It's been far too long. For those of you who are only reading this to check the status of my pokémon story, I'm afraid you'll have to wait a while longer. I'm not suffering from writers block and know exactly what content/topics I want to cover in the next chapter but my attention span just dies within a minute every time I sit down to type it so its' stuck at 20%. When these things happen I feel it's better to write something easier to keep the rhythm going. So I'm sorry for the wait and I never expected it to take this long but that's just how it is.
Now that those who are just skimming for information on other stories are gone: Any questions about the world or mechanics so far? I'm eager for feedback so if there's an archetype you'd like to see or a character you'd like to show up early than do tell me.
I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh Arc-V, the Yu-Gi-Oh trading card game or any related products as they are the property of Konami and their affiliates.
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Chapter 3: Black Bird in a Golden Cage
History File 1: Demon spirits have always been considered a threat to humanity and are one of, if not the most common type of spirit. They are as chaotic as they are cunning and while many summoners claim ownership over the weaker more prolific demons like Sangan, it is often unclear who is in charge when dealing with stronger ones. Of the many ever-changing forces there are five factions that stand above the rest. The shifting nature of demon politics makes it impossible to say who is strongest among them as power constantly fluctuates but they are know to humanity as follows: Dark World, Darklord, Infernity, Burning Abyss and D/D.
(A/N: Before any of you start whining, I am fully aware that all the Darklord monsters are fairy type. However since the ace monster/leader's Japanese name is literally Lucifer I'm going to refer to them as demons even if they're technically fallen angels. Since the average citizen in a medieval world can't read or write I don't think they would be able to tell the difference.)
Ruri groaned as she slowly came to on the cold hard floor. If this was what a hangover was supposed to be like then she never wanted to drink alcohol. Her thoughts seemed to be split in two which unknown to her was a condition known as psychic dissonance. Diagnosed by psychic type spirits, the medical condition was often caused when individuals lost their memories only to have conflicting personalities and opinions between their old and new identities when those memories were regained. In minor cases this settles fairly quickly as the brain syncs the personas together but until then the patient suffers from confusion and has two different internal lines of thought on every topic.
Shifting slowly, Ruri moved into a sitting position and clutched her head with another groan of pain. The last thing she remembered was –getting attacked by those dragon knights.
-being stuck in Yuzu's head for the last six months.
She immediately flinched and let out a small whimper. Wait. Ruri's eyes snapped open as she quickly ran her hands over her face and body before tugging a lock of her dark hair into view. She had her own body back! Squealing in delight, the girl jumped to her feet and turned to face a mirror, "WHAT the HELL am I wearing!"
It's my priestess attire, the same thing I wear everyday.
Immediately grabbing her head at the sharp throb of pain, Ruri took several steps backward and sat on her bed. Her mind was a mess, overflowing with conflicting memories that she was quite certain never happened. Although now she wasn't certain which set was fiction anymore. Deep breaths, you can do this. Just-Just start with a bit of history. I was born in Heartland before –those treacherous astral beings turned on everyone and kicked us out of our own home using the invincible number spirits.
-that Bastard Leo Akaba invaded from fusion and destroyed everything, carding thousands and locking me up in that Ra forsaken tower.
NO, that couldn't be right. Leo was a good king. He raised me and my brother! Ruri doubled over, fighting the urge to vomit as overwhelming waves of gratitude and revulsion clashed within her. The gratitude ebbed away at the dawning realisation that Leo Akaba, the 'great king' had only taken her in so that he could control her. Something clicked in her mind and suddenly she realised that he knew. The flashes of memory she'd been having were about her life before whatever 'this' was. He had taken such an extreme interest in them and then told her they were of no consequence. The way he acted towards certain parties that he had 'never met' before. It all made so much sense. Then Ruri realised that the Doktor had been her personal physician since the age of five. This time she did throw up.
