(Curtain rises to reveal cat-eared author in a purple kimono holding a fan) Greetings, fellow fanfic readers and writers!
(Bows respectfully)I apologize that this chapter is so late, but my computer broke somehow and I had to rewrite everything on my mom's in order to post it. It really sucks, because I had actually finished the third chapter. The THIRD! I was in agony.
(Opens fan to reveal the kanji for Gratitude)
Anywho, a shout out to my first two reviewers!
To Flowerperson: Thank you! I'm planning to pair Shizuka up with Seto, the most loved and hated pairing in all of YGO fandom. Hmm...Bakura Ryou is, but if you mean the Tomb Robber Bakura (his real name was Arken), I haven't decided yet. Yes, Malik is in this story, Chapter Four. Varon's first appearance is also in Chapter Four. Look forward to it!
To Myotismon13: I'm glad you enjoy my story thus far. Sorry it took so long to update, but here ya go!
Disclaimer: I own Yu-Gi-OH! Kazuki Takahashi is a figment of my imagination, a pseudo being which I created to bring my work into the world. (A Viking ship falls onto your cat-eared author) I take it back...just move on...
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Chapter Two: Kingdom of the White Dragon...
Midday sunlight shone through the branches of the trees, warming patches of grass of the forest floor. Two riders on horseback passed through the beams of light, allowing it to shimmer off their armor and assorted weapons.
The first sat upright and proudly on the saddle of his black war horse. His age was around nineteen years; his hair was chestnut brown and shoulder length, but brushed back in a way to make it look shorter than it was, and his eyes were an intense blue, putting any sapphire gem to shame.
The second rider was much younger than the first, at most fourteen, and sat more relaxed upon his regular brown stallion. His hair was waist-length, black and in much more disarray than his older companion's, but it framed his youthful face in a way that it made him exceptionally adorable. And his large blue eyes matched those of the first rider in color, though they held much more light and exuberance than his companion.
These riders were the princes, Seto and Mokuba, of the White Dragon Kingdom.
Seto reined his horse to a halt and looked back as his younger brother caught up with him. "How are you holding up, Mokuba?" He asked in a voice like velvet.
The black-haired boy grinned, displaying all of his perfect white teeth. "It's warm out today, but I'm okay," he replied and pat his horse. "But Valent seems a little jittery."
The older prince nodded, as his own horse, Alumiss, had also been somewhat alert to something. Something had been playing at his own senses for some time now, both his sense of smell and hearing; but he had yet to see what it was. Seto slowly raised his crossbow and cocked an arrow, his index finger ready at the trigger.
Mokuba noticed his brother's actions and started to ready his own crossbow when Seto motioned for him to stop and move closer to him. As he complied, a figure in black jumped down from the branches of a nearby tree and landed on the older prince, pulling him off the horse.
Seto and the attacker wrestled on the ground for control the crossbow, but it ended when the prince accidentally pulled the trigger and the arrow hit a tree. The crossbow was torn from Seto's grasp and thrown out of reach, but he took the opportunity to land a punch to his attacker's face and jumped back up.
"Mokuba!" He turned back to his brother. "Go!"
"Nii-sama--!"
Seto looked back in time to dodge being cut by the attacker's knife. He promptly punched the black-clad man in the face, sending him sliding back a few feet. This way, the prince could see the man fully; he was dressed in a black outfit with no loose fabric anywhere, his head and face were also covered by a black cloth, leaving only his brown eyes visible.
Straightening, Seto placed his hand on the short sword on his belt and partially drew it from its scabbered. "Who are you?"
The man scoffed, poising is wrist like the head of a snake ready to strike. "Do you want to curse the name of your killer?"
"Actually, I wanted to know what to put on your grave," the older prince replied icily with an equally cold smirk. "There are so many nameless ones already."
The attacker charged, but Seto countered with his short sword, effectively snapped the man's wrist with his free hand and knocked the knife away. The man cried out and fell to one knee cradling his injured wrist, but promptly kicked Seto's legs out from under him and dove for the prince's short sword.
Dirt and dead leaves were scattered in the tussle, and despite Seto's firm grip on his blade, the assassin was gaining the upper hand by turning it on him. Sunlight gleamed off the metal, making the prince squint, but he was also reaching his other hand out and drawing an array in the dirt.
Once completed, Seto slammed his hand down on the array; in a flash of blue light, clumps of dirt shot out of the ground, knocking the assassin off the prince. Seto jumped back to his feet as the killer wobbled back to his own and leaned against a tree for support.
