Author's Note: One of my friends requested this story. But first, there are a few things I need to tell you. One, this story is mostly OC centric. Two, I have not actually played the game, so bear with me if there are some incorrect details/dialog. Three, I'm a history buff, so the actual events of the War of the Roses will play a major part in this story. All that said, pleas enjoy and review!
Disclaimer: I (obviously) do not own yu-gi-oh
She rushed toward the small inferno, her vision blurred by tears.
"No, Daddy!" But the coffin just kept moving toward the incinerator. Her calls did nothing to stop it.
"Wait Ari, come back!" That was Mom, standing back there crying, dressed all in black. Ari didn't really hear her. On short legs she ran up to the dark wood casket. She didn't want Daddy to go into the flames, he just had to open the lid and step out, and then everything would be alright.
She reached the casket and began to tug at the latch, sobbing all the while. It shouldn't have opened, but the salary of a fireman and a preschool teacher could not afford something durable, not when it would be destroyed in the incinerator. And the fervor of a grief stricken eleven year old could break anything, be it the heart or a brass latch.
The coffin opened, and she could see her father. Or, what was left of him. There wasn't much remaining. She screamed. Her mother rushed over and covered her eyes, all the while averting her own from the inside of the coffin. Then Ari heard the lid slam shut.
Ari woke with a start. Her white knuckled hands gripped the edge of the desk and she was drenched in sweat. She straitened in her chair with a sigh. Those dreams again.In the five years since the accident, those memory dreams had come less and less frequently. By the time she turned sixteen, they had all but stopped.
Ari groaned as she looked where she had been sleeping. Her desk was covered in scraps of paper and stacks of notes. She had been using her open history textbook as a pillow. Ugh, she thought, history. She hated the subject and was duly failing it. There was a big test tomorrow and if she didn't get at least a ninety, she would probably flunk out of the class.
Ari looked at her watch: 2:00 am. She had only been asleep for an hour. From experience with her dreams, she knew there would be no more sleep tonight. She took a moment to look through her Duel Monsters deck. The familiar sight of her monsters calmed her nerves. Ari got up and walked to the bathroom, starting up the shower to wash away the nightmare sweat.
She stood perfectly still and let the cold water put her thoughts in order. Her father, Rick Daniels, had been a fireman. A falling beam during a particularly large blaze had put an end to his life. He had put in his will that he wanted to be cremated, saying that, since he had spent his life battling fires, if was time for the fire to win. Ari had been only eleven when she had opened his casket and seen what no one should ever have to see.
To try and escape from memories and overly sympathetic relatives, Ari's mother had moved them out of the city and into a small apartment in a backwater town. Ari never really fit in there, a fact she tried to hide from her mother. In her original home, Duel Monsters was very popular. Here, some people had never even heard of it. This made Ari, the U.S. national champion, even more alienated. Before the accident some people had thought she was some sort of child genius. Now she could barely maintain a C average.
Ari stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around herself. As she walked out of the bathroom, she paused to look at herself in the mirror. She was fine boned, like a bird, as her mother was so fond of saying. Black hair fell down her back, worn longer than was typically the style. Despite the dark hair her skin was very pale, made even more so by little time spent in the sun. Her eyes were silvery-grey, framed by long black eyelashes. Back in her room, Ari dressed for the day at school, and then went back to studying.
The bell ringing to begin classes found Ari barely awake. Her history class was in first period. On the way there her guidance councilor stopped her.
"Arianna, are you alright? You look kind of under the weather."
"No, I'm fine," Ari lied, knowing full well that there were circles under her eyes and a red mark where her hand had kept her head propped up.
"Well, good luck on your test," she said, and then the woman walked off with one last worried glace.
In the classroom, the teacher handed out the test and they began. Ari looked at her paper. Question #1: What two families fought in the War of the Roses? Umm...Ari thought, blinking hard to stay awake. Oh, come on, I know that I know this. Well, I'll skip that one and come back to it. She shook her head to clear it. The letters seemed to swirl on the page.
