tomb.
Lero knew that if his father were awake, he would have agreed. Instead, he was silent except for breathing, the beep of a heart monitor and the only sigh of life on the man himself was the flickering lights on the headset strapped in place. KaibaCorp's Bleeding Edge Duel Disk read the brain's synapses and used their memory to create a holographic deck and now it was being used to map the comatose man's brain and find out where exactly the problem was.
He hadn't asked the doctors how that was going. He wouldn't have understood all of the terminology, anyway and being honest, Lero knew it would only add another snowflake to the pile of things stressing him out right now to learn how little progress had been made. A snowflake that was precipitously close to setting off an avalanche known as a 'panic attack'.
In response to his stress rising, he felt a fluffy weight place itself on his lap and he looked down into the warm doggy eyes of his golden retriever, Artemis. Hand-trained by the famous Lucinda family of doctors, she was his constant companion and his emotional support animal. And she was good at her job. Just the reassuring pressure of her presence and that calm, steady expression eased the aches in his mind that much further away from the explosion point. Stroking behind her ears, Lero breathed in and out a few times.
"Dad, I just don't know what to do. I really don't." A hell of a way to start an explanation, but they were the only words that came to mind right now. "I thought I had it bad when the I2 Board of Directors was scheming to sell the company out from under me and then there was that stupid marriage contract you signed with Seto Kaiba thirty years ago that got me married to his daughter. What the hell possessed you two to put a clause in there stating if we got divorced, we lose our family names and rights?! Were you just that eager to see Kaiba grit his teeth and ask you for a favor about those Blue-Eyes cards?!"
Of course, there was no response. Maximilian Pegasus hadn't responded to anything in nearly three years now. Though Lero could imagine his adopted father holding up his hands in protest and sheepishly admitting that he thought Seto Kaiba having a child was as likely as the sun going supernova and really, seeing old Kaiba-boy ask for help was just too good to pass up.
Lero ran his hands through Artemis' fur. "Anyway, that turned out okay. Sumire is a good wife and a brilliant CEO and tech person. She's even been taking acting lessons and studying Duel Monsters like a religion. I think that's because a part of her is determined to make herself so much of a Pegasus that people forget she's a Kaiba. Not that I blame her. Seto Kaiba was the world's richest asshole for a reason."
He stared at his right forearm for a moment in between dog pets. Under the sleeve of his teal suit was the real reason he had come here today. A stylized red dragon's head, inked into his skin and even his soul by a god calling itself the Crimson Dragon. "I…I've been chosen, Dad, to save the world. Or at least protect it from something bad. I'm sure you'd think it was pretty cool and I kinda do, too. I mean, I got an awesome dragon monster out of it and this Signer Mark is pretty rad looking but…"
Lero sighed and buried his face in his hands in exasperation. "The way it works, as far as I've been told, is that as 'Signer King', I'm supposed to pick six women who have dragon cards like mine, form a true, honest relationship with them and then sleep with them to seal the deal and mark them as a Signer, too. Once that's done, the seven us are apparently capable of channeling the full might of the Crimson Dragon here on Earth and can withstand this upcoming battle against the Crimson Devil."
It was moments like these that he wished his father could talk back. What Lero had just said was utterly absurd and sounded like a bad manga plot, but he knew his father would just stare for a few seconds in contemplative silence. Then Maximillion would get this big, goofy grin on his face, clap his hands and say something like 'I'm going to have so many adorable grandbabies!'.
But only the beeping of the heart monitor punctuated the silence and Lero just dragged his hands down his face. "And you know the crazier thing? The dragons have picked nearly all of my female friends and exes! Kaede, Jackie - even Verthy! The only new is Chloe and she's actually a priestess of the Crimson Dragon and is the one explaining all this. Which means I have to find two more dragon holders and fall in love with them!"
Lero gestured wildly after another moment, huffing deeply. "Not to mention the Luxiel Church has decided we're heathen monsters for having powers from a god not from Earth and all but declared a crusade on us! And then - and then - there's Chrysaor! Yeah! Freaking Chrysaor! The kid you trial-adopted and got so possessive he sent two people to the hospital! He's somehow escaped the inescapable mental hospitable and - get this, you'll love the irony - he's got his own set of Signer powers and magic girl dragon waifus! Which, conveniently, means he's declared me to be a false Signer and is out to get me not only for that, but for stealing you away from him! I couldn't have asked for a better villain if my life was written by Disney!"
He was on his feet now, pacing in front of his father's beside and talking more animatedly. "So yeah - my twenty-first year of life on this planet is going great! Just great! What, with all the wives and the magical dragons and corporate skullduggery and media circuses, I have so much to do I'm going to peak in the next six months and have my mid-life crisis at twenty-five!"
Even as he said it, he could already picture his father's teasing face turning to full on deadpan snarker. "Oh dear, Lero-boy. This really is terrible. You have six women falling for you. They're talented, intelligent and kind. You live in a castle with a dragon jet parked on the roof, and cannot count the number of zeros in your bank account. Your incurable magical curse has been lifted and you've been granted a new body in the process. Truly your life is the definition of 'the worst;."
