Series: Reversal||Title: Desired Disobedience
Characters: Ryou, Juudai, OC (or is it?)
Chapters: 1-3||Words: 5,137||Total: 5,137
Genre: Supernatural, Drama||Rated: PG
Challenges: Diversity Writing: YGO GX: Reversal: I34, supernatural genre; One Character Boot Camp, Marufui Ryou, #46, handle; Word Count Set Boot Camp, GX, #, 15,833; Include The Word Boot Camp, YGO, #1, route; Chapter Set Boot Camp, GX, #41, 3 chapters
Notes: This takes place in my Reversal AU. . If you're new, that means that Juudai is the incarnatnion of the Destructive Darkness, is genuinely evil, and has done horrible things for many years, including brainwashing Johan and having Ryou turned into a vampire. We pick this up three years after that latter event. I wrote this as a birthday gift to myself!
Summary: It's been three years since Haou had Ryou turned as a vampire. There's a celebration to be held, one Ryou has no interest in. His interest is in feeding. But the one he intends to drain has other ideas, one that involve the death of Haou. That's... good, right?


He's taking his time. He enjoys this so much.

Ryou hated Haou. He hated the monster with every scrap of his dead heart - he didn't even want to use the term 'monster'. He'd met plenty of monsters who were perfectly decent beings. But Haou was something more.

Currently Haou lounged across his throne, his eyes half-closed as he listened to a report, one of his hands playing idly with Johan's hair. Ryou stayed quietly to one side, not that he could do anything else right now. Haou had ordered him to do that until he was told otherwise. It had been hours, and he'd not been allowed to move from his position. He'd already fed earlier, when he'd first awoken, so that wasn't going to be a problem. At least not yet. He did need to feed more than once in a night.

"That's enough," Haou declared at last, opening his golden eyes. The one offering the report shut up at once, trembling in fear. There had been plenty of times where Haou ended a report and disposed of the one who made it, sometimes for no other reason than because he wanted to. Anyone who tried to protest generally ended up as Ryou's latest meal.

He'd forgotten how many people he'd fed from because Haou ordered it. Mostly he could find his own meals, but he always had to be ready to feed at a moment's notice. Haou kept him on that edge of hunger to keep him sharp, or so he said.

Ryou thought he did it just because Haou savored hurting him any way that he could. Being undead hadn't exactly limited his options. It only changed his methods from physical to mental and emotional. Haou excelled at all of those.

But tonight Haou simply waved away the servant and shifted his attention over to Ryou. The vampire stiffened at once, and at Haou's gesture moved to kneel in front of him.

"I don't know if you remember this but your anniversary is very soon." Haou announced. "Strictly speaking, in one week is the third anniversary of you becoming a vampire." Those eyes gleamed in the light of the enchanted jewels illuminating the throne room. Rumor had it he didn't actually need the light to see by. He was darkness incarnate, after all. "I think we're going to have a little celebration."

Ryou hadn't even thought about it. He'd never considered celebrating the day that he'd died and been brought back as Haou's undead slave. He couldn't remember the last time that he'd wanted to celebrate anything. But Haou didn't care - there wasn't any reason that he would. If he could find any way to hurt Ryou, then he would. Ryou expected it by now.

"Now, the question is, what kind of celebration should we have," Haou mused. He wasn't asking Ryou that directly. One of the Death Duelists - Skull Bishop - cleared his throat a little and Haou glanced in his direction, eyebrow raised.

"Haou-sama, perhaps we could arrange for a number of rebels to be captured and brought here for Hell Kaiser to feed upon tomorrow night?" He smirked. "We might even be able to find his brother."

If blood had still run in Ryou's veins, then it would have run cold. For all the years of the war, Shou had somehow avoided being captured. Part of Ryou had wondered after his own capture if Shou would make an attempt to get him back. It was just the kind of thing that Shou would do. So far if it had ever occurred to his brother, then someone else must have talked him out of it. He didn't want to see Shou here. He didn't want to see anyone that he knew here.