"I'll ask again..." Seto drew the broadsword strapped to his back, "...who are you? Who sent you?"
The killer bowed his head breathlessly, sweat making his mask cling to his face. Then, without any warning, the killer charged, his knife reclaimed in his good hand. Suddenly, mid-run, the man stumbled
With ease, Seto knocked the knife away with his broadsword and stabbed his short sword into the man's abdomen. The assassin choked his last few breaths and coughed some blood out onto Seto's shoulder as he fell forward.
The prince pushed the dead weight off, and only when the man fell on his side did he see the arrow embedded in the attacker's back. Seto's blue eyes shot to black-haired brother who stood by his horse, his fired crossbow in his trembling hands.
In a liquid motion, Seto tore the arrow from the man's back, rolled him over and stabbed the assassin's own knife into his chest.
Cleaning off his short sword and returning his weapons to their respective places, the prince walked over to retrieve his crossbow from the ground and looked back at Mokuba, who's own gaze was on the ground. "I told you to run," he said simply.
The younger prince nodded guiltily.
"Why didn't you?"
"That one came too close, Nii-sama!" Mokuba blurted. "You almost--" He started shaking and cast his eyes back to the ground. "They always go after you..." he whispered. "But you're always worried more about me..."
Seto sighed and walked over to his younger brother, falling to one knee and brushed Mokuba's dark bangs out of his deep blue eyes. "Don't look down," he said. "Keep looking up and ahead, never down."
Mokuba nodded and hugged his brother tightly. Too many times had they almost lost each other; that was why they had to be heavily armed, even when going out for a simple ride.
Since birth Prince Seto had been the target for many assassinations, and by the age of nine he had been forced to take up the sword in order to defend himself and his brother. He had become frighteningly good at it.
Retrieving his arrow from its place in a tree branch, Seto mounted his horse and he and Mokuba raced back the way they had come, leaving their attacker as he was; nameless and alone.
They soon broke through the trees and came out on a vast hill, overlooking the White Dragon Kingdom. Unlike its Western counterpart, the Black Dragon Kingdom, the Kingdom of the White Dragon had stone streets and was always bustling with people that dwelled there and those who simply passed through as travellers or officials.
On the outskirts were farms and houses, but the buildings in the city were much closer together, building up rather than out most of the time. Every few places in the city was a well or fountain, supplying each area with the necessary water, though most buildings had internal waterways.
In the very center of the city was the castle. Made of pure white stone, it bore four large towers which faced each compass direction, as well as multiple smaller towers near the base which bridged them all together; all had the same magnificant blue roofs with silver lining.
However, despite how beautiful the kingdom was, it was rarely peaceful. One of the White Dragon Kingdom's most well-known and wealthy attributes was its military power. The King, Gozaburo, often lent his forces to distant countries in the middle of wars and in need of a victory, and through such alliances, expenses and recognitions were gained.
Descending the hill, Seto and Mokuba made their way to the castle courtyard through a forgotten, underground road and left their horses with the stableboys before heading for the castle.
"Mokuba! Seto!"
Directing their eyes to the voice, the two princes looked up to an open hall and saw a young man the same age as Seto that looked almost exactly like him, save for his aquamarine hair. He wore a white outfit with lavender lining the hems of his sleeves and the collar of his jacket, trailing down where it unbuttoned and a lavender cape. This boy was their half-brother, Prince Noa, Heir to the White Dragon throne.
Mokuba waved to his older, half-brother with a smile, while Seto went on walking to the main entrance, leaving his younger, full-blooded brother to chase after him.
It was common knowledge that the two eldest princes were not on the best of terms, due more to Seto's reclusive nature than Noa's. In truth, if you caught them during a good study session, you would see that the two actually got along fairly well; the knot in their relationship was due to the fact they had different mothers as well as the knowledge that the king had chosen Noa to succeed him.
The princes met as Seto and Mokuba climbed the main stairs leading to their bed chambers.
"You're back earlier than usual today," Noa said as he and Mokuba followed Seto. "Did something happen?"
"Just the usual reasons why we say you shouldn't come riding with us," Seto replied.
The Heir's deep blue eyes widened and then softened with a sigh. "Again?" Though he himself had rarely been targeted for such hostilities, Noa was aware of his half-siblings' reoccuring visits from assassins and worried about it. "Should we dispatch the guards to look for your attacker?"
"They'll find him in the woods, with his knife in his chest," Seto replied.