Then he would get that look that all parents had when their child realized their point - not quite smug, but nearly there. "Your feelings are valid, my son. But well within your ability to handle, especially with the aforementioned talented, intelligent and kind women in your corner. Just take it one small problem, one day at a time, and remember that I always have faith in you."
It was the kind of thing that should have left him glowering and firing back a snappy remark, but all Lero could do was smile wryly and sigh in defeat. As crazy and over-the-top his father could be, no one could ever say Maximillion Pegasus didn't put his nose to the grindstone and get the work done. It was a trait he had done his level best to instill in Lero despite the lack of blood relation and it had actually stuck. Lero took that lesson to heart, if only because part of him hoped by living up to it, he could become just as great as the man who had taken him in.
His watch buzzed against his wrist, a reminder that his time with his father was up. The Lucindas didn't want to risk too many variables in what they were trying to do with fixing Maximillion's coma and so there was only a brief window Lero could be there. "Thanks for listening, Dad. I'll come back soon, I promise."
As always, there wasn't any answer, but Lero swore he saw his father's lips twitch into a knowing smile.
TTTTTT
"You look more like your father everyday, Young Pegasus." A man whose lined face spoke more about his experiences in the life-and-death struggle of medicine than with age, Arceno Lucinda poked Lero gently in the chest with his cane. "He has taught you well in presenting yourself as a proper young gentleman."
"It's mostly the suit, Arceno. And Plato piping my lines in via an earpiece. I really don't have Dad's charm." Lero protested lightly as he seated himself in a chair across from the old doctor. Arceno Lucinda's office was far cry from a hospital room with its warm colors, soft carpeting and plush chairs. Though the stately walls decorated with medical degrees and awards like soldiers in formation and the glossy black desk added a certain serious maturity. "And you don't have to take time out of your schedule just to see me."
"Bah, my schedule is nothing but time these days, my boy." Arceno waved the concern away arily. "I am retired and my children have left public medicine to become researchers and experimenters."
"Really?" Lero didn't hide his surprise. "You founded Lucinda Medical and your kids are all the tops in their fields - Dad always said the last involvement you guys had in the business would be leaving your corpses to science."
Arceno smiled thinly, his bushy mustache twitching in amusement. "Whose to say we won't, Young Pegasus? But no, LuMed is run by another these days and the Board of Directors. We keep ourselves involved enough to feel the pulse of the organization, but our true interests have always lain in more esoteric areas."
Lero nodded in understanding, suddenly grasping why Arceno had insisted upon this impromptu meeting. "Magic."
"Mmm. My family has spent centuries as alchemists and in pursuing the limits of magical science and knowledge, we have garnered a lot of facts and trivia." Arceno nodded at Lero's arm. "Including about the Crimson Dragon and her Signers."
"You have?" Lero couldn't help but be impressed. Between his own vast resources as the head of the Pegasus family and Industrial Illusions' insane reach and nearly unlimited money, he thought he'd scoured the globe clean for anything pertaining to the Crimson Dragon.
"It is nothing much. Some old notes scribbled in parchment and scrolls left by one of my ancestors. Debruik Lucinda. She was doing research on spirits, possession and the like. Her efforts lead her to cross paths with what we now call 'Duel Spirits' and trace them back to South America. Apparently, they lived alongside humanity thousands of years ago, the two worlds mingling."
"Yeah, Atlantis had the same thing, didn't it? Dad turned that up in his own research when looking for things about the Orichalcos and Paradias all those years ago." Lero leaned forwards in interest. "I love a good history lesson as anyone, but I'm guessing something pertinent turned up?"
Arceno's slight grin returned. "Perhaps I merely invited you here because I know a Pegasus is too polite to tell an old man to stop with his ramblings."
Lero cracked a smile. Arceno and his father had been friends for over fifty years and with the Italian man's dry sense of humor, it wasn't hard to see why. "I may not tell you to stop your ramblings, but my wife isn't nearly as polite. And I have a meeting with her in forty minutes."
"Ahhh, yes. Well, I know better to incur the wrath of a married woman - just ask my wife." Arceno chuckled, then continued. "Debruik's notes turned up the Crimson Dragon's existence, but it was not on Earth. Apparently, it was also a deity in the dimension that Duel Spirits call home."
"Well, that explains why I couldn't find anything here on Earth." Lero let out an impressed grunt. "But it's also on that comet approaching the Solar System. And Chloe is the Crimson Dragon's priestess and she mentioned whole clans of descendants. Plus there's that temple Jackie found."
"True that may be, isn't Chloe the last of those descendants? And just because the Crimson Dragon exists in this world does not mean it doesn't in others. If I recall, the Orichalcos and Great Leviathan could stretch their power into the Spirit World, could they not?" Arceno reminded him, his tone becoming serious. "Make no mistake, boy. The enemy that wiped out the Crimson Dragon's descendants did so to cripple you Signers and limit your resources. You are going to have to dig deep and far to find whatever scraps of lore and power you can."
"Good point." Lero said, feeling his own curious mood darken at the words. Seemed like everything he was doing today was reminding him of that looming cloud on the horizon.
"Mind your thoughts, Lero. Brooding on troubles often hatches dangers, as the saying goes." Arecno thumped his cane on the floor for emphasis. "And you are not alone. My family and I will direct our considerable resources - both medical and magical - to assisting you in this upcoming war."