"Good idea," Haou agreed, lips curving faintly. "You five go collect some rebels. Bring them back alive. Make an effort to find my vampire's brother and bring him in as well. If you do, treat him with care. I don't want him harmed – until celebration night."

All five of the Death Duelists bowed at once and withdrew to speak among themselves, making plans for their new mission. Ryou could hear them, though he doubted anyone else could. He wished he couldn't.

"Now," Haou turned his attention back to Ryou, "as not all of us can survive off of blood, a feast will be prepared. I quite look forward to the celebration." His fingers brushed again through Johan's hair and Johan turned his face so he could stare adoringly at the man who'd broken and reshaped him. "Aren't you?"

His question was addressed to Johan, who nodded quickly. "I look forward to everything you do, Master," he replied, voice pitched low and submissive. Ryou hated hearing him speak these days, and heard it far more than he would have ever wanted.

"I'll have to ensure Camula is here for this as well," Haou mused before he flicked his fingers at Ryou. "Go keep yourself occupied until dawn. Only feed enough not to lose yourself. Be ready when the celebration night arrives." He tapped his fingers for a second. "And when that time comes, have a present for me."

Ryou could feel his head bowing and he stared down at the floor before Haou. "Yes, Haou-sama. As you command." The words came without thought. He didn't always have to think when he spoke to Haou - or rather, his orders from Camula meant that he couldn't/ think when Haou gave him a command. All he could do was obey.

He withdrew from the throne room, pleased at least that he didn't have to watch whatever Haou had in mind to do with Johan. Everyone knew. He'd smelled it quite clearly. Being a vampire enhanced his senses to a ridiculous point. He didn't like it, but there wasn't anything he could do about it. All he could do was avoid it to the best of his abilities.

For now that meant going out and getting something to feed on. Someone, if he were going to be truly accurate about it. He couldn't feed on any of Haou's forces unless he were told and he didn't want to take the chance on feeding on unknown rebels - most of which were pretty far from Haou's castle if they had the faintest bit of sense. Which not all of them did. He would have considered trying to stop the Death Duelists, since he hadn't specifically been ordered not to. But he knew what would happen if he did, and that wasn't worth the effort.

Haou only said they should try to bring Shou back. If Ryou crossed him too much, the order would change to "bring Shou back alive". And after that - well, he knew exactly what would happen. At least this way there was the chance that he'd not see his brother before him.

There were still those who weren't rebels and who didn't serve Haou and there were a few of those who took pleasure in harming others almost as much as Haou did. It would be at least four hours until dawn, and in that time Ryou could get quite a lot done. Vampires moved very quickly when the need called. He kept a sharp eye on all of those people, for those times when he wanted to feed and had no one around the castle he was allowed to feed on.

So now he flitted out, traveling along the quickest route, watching for any signs of others near him. There were a few, Haou's patrols, but he ignored them and they ignored him. Everyone in Haou's army knew Haou's vampire on sight. For years now - three of them in fact - those few who weren't cowed by Haou's habit of murdering people who weren't cowed by him were kept in line by the simple fact they would be Ryou's dinner otherwise. A few had tried to kill Ryou before they were given to him as a meal. Haou's standing orders were to drain anyone who attempted to kill him dry. Those were some of the orders Ryou hated following the most.

Tonight he kept his focus on traveling instead, thinking over who might be the best one of his list of targets to deal with. He'd had his thoughts on one in particular for a while, so that was where he headed. This particular scrap of scum had run the realm of Zuspuile from the capital city of Knife's Edge for over two hundred years, and the last Ryou had heard, he possessed quite a few items that could make an adequate gift for Haou. He didn't know why wanted a gift from him but he would do as he was ordered.

This particular scum knew that Ryou kept an eye on him. Ryou made no secret of his distaste for all that the fool did, and only the fact he hadn't been ordered kept him at bay for now. He didn't doubt for a second that his chosen prey knew exactly who and what he was and went out of his way to ensure that Ryou would have a very hard time getting to him.

The closer he got, the more Ryou thought that might be a very amusing way to spend a handful of hours. He presumed that this one - a dark sorcerer who wasn't much better than Ryou himself, sucking the life out of those who served him - intended to distract him until the sun rose. An amusing thought.