Noa stiffened. "His own knife?" He looked at Mokuba. "How did it happen!"
The youngest prince opened his mouth to speak, but no sound escaped and he cast his blue eyes down to red carpet of the stairs.
"The guy was sloppy," Seto lied as they finally made it to the top of the stairs and walked down the hall to their quarters. "He fell onto his own knife after I cut him up a few times."
Entering Seto's bed chamber, Mokuba went to his own, and Noa was left to wait in the hall. Coming back out, Seto had changed out of his riding clothes and now wore a black turtleneck and pants covered by a flowing purple coat. Mokuba followed soon after wearing a white turtleneck and pants covered by a simple red tunic.
"Noa, how early are we for our lessons?" Seto asked his half, twin-like brother.
"Uh, by about...four hours, I believe," Noa replied thoughtfully.
Seto smirked devilishly, which caused his two siblings to smile. "Well, we can always get a couple more volumes ahead of those egghead scholors during that time."
It was true, the three princes were well past where their teachers had meant for them to be in their studies. And in more ways than one were they a difficult force to reckon with.
The second most well-known fact which brought the White Dragon Kingdom fame was its study in Alchemy, a highly developed, scientific technique of understanding the structure of matter, decomposing it and then reconstructing it--if performed skillfully, it was even possible to create gold out of lead. However, as it was a science, there were some natural principles in place. Only one thing could be created from something else of a certain mass; this was the principle of Alchemic Equilibrium.
Making it to the library, the princes went into the older area of the castle's vast library and each chose a book from random shelves and laid them on the ground. Seto went on to draw an array around them with a piece of chalk. Each prince place one hand on the circle and in a flash of gold light the tattered books were renewed.
"Do you really think that there's anything to bring us ahead in these?" Noa asked, picking up one of the books. "These are pretty outdated."
"Exactly why those fountain-heads wouldn't look at them," Mokuba grinned as he paged though his own chosen book. "Besides, even if we do know it, they probably wouldn't know that. Ne, Nii-sama?"
Seto picked up his own book and paged though it until he found something of interest and marked it before closing it again. "Let's go."
- - -
The three princes stood in the gardens as Mokuba finished his array in the dirt. Once content and sure of its accountability, the young boy clapped his hands down on the design. The array lit up with blue electricity and a large clump of earth seperated from the ground and reshaped itself into a pot as big as the young prince.
Mokuba released a sigh and sat back as he examine his work.
"That's the biggest one I've seen you make, Mokuba!" Noa smiled. "Incredible!"
But the youngest prince shook his head. "Plenty of other people can do that..." he said breathlessly. "I wanna...do better...Bigger...!" Mokuba tried to get up, but found he had used too much energy and couldn't stand.
Seto put his hand on his brother's black head, making the boy look up. "That's enough for now," he said. "Rest. It's my turn."
A reluctant, exhausted nod was Mokuba's only reply.
Seto moved further out and drew out his array. He knelt down as he checked his book once more and then placed his hand on the circle. Blue light illuminated the garden and a stone pedestal grew out of the ground, reaching out towards the blue sky.
"Incredible!" Noa gaped.
"Amazing, Nii-sama!" Mokuba cheered.
The Second prince looked back at his full blood brother with a smile and stood up, but promptly faltered and leaned against his most recent creation for support. Mokuba hobbled to his feet and Noa rushed over, but before the Heir could touch his half-brother's shoulder, Seto smacked it away.
Mokuba finally made it to his brother's side and leaned against him as his feet started to give out. "Nii-sama, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Mokuba," Seto replied as he held his head. "I just...I guess I used more energy than I meant to."
"No surprise," Noa said, admiring the monument. "It is quite a piece."
Seto held out the book. "Want to try it?"
The Heir chuckled and shook his head. "If it took that much of a toll on you, it would likely kill me."
The two half-brothers shared a short chuckle, when a guard came up. "I apologize for intruding," he bowed. "Prince Seto, the King requests your presence in the throne room."
Seto's face darkened and he stood himself up. But as he proceeded to follow the guard, Mokuba latched onto his waist. "Mokuba, what--"
"He's gonna hit you again!" The boy said, holding his brother tighter.
Carefully detatching the boy's arms from his waist, Seto fell to one knee with his hands on Mokuba's shoulders. "Go hide somewhere," he said and then directed his eyes up to Noa. "Watch over him."
The Heir nodded, both of them knowing what awaited Seto.