Question #2: Who were the Rose Crusaders and what was their purpose in the war? What the hell! She definitely didn't remember anything about Crusaders. Weren't they on the last test she thought? Well, skip that one too.
Question #3: Richard III is rumored to have murdered... who? That one she knew. It was the only thing that had really stuck in her brain, because it was so sad. She answered: His nephews, King Edward V, age 13 and the king's brother, also named Richard, age 9.
The letters were swirling again. White fog started to billow at the corners of her vision. Damnit, she thought, I can't stay awake. Then the fog completely covered her and she knew no more.
Ari awoke flat on her back, spread eagle on a hard cold surface. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see tall standing stones, while directly over head dark clouds rolled. She propped herself up on her elbows and gaped at her surroundings.
At first she thought she was dreaming, but even her memory dreams were not this vivid. She could feel the stone beneath her. Feel the wind that blew up from the water and smell the salt that laced it. This was no dream. However, judging by the ring of standing stones around her, it was most definitely Stonehenge.
What. The. Hell. She thought. Suddenly off to one side she heard a voice cackle: "It seems that the legends of the Rose Duelist were right. I did it, I did it!"
A short man swathed in a yellow cloak waddled up to her. Ari stood and dusted herself off. Standing tall at 5 feet, 4 inches, the little man only came up to her shoulder.
"And what is the Rose Duelist's name, milady?" the short guy asked her. Rose Duelist, thought Ari, what's he talking about? Then she remembered. When she had won the U.S. Duel Monsters Championship, she had been given a small gold rose along with her trophy. They said that it was her token for when she went on to the International Championship. That rose now hung on a chain around her neck.
"My name is Ari," she said. The little man looked slightly astonished. "It's short for Arianna," Ari amended. The man seemed to master his astonishment and muttered
"A fine name indeed. I am called Simon, and I am the High Druid who has summoned you here. Our situation is quite desperate, you see. The Yorkists and the Lancastrians"
"Don't you mean Yorks and Lancasters?"
"No, no, no. The Yorkists and the Lancastrians, they have been fighting a war for the throne of England. Now, the Yorkists have the aid of the Rose Crusaders, with their dreaded White Rose cards. It was our own Lancastrian Red Rose cards that brought you here. We need your help to defeat the Yorkists so that Prince Henry Tudor can claim his rightful throne." Ari sighed, and here she thought she was going to get away from her history test.
"Cut to the chase, what do I have to do to get back home?"
"By combining the power of the sixteen White and Red Rose cards, you will be able to return to your own time."
"Right, and how do I do that?" she asked. Please be something easy.
"You must defeat those Rose Crusaders holding White Rose cards. Now come along, we must make haste. It is a long journey across the sea to where the Prince is living in France." Simon began shuffling off as he said this, leading Ari to a carriage waiting on a rough dirt path.
"France...oh, that's right! He's in Brest, isn't he?" Ari grinned, smiling as she remembered the row the boys of her class had sent up when their teacher told them that detail.
"Yes," said Simon. "Do your abilities as Rose Duelist include foresight?" Ari chuckled and shook her head, which Simon did not see as he was struggling into the carriage. She looked doubtfully at the horses standing placidly in front. If this is anything like the carriage rides around Central Park, this was going to be a long journey. But that journey was to be delayed.
"So it's true, the Rose Duelist does exist," a cold voice said from behind them. Ari whirled around, nearly losing her balance. Simon lost his balance and his pride, toppling backwards out of the carriage door. Ari was so absorbed by this new stranger, she did not even bother to help the old man to his feet.
The newcomer was a young man who stood about a head taller than Ari. He wore the weirdest armor Ari had ever seen, not that she had much experience in that field. It was made of palest silver steel, crafted to look as though a dragon were curled protectively around the man. A chill went up Ari's spine. She knew that dragon. In fact, there was one in her deck. The man in armor had brown hair which fell into his eyes. And it was the eyes, more than his lofty height, (AN: come on people, we all know how abnormally tall Kaiba is 8)) more than his creepy armor, that captivated her. They were blue, hard ice blue, with a strange chilling ferocity. Ari knew that ferocity too. She had seen it glint in the holographic eyes of her own Blue Eyes, just as it zapped her final opponent of the Championship into oblivion.