The first hint that he received that the dark sorcerer Vail had set up defenses came to him on the wind, with the strong and clear scent of garlic. Ryou wrinkled his nose. He knew the traditional weaknesses of a vampire inside and out, and he knew which ones were true and which were false. Garlic at best could be said to defend against those vampires who had sensitive noses. Ryou's wasn't as sensitive as all that, so he simply forged onward.

By now he could see the pale lights of Knife's Edge clear in the darkness. There were other beings moving around in the shadows of the night. A little checking showed that each of them carried talismans warded against the undead - which he could destroy easily enough - and sharp stakes - which might be more difficult to deal with but it wasn't impossible. If this were the level of defense that Vail had, Ryou didn't think he'd have many problems dealing with this.

He avoided all of the guards as he made his way to Vail's stronghold. Like in most places there were gemstones set that allowed a warm gentle glow of light. They did make it difficult for him to work his way in since he favored the shadows for traveling. But he managed. He knew exactly where Vail's personal quarters were, and as he drew closer, he could sense the presence of even more talismans, all of them strongly warded against undead.

It was almost amusing. All of this effort and it wouldn't mean anything in the end. Ryou flitted around until he found what - or who - would serve his purposes. He didn't like doing this by any means. The need to feed and the need to follow Haou's orders allowed him few options.

He had already spent a good hour traveling here. Now he spent another half hour searching until he spied a servant walking out of Vail's quarters with a load of laundry. A quick sniff told him exactly what the dark sorcerer amused himself with tonight - exactly what Ryou expected. He wrinkled his nose, wishing he could get the stench of garlic out of it. Had Vail planted an entire garden of it? It seemed likely.

But that wasn't much to worry about. Ryou moved onward. He waited until the servant was far enough out of the building that no one would notice. Then he dropped down behind the servant and closed his fingers on their neck. The servant stumbled to a halt, pile of clothes tumbling to the ground, and Ryou could hear their heart-rate pounding.

"Keep quiet," he murmured softly into the servant's ear. "I'm not here to hurt you." Ryou didn't blame servants for taking work where they could. "Invite me inside. That's all I want."

"You're here to kill Master Vail, aren't you? You're - you're the Hell Kaiser. Haou's vampire." The servant whispered, fear lacing every word. "You can't be here. The garlic - the wards - they're to keep you out!"

Ryou chuckled, though he didn't think it had much amusement to it. "I know." He said nothing more than that right now. "Now, invite me inside."

He hated a lot of things about being a vampire. If it wasn't the fact of needing to feed on living blood, and being enslaved to Haou, it was that he needed to be invited inside human habitations. He could toe the line, as he was now, being in the castle itself but in the open areas, those that the public were allowed to enter freely. He couldn't enter the private areas - where Vail lived - without an invitation. It was his luck, such as it was, that anyone inviting him in sufficed.

At first he wasn't certain if the servant would listen. He could control the minds of others, but he hated doing that to, and he wasn't gong to if he didn't have to. Fear didn't make it any better, but at least he wasn't actively controlling their mind. A tiny fraction of him wondered if he were being a hypocrite. He suspected he might be but didn't worry himself about it. It was either this or try something else even less ethical to get his necessary sustenance.

But then the servant bent his head quietly. "Please wait here. He'll kill me if I don't get his laundry done."

Ryou snorted softly. He didn't hold good hopes for Vail being alive come dawn, but he could do this much at least. He shadowed the servant as best he could as the other put the laundry where it needed to go and then started back. A proper invitation needed to be done from the inside and by someone who did live in the location. Anyone who lived there could do it, not just the owner of the structure. Vampire restrictions could be strange and confusing, especially for the vampires.

The servant stepped inside and turned to look at Ryou, hovering there, arms crossed, making certain to keep his fangs visible. He didn't want his unwilling ally to forget exactly what he was. "You are welcome here," the servant said, stepping aside. "Come and go as you will."