- - -
The throne room of the castle was vast with a floor made of strange blue marble that reflected those who stood on it perfectly and looked like the night sky; windows lined the wall and with deep blue curtains tied by silver rope, light was allowed to shine into the room. However, the sunlight did nothing to warm the room and thaw the biting cold that filled it.
Carved out of the white stone of the walls was the dais and the throne at the far end of the room. And upon that throne sat a man; his hair was short and gray while his mustach was a darker gray, and, if you could get past the cold blackness of them, you could see his eyes were the same color of Seto's.
King Gozaburo looked down at Seto coldly, but the prince stared back defiantly and proud. He had not once bowed before his father, nor would he now.
"I saw your session with your brother's just now," Gozaburo said finally.
Seto was sure he usually did, since he only called Seto when he was sure he had exhausted himself. "And?"
"A very impressive piece of work," the King replied, bridging his fingers together and leaning his chin on them. "What else have you learned?"
"Anything necessary," Seto said.
"Anything...necessary," Gozaburo repeated slowly. He seemed to consider something a moment before motioning for the guards to leave. And leave they did, for they knew what these visits between the King and Prince usually entailed.
Seto watched the guards exit the room out of the corner of his eye, but otherwise watched as Gozaburo decended the steps of the dais, his red, white fur-line cap trailing along the ground after him.
"Anything necessary?" The King asked. Seto kept his silence, and was promptly punched in the stomach, bringing him to one knee. But Gozaburo went on to kick the young man until he had curled up to protect his insides from another assault.
Seto winced as the King grabbed him by his hair and lifted him up. "And yet, you haven't learned to obey your master?"
The prince did not reply, as he had learned a long time ago that he would be hit whether he answered or not, and was content to refrain from biting his tongue when Gozaburo went on with his beating. Finally, after a long painful hour, Seto lay on the ground covered in cuts and bruises and Gozaburo left him on the floor in the bloody heap he had put him in.
Seto rolled onto his back so he could breathe and stared up at the ceiling; there was a round window in the very center and he saw two birds fly overhead. Numbed by pain, his thoughts drifted.
He remembered he and his mother would sit in the garden to watch birds when he was a boy. What had happened?
"Seto..." A voice hissed. "Seto!"
"Nii-sama...!"
Seto couldn't turn his head, he was so exhausted, but Mokuba and Noa soon came into his line of view and he felt himself lifted up off the ground and vaguely remembered them taking him to the infirmary.
- - -
Seto sat on the bed of clean linen, jerking slightly as the lady doctor disinfected his injuries and bandaged them. She was very beautiful, in her late twenties or early thirties; her hair was a golden brown color and most of it was tied back into a bun, but the strands left flowed past her shoulders, and her eyes were dark but gentle brown.
"You'll probably want to stay in bed for a few days," the woman said. Or, at the very least, not take part in any activities where you physically exert yourself."
The prince did not respond, nor did he give any words of gratitude as he pulled his shirt back on. But after so many years of treating Seto's injuries, the doctor had come to not expect any and remained content with his staying alive.
"Thank you so much!" Mokuba bowed to the lady doctor.
The woman smiled and nodded. "Of course, sir."
Noa looked back at Seto coolly. "What was it about this time?"
"Why don't you ask him yourself?" Seto snapped. "You are the Heir, after all. You should be able to learn some information from that man."
The proclaimed Heir cast his gaze off to the side painfully. "I tried that once..." he replied and put his right hand on his left arm slowly. Though the injury had healed, the memory of Gozaburo's punishment for speaking out of turn remained fresh; that was the first time he had hurt Noa by breaking his arm.
"That's right, you're still not over that first incident," the brown-haired prince scoffed. "Pathetic."
Noa's blue eyes flashed angrilly as his gaze locked with Seto's. At which time Mokuba, feeling the heat begin to gather between his two brothers, jumped between them. "Nii-sama, I think it would be a good idea for you to get some sleep," he said. "That way you can stay out of sight for a little while."
Seto broke the glare going on between him and Noa to look at his full-blood brother. Mokuba stared back with an anxious, pleading look that made the older boy sigh wtih resignation. "Okay. I do feel a little tired..."
The doctor that had treated Seto offered him a bed, but he chose to walk back to his own quarters. Pulling his purple jacket over his shoulders, he stood up on uneasy legs and slowly limped out of the room.
"Noa..." At his name, the Heir looked back at Mokuba. "Nii-sama understands why you wouldn't want to speak out again, but you have to understand that he has gone through the same punishment hundreds of times."