"What? No, Arceno, please - don't get involved anymore than-" Lero was silenced as the cane leveled itself an inch away from his mouth.
"Bellerophon, you are the son of my best friend. I would be remiss if I did not help you when Maximillion could not. And moreover, events in the last few decades have shown that things like the Great Leviathan, Darkness and more threaten to shake the world to its core. As a doctor, I firmly believe that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. If you and your Signers can stop the evils that are coming before they cause devastation and death, then it behooves us to throw all of our support behind you." Arceno informed him bluntly. "And if your father couldn't change my mind on bring your pet to work day, you have no hope here."
Lero sighed good-naturedly and pushed the cane out of his face. "Alright, alright, I get it. We'll rely on you for help." The cane danced in front of his face again. "Okay, we'll ask you for help if -" The cane jabbed him in the chest. "-when we need it."
"Good man. I knew you were a smart one." Arceno said, clearly pleased.
"First question, then. Do you know how to get to the Spirit World? Or where to start looking?"
"My children are scouring my family's notes and records as we speak for those very things, Bellerophon. And we will tell you as soon as we find anything."
TTTTTT
Sumire Ishtar-Pegasus didn't always get people. She could read faces, pick up on the little cues of a shifting finger or twist of a heel they didn't always recognize themselves and given she spoke three languages, she could easily grasp the direct meaning of what they spoke to her.
But it was the subtleties, the subtext or nuances that escaped her. Of course, given she had lived underground for eight years of her life and spent most of her formative years being kidnapped and passed around one Tomb-Keeper family to the next, it was to be expected. It had taken nearly four years of intensive speech therapy, language study and cognitive behavioral therapy - as well as her own not-considerable genius - to become a functional human being.
It was times like this, however, that highlighted to her just how big the gaps in her social education were in places. She didn't grasp why this eavesdropper felt the need to insert himself into the conversation. They did not know each other and for whatever reason he was here, it had nothing to do with her or her companions. In her mind, he was at best ignored and at worst told to leave them alone in a tone that brooked no argument. Engaging him was a waste of time and breath.
Not that Jackie seemed to think so.
"You wanna repeat that, smartmouth?" Jackie growled, brown eyes narrowed behind her mask. She had one leg up on a double-side bench, leaning on it so she was intimidating despite the height difference of the man on the opposite side who was head taller than her even sitting down.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't help but overhear." The man didn't sound sorry at all even as he raised a hand warily. "And it just slipped out of me."
"No, scoffing and rolling your eyes 'slips out'! Saying 'Women who get implants set the movement back by a hundred years' is on purpose!"
"Okay, fine, I said it louder than I meant to," The man admitted with a shrug. "But I'm not wrong. Unless you have a medical reason for getting them, breast implants really aren't anything but pandering to male expectations. They aren't exactly going to crack the glass ceiling, no matter how big they are."
"Screw you and your 'I'm a feminist feel-good rehtoric!" Jackie snapped. "This is my body, and how I choose to present it to the world is my choice! If that involves tats, I get them. If that involves going bald, I shave my head. If that involves bumping my rack up a few sizes, I am allowed to have that. And believe me, I don't need these for any 'male expectations' - they come to me because I blow their fucking minds, and I don't need giant gazongas to do that!"
The man rolled his eyes again. "You know, it's attitudes like that that keep women from making real progress. People like you who do nothing but show off their bodies get plastered on magazine covers and Instagram and OnlyFans or whatever feed the endless machine of media run by old white men who constantly spew out this narcissistic bullshit about impossible body-types being the ideal to shoot for. You self-gratify in the short-term because you won't wake up to reality and screw the real women in the long term by pandering to the blind masses."
"Counterpoint, wiseass - people are fully capable of making informed decisions and most of them are just too lazy to do any research or effort because they're busy with their own lives and problems! Like you should be!" Jackie snarked, jerking a thumb over to the male nurse running the reception desk nearby. "We're in a hospital, be sure to see if they can remove that tumor called your ego!"
"Insults now, really?" The man gave a sniff and turned away. "Whatever, lady. You do your thing. Once you get old and wrinkly and those balloons look even more fake, you'll wish you'd done the smart, right thing instead of the selfish one."
"You son of a-"
"Okay, that's enough for you, Jackie." A hand clamped on Jackie's wrist and hauled her away before she could throw a punch. "It's clear this guy is a 'Kevin' and you aren't going to fit any sense in his head - too much self-righteousness in there."
"Calling people a 'Kevin' is very-"
"Sir."
The man stopped as a third woman stopped in front of him. Unlike the casually dressed redhead who was pulling Jackie away, this woman was dressed elegantly and the ringlets in her pink hair framed a regal aloof expression.
"Your opinion was not asked for. And it is not needed. More importantly, your opinion is also wrong." The woman's thick German accent seemed to add literal weight to her words as the man's jaw opened, then snapped shut as he shrank in his seat. "Any true ally of women would recognize that my friend is making a very bold, permanent change to her appearance in order to boost her self-esteem and be more true to her self-image. And she is doing so of her volition, outside of the influence of any man. Or women, for that matter. She is taking something that many short-sighted people like you see as nothing more than pandering and using to further herself."