Wiping her mouth, Ruri noted the fancy dark glass bottle and its' stopper lying on the ground and quickly pocketed them. It was obviously the cause of her suddenly regaining her memories and she had no intention of letting anyone else find out in a place where Leo Akaba was king. He'd conditioned her to treat her best friend as a servant for goodness sake. Suddenly stiffening at the realisation that Sayaka hadn't checked on her (or anyone else for that matter), Ruri carefully stepped around the vomit and frantically began searching her quarters hoping to Obelisk that the dragon knights hadn't killed her friend.
Fortunately she found Sayaka bound and gagged in her wardrobe, the poor girls features immediately lighting up upon seeing Ruri.
"Oh thank Obelisk that you alright Ruri. I was so worried and there was this big knight with a huge sword and-" Sayaka started to babble as soon as she was ungagged.
"Shh, I'm fine. I think they just knocked me out and then ran before the guards showed up. More importantly, do you know where my brother is?" Ruri asked quickly as she untied Sayaka's bonds.
Sayaka gave a tentative shake of the head, which caused Ruri to feel uneasy. Shun was extremely overprotective of her and should have found her on the floor during his rounds. Both girls hurried to the entrance of Ruri's quarters and ironically nearly stepped on Shun as they stepped into the main corridor. Ruri's older brother was lying face down on the floor next to a large smashed vase. It seems Shun came to check on her right as the three dragon knights were leaving and they had managed to take him by surprise.
Crouching, Ruri reached out and gently jostled her brother's shoulder, which caused him to jerk and leap quickly to his feet.
"Ruri, what happened? Are you alright," Shun blurted immediately.
"I'm fine, no one was hurt other then you apparently," Ruri soothed, "That's a pretty nasty bump you have on your head there."
"Intruders?" growled Shun before grabbing Ruri's wrist and marching down the corridor.
"Hey wait a minute," cried Ruri, "Where are we going. The intruders aren't here anymore. I think they were just common thieves. Since they couldn't remove the only piece of jewellery I have they just knocked me out and left. Oniisan let go!"
Shun ignored her protests as he turned into the next corridor, opened one of the doors and marched into the room, pulling his sister along behind him. Ruri then realised it was Serena's room as the primary occupant gave a loud shriek, "WHAT THE HELL! I'm getting dressed! HAVEN'T YOU EVER HEARD OF KNOCKING!"
"We have intruders, protect Ruri while I inform the guard and secure the perimeter," Shun ordered as he completely ignored their cousin and marched back out of the room.
Serena just glared at the door before turning to her cousin and attendant, "So? What poor level two critter was lured by the singing of your spirits and is about to be slaughtered by your brother's 'totally not a war crime' falcon?"
Ruri sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, "That would be Buster Blader and two of his fellow companions. They snuck into my room yesterday so they'll be long gone now."
Sayaka became very pale while Serena just gaped at her. Ruri would have told them more but she was the only one who remembered what happened in . . . what she call it? She didn't want to call it her past life; that would imply shy died. Wait, didn't Reiji mention once that he was studying something called the old world. Oh well, it was as good a name as any other so she'd use that and make a note to ask Reiji about it later. Hopefully he'd humour her considering she slept through most of his lectures on summoning strategies.
"Earth to Ruri," waved Serena, who had finished getting dressed, "Don't ignore me, tell me what happened?"
"Huh, wa?" Ruri replied.
"Why did an elite pseudo spirit like Buster Blader sneak into your quarters?" Serena demanded.
Ruri grimaced. She couldn't tell them, not when both of them would tell 'King' Leo in a heartbeat. Whatever those knights had to gain from restoring her memories, it had to be much better than what Leo Akaba was currently using her for. She had to escape, preferably with Shun, and then she would find Yuto. Thank the Winged Dragon of Ra that the kingdom of Arcia was clueless to his whereabouts.
"I don't really know," she lied, "I came back to my room yesterday evening, saw Buster Blader with two others and they punched me in the stomach. I blacked out and I think maybe I threw up because there was vomit when I woke up. Nothing was missing and I feel fine now."