Noa's gaze wandered to the window wth a sigh. "I do understand," he replied. "What I don't is why he doesn't simply do as Father commands of him to make it stop."
"Because that isn't who he is," the doctor said, surprising both princes with her interjection. "For the past ten years I have treated Prince Seto's wounds and afflictions, however, not once has he lost that light of dignity. No matter what the King has put him through, the Prince will not bow to his command."
Noa winced, as though the doctor had disinfected a cut. "And you're saying that I have?"
"I did not say that," the lady doctor replied. "You too have your dignity and your pride, my lord. You, however, conceal it when in the presence of your father."
There was a moment of thick silence before Noa chuckled dryly. "I could have you imprisoned or executed for saying such things, you are aware of this."
The doctor nodded. "I am, and will accept my punishment."
But Noa smiled and shook his head solemnly. "Not even Seto or Mokuba has said the truth to my face..." he said, bowing his head.
Mokuba stared up at his half-brother sadly. Though he was not as close with him as he was with Seto, they were still brothers and Mokuba did love Noa. Slowly, the youngest prince hugged the Heir.
Noa put his hand on the boy's black head and they stood there for a good time, with the doctor watching over them gently.
- - -
Seto finally made it back to his room after a long, painful walk down the hall and up the stairs, and for a moment he regretted not simply sleeping in the infirmary.
His room was very elegant, with a large fireplace at the far end of the room and lovely blue couches with silver painted wood positioned around it for winter purposes; his bed was on the opposite end of the room, straight across from the fireplace and draped by the same blue fabric that made the furniture and thick blankets.
Seto draped his jacket over the back of the chair of his writing desk before climbing onto his bed. It was not long before he was fast asleep.
The nine year-old boy stood pressed back against the wall as the shadows of people past over him. Blue eyes wide with fear he stared at a crowd of panicking people only a few feet away, voices shouting and mixing together.
However, one voice stood out among the rest. It was a woman, screaming hysterically about things the boy couldn't make out. But the words he could made him even more frightened than he already was and he covered his ears to drown out the noise.
It was then that a wine glass rolled out of the crowd and stopped at the feet of the boy. The red liquid inside had spilled out across the red carpet, making it look like a trail of blood.
"Highness..." The boy looked up towards the unfamiliar voice and met a pair of deep blue eyes framed by a dark face. "You are in danger..."
Seto's eyes snapped open, and he looked around. He was in his room, lying on his bed.
With a sigh, he laid his head back down. 'A dream...of a distant past.' Seto turned his head toward the window on his left and found dusk had fallen, turning the sky a fiery orange.
The light shining through the window cast a beam on his chest, but everywhere on his body outside the light was painfully cold. In the pit of his stomach, Seto felt a cold pain clench tightly and he winced as his breathing became shallow. Something was wrong.
Sitting up, gripping his stomach, he gazed out the window at the setting sun. 'Mokuba...Noa...' Something was coming, and though he didn't know what it was, it endangered his brothers.
Seto stood up, but promptly fell to one knee as pain shot through his senses. The bruises and various other pains from Gozaburo's beating had finally set in; the prince's breathing became even more shallow than before and the pain in his stomach didn't help as it continued to increase.
He nonetheless pushed himself up to his feet and leaned against the wall as he made it to the door. Normally, the result of a beating as bad as the one Gozaburo had given Seto that day would have the prince totally incapable of moving for at least two days, but he bit back the pain and hobbled down the hall.
- - -
Noa sat on a stone bench in the garden, looking out at the forest on the other side of the small river. To his right, Mokuba set a small flower at the feet of an angel statue and then joined his half-brother on the bench.
"I wonder..."
Mokuba looked up. "What?"
"What makes a man worthy to become King?" Noa looked out across the mirror-like waters of the river at a small flock of swans. "Father became King because his brother died in battle, so the position fell to him. But...why was I chosen and not Seto?"
The prince looked at his hands, paler in complexion to his two brothers and less rough from hardly being in any combat situations. "I often wondered about it, but I guess that I didn't really want to know the answer," he went on quietly. "I wanted to think that maybe I was worthy, but...I'm not."
"Noa..." Mokuba didn't know what he could say to quell his half-brother's feelings.
"Someone righteous, proud and strong should be in my place," Noa went on. "Seto is..." He stopped as he came to a realization. "That's why. All this time, that's why he's been--"
Noa was cut off when the swans on the river fled the water and flew right past the two princes. Looking through the the shower of water and feathers, the Heir saw Gozaburo standing a few yards away, examining the stone monument Seto had made earlier that day.