"Well, I- that is, you have to understand-"
"I do understand, sir. I understand you are a waste of air, a waste of time and a waste of effort. Kindly take your 'woke' thoughts and re-examine them - I feel you are still dreaming. Have a good day." With that, the German woman swept past him and headed over to join Sumire and the others in their little corner of the waiting room.
"Nice going, Verthy." The redhead said, having finally pinned Jackie down by sitting on her lap.
"Thank you, Kaede. I'm afraid I have a lot of practice dealing with people like him. Far too many people in my circles have more money than sense." Verthy said as she sat down.
"Not balloons, they're Lucinda's all-natural new ones…" Jackie muttered in an angry huff. "I'm going big or going home, dammit!"
"And we all support you," Verthy said, patting her hand softly. "Not that you need our support, because you are a strong independent woman who does not need approval."
Jackie gave her a side-eyed look. "Is that sarcasm? Do you even do sarcasm? You're way too nice, I can't tell…"
"Not at all," Verthy gave her a surprised look. "I am sincere. If my words are being called into question maybe I should borrow the sarcasm sign that you made for Sumire not long ago." She smiled as Jackie opened the image on her phone. "Yes, that one."
Jackie snorted. "You're not nearly as difficult as Sphinx is. She's the most literal person on the planet."
"I am not that literal, I simply prefer my meanings to be as clear and efficient as possible." Sumire corrected her. "And now that we have all gathered, did your appointments go well?"
"Yep. I've been poked, prodded, scanned, imaged, been stabbed with a needle, had stuff taken out with a needle and been given every test that doesn't require a week-long stay." Kaede drawled, stretching her arms above her head with a stifled yawn. "All of it says the same thing - I'm your average non-magical gorgeous twenty-something Japanese woman."
"I understand the necessity of wanting us tested - dealing with all this Signer stuff and everything else certainly necessitates a check-up." Verthy admitted. "But why did you insist we all do it at once, Sumire?"
"One, it would be inconvenient if we did it separately and were attacked at less than full power. Two, given the danger in the last six months of our lives, it is important that the Lucindas have the most complete, accurate records of our baseline health in order to ensure treatment ranging from blood to surgeries. Third and most important, I felt the travel time would give all of you time to bond with each other and Bellerophon." Sumire explained, tucking a strand of dark hair behind her ear. "Unity appears to be the most important thing when it comes to being these Signers."
"Okay…but why are you here then?" Jackie asked. "I mean, the three of us are all but confirmed Signers, but you haven't got a card or fucked Sky Horse yet, unless he's keeping something from me." She twisted her head as the offended Kevin across the room gasped at her vulgarity. "Oh get over yourself - it's just a word!"
It seemed that Jackie had a knack for hitting on the words to make Sumire uncomfortable, for she glanced away for a moment before her cool professional mask was back on. "I was due for a pap smear, and it seemed foolish not to get it over with as soon as possible." All three of her companions shuddered in sympathy.
Clearing her throat, Sumire continued on. "Additionally I am here because at the moment, I am Bellerophon's only wife and given our group's dynamics, it is prudent to have someone on the 'outside' as it were to corral things when your collective eccentricities boil over or cause problems. Beyond that, you are my…friends…and I am concerned about your health both physically and mentally in the face of this looming task."
"It's not a bouquet and a get well card, but I'll take it." Kaede said as she threw her arm over the back of their bench. "Speaking of our group, where's my cousin and Chloe?"
"Chloe, due to her banshee nature, is undergoing further testing." Sumire explained bluntly. The Crimson Dragon priestess had saved Bellerophon's life and given him a new body, but that didn't mean she could trust the woman any further than she had to. Her lapses had caused her husband's near-death, a mistake she was not going to repeat. "As for Jessie, she is off with Raymon visiting some Italian beaches."
"I wanted to ask you all about that," Kaede, uncharacteristically serious, leaned over so that no other nosey Kevin's could hear. "Do you guys think Jessie could be a Signer? I mean, she has a boyfriend, and…honestly? She's my cousin…I think it might be a little weird."
"What - her having a magic dragon tattoo or her schtupping the same guy you do?" Jackie snarked, but winced when Kaede socked her arm. "Right. Serious concern. My bad. I'll shut up."
"I was wondering the same thing myself, honestly. Chloe has already explained that the Crimson Dragon thinks in very old-fashioned and odd lines, what with the group of us having to romantically link ourselves to Lero for this to work. And first-cousin incest wasn't a true concern until modern society." Verthy admitted. "That said, I honestly think Jessie will not become a Signer. For one, she hasn't gotten a dragon yet and for two, she and Lero don't really 'click' that way. They're more like siblings than lovers."
"That is my thinking as well. Jessiebelle has been my friend for nearly a decade. If she desires a man, she will go for him. If not, she does not give them the time of day." Sumire agreed. "Which is for the best. She cannot focus on her career if she is saving the world."
Jackie scoffed. "And the rest of us don't have jobs and lives?"
"Isn't your 'job' of being a dueling hit-woman for biker gangs illegal in nearly every state?" Kaede pointed out.