"Rosenkreuz!" Simon cried, standing up without bothering to dust himself off. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm here for your Rose Cards, you old fool, what else. And I told you, only the Rose Crusaders may call me by that name. You are to call me Seto. Do not make me remind you again." I certainly won't forget, Ari thought, feeling dazed.
"You're too late, Seto," Simon cried, regaining some of his fallen dignity. "The Cards have already been scattered about the land. You'll have to take them from Prince Henry's loyal subjects." Seto scowled at Simon, one hand shifting to the sword strapped to his waist.
"Then take them I shall," Seto said, with such determination that Ari fully believed him. Wait! I'm supposed to be fighting against this guy! Oh man, I'm dead.
Those cold eyes shifted back to Ari and something in them changed. She shivered again, and was sure that those eyes saw it. Seto smiled slightly. Ari's own sense of dignity returned to her, and she did her best to match his gaze. The smile widened.
"Do you truly believe that this old coot has the power to send you home?" he asked her. Ari went rigid. "There is no guarantee that Simon and his kind can help you. Serve the Yorkists, Lady Rose Duelist, and I promise you will be rewarded with whatever your heart desires."
Wow, that's a tempting offer, Ari could not help but think. Within her mind, a war raged back and forth. Hot guy with promises of hearts desires, bumbling old man, hot guy with promises of hearts desires, bumbling old man. Then, another factor came into the mix. Honor. Her father had taught her about honor. He would be ashamed of her if he knew she had become a turncoat after saying she would help the Lancastrians. Well, she hadn't exactly promised... No, she had agreed to the bargain, there was no way she was going to deny that. Besides, she had already seen Simon's power work once; there was no reason to think it could not work again.
"I'm sorry," she answered. "I can't do that. I stand with the Lancastrians." Behind her, Simon's eyes glared with mocking triumph at Seto.
"Come, Lady Arianna," Simon said happily. "We must be on our way. Unless you intend to detain us, Seto." A hint of fear came into Simon's voice, and as Ari looked around she was taken aback to see that as they had been talking men on horseback had surrounded them. One of the horsemen carried a banner with a white rose on a blue field.
"No," replied Seto. "You may go. I intend to fight this battle on a fair field." He stepped closer, so that he was looking down at Ari. She tried to stare defiantly back, but judging by his mocking smile, she was failing.
"I look forward to seeing if you can hold your own in a duel, Lady Arianna." With that, Seto walked away toward his men. Simon beckoned Ari from the carriage door, having gotten in without mishap this time. She stood rooted to the spot.
"Milady, please. We must go!" Simon called to her.
"Listen to the old fool Lady Arianna. My hospitality has limits." Seto said from the back of a tall grey war horse. Ari obeyed, but paused before setting foot in the carriage.
"It's Ari," she said over her shoulder. Behind her she felt a mocking smile and a slight warming of ice blue eyes. And then she was in the carriage and the horses set off at a fast pace, much faster than Ari had expected.
Inside the carriage, a blond haired woman was sitting. Has she been here the entire time? Ari wondered. Through all that?
"Lady Arianna, "said Simon in a formal tone."This is Lady Margaret. It was she who ordered me to summon you from your home." Ari felt like she should bow or something, but the jostling of the carriage prevented such movements. She settled for a nod. Lady Margaret returned the gesture with an imperious nod of her own. She then began to scrutinize Ari, making her squirm.
"Simon, we shall have to find some appropriate clothing for her." said Lady Margaret, talking about Ari as if she were not there. Ari looked down at herself. Well, I suppose jeans and a tight t-shirt are not exactly appropriate for the middle ages. Suddenly something occurred to her. She stifled a gasp, then turned it into a cough when Lady Margaret and Simon looked at her questioningly. The names may be a little different, but this is still the War of the Roses. And I know who wins that War!
So what do you think? Was the opening to graphic? Allow me to explain. I want to put some battle scenes in later, and I needed a reason for Ari to be callused to those sorts of images. I need feed back, please review.