"We should go inside now..."
Mokuba, also having seen the King, nodded in full agreement. However, as the two head back towards the castle, Gozaburo spotted them and blocked their way.
"What might you two be doing out here?" The man inquired. "It's getting dark."
"Merely admiring the scenery, Father," Noa replied, quickly stepping in front of Mokuba. "We were just going back inside."
Gozaburo nodded, slowly directing his gaze to the youngest prince. Though the princes got their eyes from their father, marking them as members of the White Dragon royal family, unlike the three princes, the King's gaze was piercing and cold.
"Mokuba..."
Full of reluctance, the black-haired boy stepped out from behind his older, half-brother. "Yes, sir?"
"I am to understand that you and Seto went out on another ride today," Gozaburo said.
Mokuba's eyes widened in shock. The knowledge that he and Seto went out on rides at all was a strict secret, known only by Noa and Seto's most trusted servant, Isono. Fighting back the urge to run away, Mokuba straightened up, facing the King squarely. "We did, sir," he replied.
"Did anything happen while you were out?" Gozaburo asked.
Something in the youngest prince's instincts shouted 'Danger!' but he held his ground. "No, nothing..." he lied. "However, I do apologize if we...broke rhythm with today's studies."
Something dangerous flashed in Gozaburo's eyes and in a striking motion Mokuba was unable to catch, the King held the collar of the boy's shirt and pulled him up to his toes.
Noa started forward, but was held back with a dark look from the King before he returned his attention to Mokuba. "Don't patronize me, boy!" He said venomously. "I know you met with someone today...!"
The grip on his shirt became painful and resticting. "An...another killer was sent out...!" Mokuba replied. "That is all...! After that we came back...!"
"You always come back..." Gozaburo hissed. "No matter how many are sent, no matter how many dark places you are pushed into, you always come back out!"
Mokuba's eyes widened as color drained from his face. "What--"
Before he was able to finish, Gozaburo had his hands around the boy's throat and was steadily cutting off his air. Unable to hold himself up, Mokuba sank to the ground and the King held him down as he went on choking him.
"Father! Stop it!" Noa grabbed Gozaburo's arm, but the man backhanded the youth in the face, sending him the the ground. The Heir quickly got back up, seeing his brother struggling to breathe as tears trailed down his face. "MOKUBA!"
A beam of blue light shot by Noa's head, just barely nicking off some of his aquamarine hair, before impacting with one of Gozaburo's arms. In an explosion of burning flesh and bone, Gozaburo cried out in agony, holding the burning stump that had once been his hand as he rolled off of Mokuba and lay on the ground writhing in pain.
Noa wasted no time in reaching his younger half-brother's side. "Mokuba! Mokuba, are you alright!"
The black-haired prince coughed, bringing air back into his deprived lungs and simply lay on his back breathing before he answered. "Y-Yeah...I'm...I'm okay..."
The Heir sat back as he gave a relieved sigh at his brother's safety. Looking at the King as he struggled to rise to his feet, spit foaming at his mouth like a rabid dog, Noa did not feel any remorse for the man that was his father. 'But what...?' Noa cast his gaze back over his shoulder, in the direction the beam had come from.
Looking across the river, Noa almost missed him; a young man around his age, with short red hair, dressed in black clothes blended in almost perfectly with the darkness of the forest behind him. And suddenly, he disappeared.
Noa and Mokuba nearly jumped out of their skins when they found the mysterious young man standing right beside them. The red-haired youth knelt down by the youngest prince and carefully examined his neck; the boy noticed a strange crystal dangling from around the stranger's neck and stared at it curiously.
"Will you be alright?" He asked, his silver gaze meeting the boy's blue.
Mokuba blinked. "Huh? Oh! Yeah, I'll be fine!" He glanced down. "...Thank you."
The young man nodded and then looked at Noa, examining his features with more scrutiny. "Which one are you?"
"The Heir...Noa," the aquamarine-haired prince replied. "Who--"
He cut off when blue electricity shot across the ground and the three directed their attention to Gozaburo, who had drawn an array in the dirt. Within minutes, soldiers made from dirt and rock pulled themselves free of the ground and placed themselves between the King and the three youths.
The red-haired stranger rose to his feet and drew his sword. "Amelda."
"What?" Noa blinked.
"You were about to ask my name, weren't you?" The young man glanced down at the Heir with his silver gaze. "It's Amelda." With that said, he charged into the horde of fake soldiers and proceeded to cut them apart.