"...shutting up again."
"Thought so." Kaede grinned. "Anyway, Verthy just helps run SchroederCorp and I work for I2 as an Eliminator, so jobs aren't a big concern. What is one is…" She cocked a look at Sumire. "You going to be a Signer at all?"
Sumire looked uncomfortable once again. "As discussed, that is yet to be determined."
"Verthandi?" Gregory appeared from the nearest examination room, his eyes meeting the group of ladies with a smile. "I'm ready for you."
With a deep breath, Verthy smoothed down her skirts and rose gracefully. "Wish me luck!"
As she swanned away with a swish of fabric, Sumire sighed. If only it were as simple as wishing…
OOO
The door opened and Lero got to watch surprise play across those lovely Irish features. "Hey, how'd your testing go?"
"It..went okay. The doctors here said they've accrued enough data for my baseline and will look into developing some kind of anti-curse." Chloe said after a moment, cocking her head at him. "Why are you here?"
"I wanted to talk to you and I felt like this is the only time in the last few weeks we've had that hasn't had Plato or Sumire dogging your every step." Lero explained with a shrug. "Figured without a chaperone glaring daggers at your back, you'd be more willing to talk to me and open up."
"I see." She closed the door, but made no motion to move otherwise. "Does this mean you trust me?"
"Only if you trust me." Lero replied and chuckled as she gave him a brief scowl. "Guess I'm falling short of your expectations as Signer King?"
"No, it's not that…" Chloe sighed and shook her head. "Very well, Mister Pegasus. Shall we talk here or find a room?"
"We'll walk. There's a hedge maze out back that I know like the back of my hand. Should be fun and safe from eavesdropping." Lero said and gestured down the hallway before heading that way himself. Chloe fell into step behind him and eventually they exited the building to stroll through the decorated grounds and down the hill towards the maze.
"These bushes are fun," Chloe noted, as they passed a topiary that had been carved to look like Funny Bunny. "Very whimsical. Was your father going for an Alice in Wonderland theme?"
"Not that I know of. I think he and the Lucindas just have the same odd taste." Lero said. "So tell me - what does a Duel Priestess do?"
Chloe was silent for a few steps as they approached the maze's entrance. "My duties are to be the guide through the sacred rites for those who worship the Crimson Dragon and offer comfort and solace to those people in times of strife. And to help train those of the blood so that they develop their spiritual skills through combat and trials. Which is where the 'duel' part comes in."
"Makes sense. Did your culture share the same kind of thing that Egypt had, summoning monsters or souls as physical things to do battle for you?" When Chloe nodded, Lero pressed on. "Can you do that?"
"No. My training is incomplete and despite our efforts, the bloodlines have thinned. We no longer have the power to call out- well, ka works best- without outside aid." Chloe said. "My turn to ask a question."
"Alright, shoot." Lero guided her into the maze, weaving her along the border path. The maze itself was huge hedges, but the Lucindas had apparently done some alchemical trick to ensure that these hedges were flowering year-round. Meaning that instead of a solid wall of thick green, there was a resplendent cascading wave of color variety.
"What do you believe are your duties as a Signer King?" she gave him a penetrating look. "I'm aware of what I explained to you in our first meeting, but I wish to hear your interpretation of what I said."
"My duties, as far as I can gather, are to find and initiate the Signer candidates into actual Signers, lead them in the battle against the Crimson Devil and sire children with them to empower the Crimson Dragon through the future of humanity." Lero rattled off. "Beyond, so far, all I've got is that I'm a vehicle to get other people's plots in motion."
"In ages past, Signer Kings were just that. Kings who ruled over lands and peoples and did all rulers are supposed to do. Be just. Create laws. Shield the people. And inspire greatness." Chloe noted. "But all you have told me is all that other people have said."
"It's not like the past - I can't just stick a flag in the ground, wave a sword and declare myself a king." Lero pointed out. "About the only change I can enact is printing Duel Monsters cards."
"And what do you think will happen in this day and age when we clash with not only the Crimson Devil, but the gods of Greece, Egypt, England and more? And what of the Darkborn? And Chrysaor? These conflicts will not be sheltered battles, the world will know of them. Things like the Great Leviathan shook the world to its core. I don't think that people are going to just sit back and accept these things - they will want answers, ways to slot this new, mystical and crazy ideas into their preconceived boxes. And no one will give them answers, people tend to make them up." Chloe said pointedly with a look at him. "They'll want a leader."
"Me? No way, na-huh. I am many things, Chloe, but leader is not one of them. Not on the kind of scale you're talking about." Lero shook his head empathetically.
"Whose to say you'll have a choice in the matter, Mister Pegasus? You are already a world figure thanks to your father and your company and even the Bride Tournament. People know who you are and once they learn what you are, they will do things they'll think are in your best interest. Because they will both fear and revere you at the same time."
Lero pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay, this conversation was about us opening up to each other, not a deep, heady philosophical discussion of the future. I have one Signer to my name, so let's save the acts of god and divine miracles for when they're possible."
"Sure. I wasn't expecting you to have an answer or a grand plan. I just wanted to make you aware of those things." Chloe didn't seem upset by the conversation change as they walked through an intersection and veered off into one of the forks.