The words varied, but this was enough to allow him inside. Ryou entered, feeling the same shiver he always did whenever he crossed a new threshold. The servant quickly departed, probably to spread the word that Vail would soon be deader than dead. Ryou knew the outside of this place very well and quickly figured out where he needed to go. The farther he went along, the more he could feel the presence of anti-undead wards and others meant to ward off evil.

I wonder how he can function with those around? Ryou allowed himself a small smirk at the thought. From everything he knew, Vail's deeds didn't equal Haou only because he'd never made the actual attempt to do so. The massive bulk of his centuries had been spent draining the life force of others to sustain his own. It wasn't much different from being a vampire, except Ryou took the liquid blood and Vail tore out insubstantial life. Other than that, there wasn't much difference between them on that level.

Ryou wondered if Vail and Haou might even be allies, if Vail had ever approached him. Probably not. Haou didn't take kindly to anyone who didn't acknowledge his supremacy. Vail might have tried, but it would end with his permanent death. Ryou suspected Haou intended to kill him eventually anyway. This was just taking care of it sooner. If Haou didn't want Vail dead, he would have ordered Ryou not to bother him at all.

He found his way through several corridors and rooms - Vail's quarters were actually even larger with Haou's, and Ryou had always thought no one could match Haou for luxury and self-indulgence. Rich carpets covered the floors and equally rich tapestries hung from the walls. Wards, charms, and enchanted gems rested everywhere, and Ryou did have to force his way through some of them. It wasn't as difficult as one might have thought. Most of them were weak, which made them easier to bypass with only a mild twinge of annoyance.

The first one he encountered that wasn't that weak gave him a breath of pause. It was set outside what had to be the main chamber of these quarters, most likely where Vail was at that moment. It hung over the doorway, a circle of pure silver, gleaming bright with enchantments and shining in the moonlight. Ryou wrinkled his nose at it. The garlic scent here stung at his nose, covering up the usual scents in such a place, but by now he'd mostly put it out of his mind. He regarded the ward carefully, nudging it until he had a feel for where the effects started and stopped. It seemed fairly usual for one of these. He thought he'd be able to take care of it.

He glanced around the corridor, looking for something that he could use. No matter how weak, he didn't want to touch a ward, and this one wasn't weak. He spied a spear in the hands of an ornamental suit of armor and wrenched it out, examining it and the distance up to the ward. A normal human couldn't have done this. That wasn't an issue for Ryou.

Carefully he rose up into the air and hovered in front of the ward, his lip curling up at the feel of it. His stomach churned and he strained to focus his thoughts on what he was doing. Then he drove the spear directly into the ward with all of his strength, shattering it. The resistance he'd felt faded, to a degree. Clearly there were other wards. He'd have to deal with them before he could move on. So he carefully moved forward, watching for more of those. Wards could take any form, but their aura sang out to him regardless.

Wards of every kind appeared every few steps in this final corridors. Most of them were crafted of silver and all of them were blessed by as many powers as Vail presumably could find. He could even taste a small bit of the Light of Hope. That fascinated him; as far as he knew, the avatars of Creation and Hope hadn't been seen in ages. History said that the land of Hope, Norbu, had fallen in days of old, before Haou or even Ryou himself had been born. What had been that land was now ruled over by Fallen Angel Desire.

Ryou had met many Fallen Angels by now. They served as a vital part of Haou's court. He did rather suspect Lucifer had guessed his true purpose from the moment he'd entered there. Very little could be slipped by the old angel, who still looked as young as he'd been when he'd rained down destruction on the capital of Hope.

He knew more about Desire than he would have really wanted if he had the option. Haou called him "uncle" and Desire's apparent standards for those to warm his bed seemed to be more or less "sentient" and most of the time with the basic human shape of two arms, two legs, a head, and a torso. Wings and tail or possibly even extra heads or arms or legs were also allowed, as was fur. Willingness didn't enter into it. The fact he was one of the few to know what Desire looked like without his helmet on didn't make that situation any better.