Mokuba, having regained his breath, stood up, pulling Noa's arm. "Let's go! We've got to get help!"
Noa agreed fully with his brother and fellow prince, but looking back at Amelda as he fought, he felt compelled to stay. "You go."
"But Noa--"
The Heir knelt down, putting his hands on Mokuba's shoulder. "You have to find Seto and tell him what Gozaburo has done," he said. "I'll stay here and make sure he doesn't do anything else."
The fact that Noa had referred to the King by name caught Mokuba off guard, but helped him to understand just how serious his half-brother was being towards the situation. He could only nod before running off towards the castle.
Noa stood back up and watched as Amelda went through the dirt men, cutting off their arms, then seperating their torsos from their legs. When the red-haired youth looked back, he was slightly surprised to find the Heir still there. But he nonetheless went on cutting through the horde of alchemized soldiers until he made it thorugh to Gozaburo and lopped off his remaining hand as he skid across the array; without the array, the soldiers fell apart, returning to being mere chunks of dirt and rock.
'Incredible!' Noa stood in awe of Amelda's strength and agility.
Gozaburo fell back, screaming at the bleeding stubs that had been his hands only moments ago.
"It's different when you're the one getting your hands cut off, isn't it?" Amelda asked icily. "You're probably wondering how you'll be able to use Alchemy without yours hands now, aren't you? How you'll be able to do anything at all..." The strange, red-haired youth pulled a cloth from his black jacket and cleaned the blood from his sword before returning it to its scabbard.
Gozaburo looked back into Amelda's silver eyes, spit still foaming around his mouth. "Who...Who the hell are you!"
"I doubt you would remember me," Amelda replied. "But know this...I hate you, Gozaburo. You, and those who share your blood..." Suddenly, the young man disappeared.
Noa quickly found Amelda standing right in front of him, but had little to no time to react when the red-haired youth caught the Heir by the throat. Beneath their feet, a strange array of blue-green light appeared and Noa spotted the same circle appear on Amelda's forhead. The crystal around his neck lit up, as did a stone embedded in the palm of the red-haired intruder's glove, which Noa felt digging into his neck painfully.
The Heir gripped Amelda's arm, digging his nails into his skin and, for the first time in his life, Noa drew the blood of another human being.
However, Amelda did not comply to the pain Noa was inflicting on him and his hold on the prince's throat remained firm. "You won't be killed," he said. "You should feel honored that you'll be used to help rebuild the world."
Noa, despite how he fought to hold onto consciousness, felt exhaustion dampen his strength and his focus began to blur. He fell to one knee, still attempting to stay awake, but it was slowly fading.
Suddenly, the barrier made by the Seal rippled and Amelda looked back over his shoulder to find Seto lying on the ground, shivering with pain as blue-green snakes of electricity danced along his body from having impacted with the barrier.
"And the third Prince arrives!" Amelda chuckled.
Seto struggled to sit up, not all his pain having been inflicted by the barrier, and looked back up at the red-haired intruder as he appeared to be choking his half-brother. Noa, though his pupils were dialated, directed his gaze to his twin, half-brother and reached out to him.
With no little strain, Seto pushed himself up to his knees, wincing as his injuries from Gozaburo's beating burned; but he picked himself up to his feet and punched the barrier, his arm going numb from a painful vibration on impact. But he continued to beat against the wall of light, ignoring the bleeding and burns spreading up his hands.
Amelda scoffed and returned his attention to the weakening Noa, when a cracking noise made his silver gaze widen and shoot back to Seto. The prince froze for a moment when he found cracks forming on the barrier, but quickly continued to beat away at it, making more cracks.
'Impossible!' Amelda stared in disbelief as he watched the cracks grow and spread further under Seto's beatings. The red-haired youth looked back at Noa to find he had gone completely limp, his blue eyes staring off into nothing.
Amelda picked Noa up by the collar of his shirt and hurled him at Seto just as the Seal disappeared. The brown-haired prince fell to the ground, Noa's weight knocking the wind out of him, and lay there coughing.
After catching his breath, Seto sat up and turned his half-brother onto his back. "Noa!" He jerked back slightly when he found the Heir's gaze empty and lifeless.
Placing his hand next to his mouth, Seto was relieved to find Noa was still breathing, but could not undertsand what the red-haird intruder had done.
Amelda, meanwhile, looked back to Gozaburo, who had leaned back against the stone monument Seto had Alchemized and pushed himself up to his feet. Drawing his short sword, he hurled it at the King and it stabbed through his shoulder, pinning him to the stone.