Sayaka hugged her comfortingly while Serena eyed her with suspicion.
"Are you sure they didn't ask or demand anything?" probed Serena, "Because you have several scabs on your neck indicating you cut yourself on a blade edge."
The Black Priestess's eyes widened and her hands shot to her throat to feel the thin lines, "I-I didn't know about those."
Serena's next comment was interrupted as her bodyguard Sir Barrett burst threw the door. Ruri then spent the next three hours being interrogated by a dozen different people including the king. Prince Reiji showed up too but he didn't ask any questions, preferring to just sit in a nearby chair and watch her as she was interrogated by others. It was all going fairly well until the Doktor tried to examine her and she completely freaked out. Fortunately she was able to diffuse thing by demanding a female physician. Leo appeared to be the perfect picture of calm but it was clear to those that knew him well that he was furious about the intruders. Ultimately he ordered that all four priestesses would be sleeping in Princess Ray's quarters while the wing they lived in had a complete security overhaul. The 25 year old princess wasn't thrilled but understood that her overprotective father had made her room the most secure place in the kingdom if not the entire continent.
As the sun began to set, Ruri and her three counterparts –oops, cousins now- settled down on plushy sleeping mats for a 'girls night' while Ray sat on the end of her bed. It was so weird now seeing Ray in person, as a separate person, rather than the arbitrary reason for the horrible war that ruined her life. Dressed in a slim aristocratic dress composed of light blues, whites and purples, Ray would definitely turn heads. The dress wasn't as frilly or as bell shaped as a Disney princess dress but definitely not practical. Reflecting back on her new life in this world, Ruri was a little disappointed that she hadn't taken the time to get to know Ray who was now also her cousin rather than her past incarnation. She knew that Ray was smart, kind and a little short tempered like the rest of her counterparts/cousins but not much more than that.
This was perfectly understandable, after all Ray was ten years older than her and whenever she'd had free time she had preferred to spend it with people in her own age group. As the other four girls chatted about the latest social trends and upcoming event in the castle, Ruri let herself blend into the background, only giving the occasional yes or hmm when asked something specifically. She needed to think about what she really wanted in life now that she was no longer Leo's pawn and plan out what her next actions would be.
Escaping was a must, she didn't want to live as a decorative bauble and she definitely didn't want to keep hunting dragons. She was sick of war, especially voluntary ones. There was also the matter of how this 'new world' as Reiji had called it, came about. Should she try to go back to or change back this world back to the old one? Would that mean she'd be stuck in Yuzu's head again if things went back to the way they were? As much as she liked Yuzu, she was rather attached to her own body and didn't want to risk going back to being a disembodied voice. So unless she found out that Yuto died or something equally drastic happened Ruri supposed she was better off in this world. Losing 21st century comforts and Leo Akaba being king really sucked but on the other hand the duel monsters game turning into real magic and her deck becoming real spirits that she could talk to and befriend was really interesting.
Crap, her spirits; archetype contracts always came with the condition that the summoner had particular ideals and allegiances. Her contract was with the same lyrical luscinia archetype as her deck in the old world. Ruri had formed a close bond with all the spirits she called upon and knew what they liked and disliked, the difference between ones that had the same name and what tactics they all preferred. Summoning in this didn't quite follow the same rules as the old one and once you were capable of summoning an extra deck or extra dimensional monster normally and formed a close connection to it, you could bypass the normal material cost for an 'accelerated summoning'. This meant that she could summon Lyrical Luscinia – Assembly Nightingale and then swarm the field with the spirits that she would have previously required to overlay for co-op aerial tactics.
From these many interactions Ruri knew that all her spirits were essentially pro dragon hunting. Whether that had more to do with her being pro dragon hunting or whether they'd sever the contract and leave her was something she needed to find out rather urgently. All her plans would hinge on her lasting friendship with her spirits. In all honestly she was very attached to them and would be devastated if they left her.