"Next question - why are you only showing up now, Chloe? You said your clan died ten years ago and it was almost ten years ago that I got my Galaxy-Eyes Cyber Dragon. If me being Signer King was so important, why wait so long to help me with it?"
"Part of that was because I was young myself and I did not have my Signer Dragon at the time. I made a deal with an entity calling herself Wise Mother Never to stay alive and get revenge for my family. I spent many years pursuing it. It was not until I had a chance encounter with some Darkborn that the Crimson Dragon gave me Signer Dragon and bestowed upon me the mission to build you a new body and then find you."
"And did you get your revenge?"
"No." Chloe said bluntly. "I never learned who ordered the attack on my clan or any of the others. I assume it was followers of the Crimson Devil but there isn't anything concrete about that."
"And all the things you did to get your revenge-" Lero stopped and turned around to look her squarely in the eyes. His gaze hard, hard enough that he saw her own expression flicker in startlement for a second. "-is it going to bring someone else's wrath on our heads in the future?"
"...no." Chloe said slowly after a moment.
"Can you swear to that?"
"Yes."
"Good. If you're wrong, I expect you to clean up your mess and protect the family. We won't be getting revenge for you." Lero said as he turned to go back along the path.
"You sound a lot like your wife at the moment." Chloe said coyly after a few dozen more steps in silence.
"She and I share that in common - we're fiercely protectively of things we care about."
"As I found out when she tried to stab me. Repeatedly. With knives. That she also threw at me."
"She said she was sorry about that. She saw you standing over what appeared to be my naked unconscious body - it was understandable that she would be protective."
"She hasn't actually stopped. I haven't left my room until this trip. And she's always questioning me and investigating everything I tell her." Chloe said, admiring some white and red patterned flowers along the maze wall as they went through a small roundabout centered with a fountain. "Then just the other day, she gave me I.D. papers, a passport and everything else that listed me as a resident of the Duelist Kingdom. Even a bank card."
"You've only got three thousand dollars on it." Lero informed her. "More casual spending money than a ticket to the good life. And Sumire going that far means while she doesn't quite trust you, she thinks it's better for you to be under our care and tied to us than wandering about on your own."
"Really?" Chloe sounded curious now. "How do you know that? Did she tell you? I got the feeling you two weren't particularly close."
"Not in the way you're thinking." Lero said over his shoulder. "But when you work with someone side-by-side for six months, you get an idea for their personality and habits. And she's never been anything but straightforward and focused on her goals." He paused, giving her a serious look. "She's my wife, and more importantly, she's my friend. And no matter how many Signers I end up with, she will always be in my life."
"No one ever said you had to only Signers as wives, Mister Pegasus, only that all the Signers had to be wives." Chloe informed him with a bit of a rougish grin. "You can have a harem as big as your pocketbook will allow."
"No thanks. I'll have my hands full with the seven of you." Lero gave her another look. "There are only six other Signers, right? I'm not going to get like ninety percent of the way through this whole thing, only to find out there's a hidden special Signer at the end that we need to complete the set?"
She gave him a frown. "This isn't a video game or an anime. Yes, there are seven Signers. You and six others. All with a mark of the Crimson Dragon."
"Just checking. Between you and Sumire, I've hit my allotment on 'surprise waifus' for my lifetime." Lero assured her cheekily. "So…what now?"
"I need your help on finding and reclaiming some artifacts from the clans. By the time I got to most of them, not only had they been wiped out, but priceless artifacts had also been destroyed. And what wasn't, was stolen. In the wrong hands, they are going to cause a lot of people trouble." Chloe said, lips lifting enough that Lero could see fangs where teeth should have been. "Along with the desecrations the mere act of stealing it is."
"Can do. The more tools we have, the better." Lero agreed. A thought occurred to him, and he pulled out his deck, thumbing through it until he found the card he wanted. Galaxy-Eyes Cyber Dragon. He held it up to her. "Speaking of tools, you said it's possible to upgrade our dragons?"
"In a sense. Signer Dragons coexists with their Signers, developing as they do. While the dragons used in the battle are the same ones used in prior centuries, their new owners can often lead them into surprising new forms and abilities. Skeleton Knight guards the knowledge of prior users to ensure that the dragons are not treated as weapons, as challenging him to gain one of their older abilities is a last resort."
"Definitely." Lero shuffled his deck, the dragon on top staring up at him. He hadn't really dueled in nearly ten years and when he had, he had been more concerned about his curse and the lives at stake. Jackie had met and dueled Skeleton Knight a month previously and had told him that the duel had been one of the hardest of her life as the guardian spirit attacked physically, mentally and emotionally.
He was nowhere near up to that level, Lero knew. In fact, he wasn't sure what level he was on anymore except it wasn't nearly enough to combat the oncoming threats. But everyone who could help had their own problems to deal with and emotional vomiting them via card game really wasn't going to do anything but add to stress.
He wished that his Dad was awake. If only for a bad joke to lighten the mood or a wry comment about how he had taught Lero everything he'd known. I know you think I'm capable of standing up to all this, Dad, but how can this Signer thing hold itself together if the center is so fragile?