Appearing before Gozaburo, Amelda drew his sword once again.
"W-Wait! Wait!" The King pleaded. "Don't kill me! I'll--"
"Offer me money?" Amelda inquired. "Power? Anything I ask for, right?"
"Anything you want!" Gozaburo exclaimed.
The red-haired intruder held his sword in front of his face, showing the man his reflection in the metal of his sword, and he whispered his one desire, "I want my brother back, you son of a bitch...!"
Seto pulled Noa onto his back and pushed himself up to one knee, prepared to carry him back to the castle, when he looked up just in time to see Amelda stab Gozaburo straigh through. The stone of the monument was chipped and stained as the ground was drenched by the man's blood.
And the prince froze, his eyes widening in shock and disbelief.
drawing his sword back out of the man, Amelda cleaned the blood from his sword once again and looked back at Seto to find him staring wide-eyed at the slain King. He walked over to the prince and placed the tip of his blade at Seto's throat. "You cracked the Seal of Orichalcos..." he said. "What in the seven hells are you?"
Had Seto been aware he was being addressed, he still wouldn't have been able to answer, for two arrows shot past his head and hit the ground near Amelda's feet. The red-haired youth looked back towards the castle to find Mokuba running toward them, backed by two dozen guards.
Amelda sent one last glance at the stunned Seto before fading away and reappearing on the other side of the river, where he disappeared again and again further into the forest, until he had vanished from sight.
Several guards ran off into the forest in persuit of Amelda, while Mokuba skidded to a halt and knelt by his brothers. "Nii-sama! Nii-sama, what happened!"
The older of the full-blood brothers did not reply.
"Seto-sama?" Isono knelt down beside his master. "Are you alright, sir?"
But Seto did not respond, and instead went on staring at the corpse of the man who had once been the King and his father, who in turn stared back with lifeless blue eyes.
'Dead!' The realization of the truth finally seemed to sink into this numbed mind. 'That mountain of flesh! That monster! He's...dead!'
Suddenly, a huge gust of wind nearly knocked Seto to the ground, but he looked up as an enormous brown eagle passed overhead. As it flew towards the West, the prince could see Amelda sitting on the bird's back, his long black coat flapping behind him in the headwinds.
The death of the king set an unnamable weight in Seto's stomach and he fell forward, barely able to keep himself up with the support of his shaking arms.
- - -
- - -
(Your cat-eared author is sitting on a tatami mat as the Vikings are bandaging the injuries she had sustained from their ship falling on her) First, I'd like to apologize to Takahashi-san for that little joke. Thor has been gracious enough to treat my wounds, so long as I never try that joke again. (He warned me that that's why the Wicked Witch of the East was taken out; copyright infringment can be murder). Well, that was Chapter Two of Dragon Kings.
Now, for a little bit of an explanation I feel I should give to the general public.
First, I accidently made a bit of a joke with the White Dragon Royal Family. You see, there are three princes, each have the same color blue eyes--I'm fairly certain that Mokuba's eyes are darker, but I wanted to show some form of relation between him and Seto--and in YGO, Kaiba-kun has three Blue Eyes White Dragon Cards. I didn't even realize I had done that until I was half way through the Chapter, but my sister said it was cool, so I left it.
And if you want, you could even look at Gozaburo's death as Kaiba-kun ripping Yugi's Grandpa's Blue Eyes card up in Ep. 1 of Duel Monsters. (I am such a dork...)
Also, anyone who watches Fullmetal Alchemist will probably want to kick my butt for the Alchemy stuff, and I will hereby admit to using FMA for referance. Kaiba-kun, throughout what I've seen of YGO (KidsWB, ugh...), is very firm in his belief that magic does not exist, so I felt he should use Alchemy, a science. Also, so that no one comes to eat my head while I'm sleeping, I will reveal now that Seto will be able to use Alchemy later without the aid of an array, like Ed, but as this is a fanfic and I am not planning to sell it for profit, my sister says it's okay.
I hope...
But anyway, MOVING ON!
(Author opens her fan, revealing the kanji for Lightning)
Next time, Chapter Three: Kingdom of the Red Dragon! Prepare to meet Lord Pegasus, a sorcerer married to the Queen Cyndia. Along with his apprentice, Bakura Ryou, he'll face the Harpy Keeper, Kujaku Mai!
Hope to see you again next time! (Tries to bow, but it hurts too much and one of the Vikings brings her an ICEE) Bai bai, min'na-san...