He shook his head to disperse the memories, focusing on what lay ahead of him. Bit by bit he made his way through the corridor, disposing of every ward he could find. His fangs itched a little; he was expending more energy than taking in, so he was getting a lot hungrier than he thought. Breaking through the wards took more out of him than he'd thought they would at first. He didn't =need to breathe for the air, but he did so now to focus himself.

With a mighty lunge he shattered the last of them and strode inside of the final chamber. Frankly, he had no idea of why Vail set his mansion up like this when it would be so much easier to navigate in any number of other styles. But that didn't matter now.

The dark sorcerer lounged across a plush sofa, looking as elegant as he always did. To anyone who didn't know any better, he looked like a normal human of perhaps thirty or so, with a deep cascade of golden blond hair, eyes as blue as sapphires, flawless skin, a slender figure that showed nothing of how he indulged himself on anything and everything. He was arrayed in a robe of evening sky blue satin, bound by a golden sash around his waist, and with a ring on every finger. Each ring shimmered with magic, mostly of the warding type.

This wasn't what he'd originally looked like. Vail had worked magic for quite some time to reshape himself into a shape many would ind attractive. Ryou had seen images of what he looked like in the beginning, and didn't find this much more attractive than the original dark-haired saturnine model. But there weren't many folk he'd ever seen as attractive in the first place.

"Welcome, Hell Kaiser," Vail purred, his voice as soft and dangerous as death. "I've been expecting you for quite some time."

Ryou only snorted faintly. "I noticed. The garlic is growing quite well."

"Why, thank you. I presume that your master still hasn't ordered you to kill me?" Vail raised one slender golden eyebrow. Ryou shook his head.

"I'm here because I chose to be." A quick smirk crossed his lips. "I need to bring him a present. I think you have plenty that I would like to take him. Starting with your head."

Vail chuckled. "Come and get it if you want it so badly."

Ryou didn't trust this. Vail had never been what one might call sensible. He'd noticed that while garlic aplenty grew here, as well as uncountable wards, there hadn't been any guards. He'd killed several of Vail's guards on previous trips here. Had the sorcerer learned that he couldn't keep Ryou out with them? Or was this a trap of some kind?

He breathed in, listening. There weren't any other heartbeats aside from Vail's. Not a single scent of anyone who was still there. Soldiers had a distinctive scent, usually consisting of armor of some kind, and weaponry. There wasn't a sense of any spirits, either. He did vaguely scent steel of some kind, but he'd seen enough decorative armor in the corridors not to think much of it. Was Vail trying to cover the scent of whatever protected him?

"Oh, but before you do," Vail raised one hand, fingers spread wide, each one gleaming with gemstones and rippling with protective energies. "I would like to demonstrate something I'm sure you'll find fascinating."

"I highly doubt that." Ryou hadn't found anything fascinating since his death and rebirth. It was a little difficult to get strong emotions going now, other than his unending hatred for Haou. That one survived quite nicely.

Vail smiled. The expression didn't look any better than Haou's. "Even if you don't, I will." He closed his hand and in that moment, everything changed. The tapestries on the walls faded away, as did the rugs underneath Ryou's feet. Where they'd all been there now glowed sigils, shining bright and strong in magic more powerful than almost anything Ryou had ever seen before. Energy he had no name for wrapped around him, dragging him down to his knees. If he'd needed to breath, he wouldn't have been able to. He tried to push himself up but he couldn't move at all, save for the tiniest twitches of his fingers.

He heard footsteps coming towards him. Vail's hand tucked under his chin and raised it so their eyes met. The dark sorcerer smiled down at him.

"You never noticed. You were so busy mocking my 'defenses' that you didn't see what was really there - sigils especially carved and created for you. Sigils that have one purpose - to keep you trapped so I can do this."

With his free hand he held up a slender collar of beaten silver. Etched into it were more sigils. Ryou hadn't put any time in studying magic, but something about it sent chills down his spine.