It was almost like groping in the dark, same as it had been when his Dad had fallen into a coma and Lero'd been suddenly thrust into the role of CEO of the most powerful company in the world. People only drip-feeding him just enough to keep things gon while also expecting him to already know all this. And anything he did learn was just slippery and half-hearted, full of little gaps that would become yawning chasms of mistakes to trip him up. Mistakes that could ripple outwards and harm or hurt so many others dependant on him. All these things were heaped up on him and made it hard for him to recognize just where or who he was in all of it.
His father's voice, warm with teasing wisdom, drifted through his mind. "Lero, my boy, if you can't recognize the man in the mirror, maybe it's time to go back to when you last did. Now come here and let me get that scrunchie out of your nose while I explain to you the dos and don'ts of hair care."
At that time, Lero had been a teenager in the full throws of awkward changes to the body and personality and had been desperately trying to change into something that would impress a girl he had a crush on. But that didn't mean the advice was any less meaningful to the teenager who had spent the last two years dressing up as an adult because he had to impress the world.
The time when I last recognized myself…Lero's gaze drifted down to the deck in his hands, and he remembered. Of brawling with other students, of training until he was soaked in sweat and memorizing combinations and cards until he could do them in his sleep.
It brought a smile to his lips.
Pulling out his cell phone, he pocketed his deck and then opened the device before dialing a number he hadn't used in nearly a decade. Despite this, it was answered on the third ring as it always had been. "Hello? This is Bellerophon Pegasus. I'm looking for Zane Truesdale…"
TTTTTTT
In a world that was not Earth, they had gathered. A man of burly stature and serious disposition, a woman of quiet disposition and sad stature and a dragon of large, bladed stature and a disposition that was simply too dragon for the two humanoids to quite grasp.
Not that they needed to, for what he lacked in understandable expression was conveyed in the heavy, wrathful tones of his voice. "We should have done this sooner. When we had a better chance of convincing others that this path is the right one. Now we are going to have to become kinslayers."
"They would not have let us." The woman reminded him. Clad in resplendent blue robes with a fanciful red turban and long blonde hair that flowed like molten gold in the despondent winds, she would have been a beauty by any standards. Now it only served to accentuate the exhausted sorrow on her face, the weariness in her voice. "The three knights and Allumara have made it clear they will not cross this line. Not that I blame them. We are throwing the dice against very dangerous odds, Ostrze."
"You speak as if we have anything left to lose and nothing to gain." The dragon snorted, his metallic breath making his companion step back. His orange body clanged as he flexed it, the armored scales grinding against one another while the blades on his tail tip hissed as the limb swished behind him. "Our world is dying and all they seek to do is to talk and plan and bargain and plead for assistance, Rubella. If we are destined to die along with the world, then I say we at least die in the manner that most pleases us."
"And if this plan fails? What if we cannot control this power and we become mindless monsters, killing and slaughtering our brethren?" Rubella asked quietly. "Like my students?" She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to keep out the pain, to squeeze back the tears. All that did was draw out the memory - her students, destined to be the world's champions, carving up the beings they'd once called friends and family as crystals sprouted from their bodies. Wearing their faces like a costume…
"Then the world dies sooner rather than in the lingering agony of the virus and our brethren are at least given the option of how they will perish rather than persisting in the dread of waiting to be consumed." Ostrze answered. His words still held that wrathful dragonic edge, but he carefully put a foreclaw over the woman's shoulder. "But we will not fail. We will succeed."
Rubella was silent for a moment, then put her free hand on Ostre's foreclaw and squeezed it. "Yes. We will."
The third member of their party was clad in only leather armor that left his arms bare and in doing so showed the scars and wounds years of war had wrought up on them. But they were still strong, still mighty enough to lift and swing the cracked and chipped greatsword like it was nothing. His face, too, was impassive and calm. Carved from a mountain of unshakeable will like the rest of him.
Though that meant she could not read his thoughts any more than she could read a stone's expression. He had been standing in the center of the geoglyph, still as a statue as he waited. Did he share the regrets she had now, the worries or the concerns? Or was he like Ostrze, resigned to the choices they had to make and determined to retain at least some agency in the face of the apocalypse?
Part of Rubella wanted to ask, to question one more time about the certainty of all this. But it would be useless. He spoke little and when he did it, it was with the same matter-of-factness one was informed that the sun will rise. Whether regrets or concerns, he had clearly moved past them. He had agreed to meet them here and to become the first one to bear the risk and that was that.
Gray eyes met hers and where she hesitated, worried and swayed back and forth over this line they were about to cross, he merely nodded.
That courage, in the face of old horrors of war he lived through and all the horrors he would endure, was enough for her to start.
It was simple, so simple, nothing more than pouring a vial of his blood and the melted teal stone that had once threatened to devour their world. And she spoke the words that were not of her world, not Termian and with each one, the vial seemed to have more and more mixture within it to fill the carving on the ground.
The geoglyph was over a thousand yards wide, but Rubella had not appreciated how big this actually was until the shining mixture flooded it like a river bursting through a broken dam. The stale air lit up with a soft teal color that quickly erupted into black and purple flames. Flames that bore down on her male companion like snakes, snaring hm, piercing flesh and bone and body as they tried to devour him.
He did not cry out or thrash or even grunt in pain. He simply endured, rooted to the space like a towering tree. Even as the flames spread, eating at him and charing his skin, he held on. Were the ancient magics of this place capable of being bested by sheer willpower, he would have crushed them in an instant.
But they were not capable of losing to him and willpower alone did not make a body immortal. Rubella kept changing, calling upon the elements that she had mastered since time immemorial. Red fire from the sun that blazed and slashed into the cold purple blaze of the dead ground. Earth and ash that held the spiritual remnants of all those who had given so much for their cause and would give even further wove into the very soil of the geoglyph. Wind that carried healing and strength, rolling over the flames on his body and smothering them as fast they could form. Water that was the world's lifeblood, poured into the geoglyph not to douse them (for such a thing was beyond mere water) but to stir to life the mixture that the flames were hardening.
At last, he buckled, knees folding as the sheer weight of what he had to endure brought low a warrior who had never knelt to any king or enemy. His teeth were gritted, lips bared in a silent snarl at this foe even as sweat poured off his face and wide eyes glared daggers at the soil.
Rubella saw this, wanted to call it off, to stop and knew if she did, he would die. A needless death. Something she had sworn to herself to never let happen again in this world. So she dug into herself and endured as he did.
"It is working." Ostrze rumbled beside her, his green eyes fixed on the sight in front of him. "You have done it."
It was working. She could see it now. The flames that were digging into his body were no longer destroying it but were being pulled into it. Pale skin darkened to the color of midnight ash, the gray tint of death itself coated his hair and his eyes, which had been crying blood, now were merely the color of it.
The earth shook, rumbling in protest and anger at what her magic was doing to it. The wind howled in anger, the sky flashed with thunderous threats and the purple flames grew and grew as their source fought against the mere mortal trying to contain it.
Ancient and terrible as it was, it was a being not possessing the thoughts of mortals. So, it could not grasp that the harder it struggled, the more it yanked and twisted and bucked and pulled at the restraints they were wrapping around it, the tighter its new cage became. Purple flames were suddenly consumed from below as teal light froze them, morphing them into glittering crystal fingers grasping for a freedom they could never attain.
He stood, shattering the frozen fire with a flex and twist of his torso. For a moment, a copy of the geoglyph seemed to be carved into his blackened body in teal light and then it faded, leaving only the darkness that had consumed him.
Then he lifted a hand into the air. The cold air of this desolate plain stirred, the geoglyph groaned and then in the darkness, she could see it behind him. A hand of pure blackness, wreathed in teal light, mimicking the gesture.
A giant's hand.
TTTTTTT
Welcome to a little part of my new story in which I briefly discuss some lore and worldbuilding that could not be worked into the story itself without being hamfisted, yet is still relevant enough to be explained. I have a list of ideas for this, but I'm open to answering questions from reviews and the like - always good to have readers invested in the story!
Without further ado
Idea Notes: The CRIMSON DEITIES AND THEIR CHOSEN
When rewriting this part of the Yu-gi-oh! Timeline, I had two goals in mind. One was to tie Yu-gi-oh Duel Monsters, GX and 5Ds more closely together as it felt it really underrated how they canonically handled it. And the second was to make better use of the lore overall.
Which is why the Crimson Dragon and Crimson Devil are opposed deities that are foreign to Earth rather than one being a Plot Maguffin's Comet and a random extra boss that existed to power up Jack Atlas. This is also why the two deities are at war with one another - neither of them is whole nor only by consuming the other will regain their full might. Both sides have won and lost many of their wars.
This, in my mind, raises and sharpens the stakes of the series rather than 'ancient battle with ultimate evil that will consume the world if we win' - in that instance, the stakes are so high the heroes HAVE to win and it removes a fair bit of the tension.
As for the Signers and Speakers, I upped their numbers to 7 because it's magically powerful and just a useful number in fiction. (And because when designing Legacy Cast' kids, I wound up with a lot.) Moreover, by having the Speaker start the war a hundred years early and rip away all the Crimson Dragon's support across the planet to cripple the Signers, the heroes are not only left in the dark, but they also don't even know the enemy's face. Which, again, contrasts the canon 5Ds idea of having the Dark Signers just show up and be evil at their designated duel partner. Which is flat character design - nearly all the Dark Signers had sympathetic motives, reducing their power as villains and there was Devack who…who…existed…and that was it.
I mean, there's a reason it was 5D's meme for a while that the series ended after the Fortune Cup.
The last point is the Signers have been reorganized into an adult Signer King and his adult Six Signer wives. This was done for a few reasons, such as forcing a cast of 'Chosen Ones' to have functional, healthy relationships with one another as opposed to the 'will-they,'won't-they' romance dance teenage protagonists do, it creates an interesting dynamic for the cast to deal with, it makes sense given how old both Crimson Deities are and I really, really want to have a harem story where the main male lead doesn't become an all-consuming sun that burns away the personalities of the orbiting girls until they're nothing but barren scorched rocks of people bathed only in his light like moons. (This is really prevalent in fanfic harems, particularly Harry Potter and Naruto ones. Those make me feel ashamed for liking this niche genre.)
As for the Speakers, well - wait and see. :P