"I'm well aware that Camula commanded you to obey only Haou. I've spent months researching how to overcome that. This is the result of my work. I am older than she is. There's little she can do that I can't find a way around." Slowly he traced one finger over Ryou's throat. "You don't have to worry. I'm going to be a much better master for you than Haou. In fact, you're not going to object to my first true command to you at all." Glee rippled through every word he spoke. "You are going to kill Haou. Drain every ounce of his blood. Let him die knowing it's at my hand, with a weapon he forged himself. Then everything he has will be mine."

Ryou couldn't honestly say he wasn't tempted. But he didn't want to do it like this, not being someone else's slave. He tried to shake his head, not that he thought that would do any good with how little he could move. Slowly, clearing savoring every moment, Vail fastened the collar around his neck and clicked the latch closed.

"You're not going to be able to take this off. I had the sigils crafted so that only someone who has the power of Light in their veins can take it off. Either Hope or Creation." Vail chuckled. "And we all know that neither of those lines exist anymore, don't we."

Ryou found his head bending forward. The imprisoning sigils hadn't really lessened their hold on him, but the collar seemed to allow for some limited movement. Not enough so he could snap Vail's neck, unfortunately. Vail stepped back.

"I don't think I'll release you just yet. I'm going to enjoy having you here for a little while first. I want you nice and hungry when you go after Haou so you won't be fed." He smirked. "I am terribly sorry for being such a bad host."

One thing that hadn't change about the room was the luxurious couch. Vail settled himself back on it, before he gestured again. This time Ryou found himself slowly moving forward. The sigils' power kept him very slow and unable to do much more than shift himself forward until he all but collapsed beside the couch. Vail snickered.

"I could release you from the sigils, you know. But I like seeing you like this." He tapped his fingertips together and a few moments later, the servant that had let Ryou into the mansion entered. He didn't so much as look at Ryou, but focused all of his attention on Vail. "Bring me my celebratory dinner."

"Yes, master." The servant bowed low then scurried out without a backward glance. Ryou hadn't expected one, either. Vail's servants were terrified of him. They always had been. Vail lounged back, satisfied, and glanced at Ryou.

"You didn't guess. I told him to let you in. All of my servants had those orders. You were mine from the moment you entered my realm" Vail chuckled, fingers caressing across Ryou's face possessively. Haou had done the same thing. This was a sensation Ryou knew very well, and hated very well. "The only way you could have not fallen into my trap was to not come here at all. And you'd never do that, would you?"

If he'd had any idea - but he was very used to the ways people tried to protect themselves from vampires and he knew how to deal with most of them. The garlic and the wards were exactly what he'd expected. He'd seen them so many times they were almost cliche at this point. He'd overestimated himself - the same reason he'd fallen prey to Haou once before. He should have learned. He'd looked forward to draining Vail dry and not being very hungry for the next night's "feasting", just on the faint hope that he'd not have to feed off any rebels that he knew. Now he'd return hungry and targeted for Haou's blood.

Being undead didn't offer a lot of opportunities to learn. Ryou determined if he got out of this, he would make a point to try. His body would never change. That truly didn't mean his mind couldn't.

Sigil magic. It worked well against him; perhaps he could find a way to make it work for him. And he could make an effort to speak to the spirits that inhabited his deck. Haou didn't allow him to duel often, but he was allowed to keep the deck. Perhaps as a mocking memory of what had once been. Haou was like that.

It won't work the way Vail thinks it will. He's protected, even against me. Not only was Haou powerful enough to defend himself in his own right, there were the Death Duelists, Dark General Freed, the Fallen Angels - especially their leader Lucifer. Ryou had seen them all battle in many different forms since he'd first entered Haou's service in that failed attempt to free Johan. He knew what they could do and what they would do. Not to mention, despite what Vail said about who could remove the collar, Ryou wouldn't be surprised if Haou would tear it off him anyway. He was the incarnation of Destruction, and he'd tipped the balance of power in the world from life to death. There wasn't much that he couldn't do if he chose to do it.

What worried him far more was what Haou might do to him because of this. Haou wasn't the type to make a fair and honest judgment. But he knew he'd find out far too soon what Haou would do because of this.


To Be Continued

Notes: I thoroughly enjoyed writing this. I hope you enoyed reading it! Next chapter next week!