Quickly glancing around to check if the others were distracted and seeing that Rin and Yuzu were caught up in their age old argument of winter vs. spring being better, the Black Priestess closed her eyes and entered a meditative trance. Sound, smell, touch and technically sight all melted away as she was enveloped in the gentle blackness that was the environment spirits preferred to commune in. Opening her eyes in this spiritual domain between the human world and the spirit world, Ruri waited a few moments for some of her spirits to fade into view. Assembly Nightingale and two Sapphire Swallows answered her presence.
"We have already sensed the shift in your heart," Assembly Nightingale said solemnly.
"Does that mean . . ." Ruri trailed off, her lip beginning to quiver. Assembly Nightingale was the de-facto leader of the archetype so if she wasn't willing to continue the contract then that would be the end of it.
"No child," replied Assembly Nightingale with a shake of her head, "You are still the sweet caring person to whom I offered a contract years ago. What I am more concerned about is the pain and inner turmoil you are currently going through. We do not care whether you align yourself to Arcia or any other party so long as you are true to your own heart. If we are concerned about your health and mental wellbeing then we will talk to you first. Our flock does not just abandon one of our own at a moments notice."
Ruri let out a sigh of relief, "So your all okay with this. Even though I'm now in love with the person called the Prince of Xyz?"
"Yup, yup," chirped the Sapphire Swallow to Assembly Nightingale's left, "We always thought that King Leo was a stupid boss anyway."
"You definitely shouldn't be judging and hating people before you even meet them," added the other, "Nuh uh, make your mind up after you know whether or not this prince is a good kisser."
Their summoner turned scarlet while Assembly Nightingale sighed in exasperation, "Unfortunately not everyone is as accepting of the current events. Independent Nightingale is very mad at you for abandoning your cause and probably won't be willing to speak to you for some time. It would be best not to forcefully summon her until then. She gained her power and new form thanks to Leo Akaba and was rather hurt that you now suddenly hate him."
"Mm," Ruri grimaced, "I know that you can't really see my memories beyond how I feel towards certain people. Just know that I've found out that 'the great king of Arcia' has just been keeping me on a tight leash and using me like a pawn."
Her spirits all nodded and, with no further topics to discuss, they faded and she slowly came out of her meditative trance. What she found when she opened her eyes was Rin poking her in the cheek.
"Ruri, what's the big idea going into a meditative trance when were right in of a conversation," complained the White Priestess, "Do you not like us because that's really rude you know."
"So is poking me in the face," Ruri replied with a nervous chuckle, "I'm sorry, I just needed a moment to talk to my spirits."
Rin sat back with a huff, "Just don't do it again okay, we're already worried about you enough as it is with those memory flashes and yesterdays incident without you deliberately zoning out on us."
"There's just a lot on my mind right now after what happened," smiled Ruri, 'And as upsetting as it is, I can't confide in any of you.'
Serena raised an eyebrow, "You know, if you don't feel confident in your spirits ability to protect you, we could always help you get a stronger contract."
"That's not what I was thinking about," Ruri snapped defensively, "I'm perfectly happy with the spirits I'm already friends with."
"Suit yourself," shrugged Serena, "Just remember that level one spirits really aren't strong enough to impose their effects on stronger spirits. They also always go down in one hit because they lack even rudimentary stamina."
"Okay, okay, I don't think I can sit through another 20 minute argument. Everyone has their own styles and thinks their spirits are the best. Let's just leave it at that," interrupted Ray with a pleading tone.
"Hey Ray, now that I think about it, I've never seen you summon anything, what are you contracted with?" Ruri asked.
The other three teenagers all confirmed her sentiment and looked at their oldest cousin expectantly.
Ray winced, "I guess no one ever told you guys. It's a bit of an unpleasant topic and I don't really remember the details but shortly before dad found all of you I had an accident. As a result I, uh, lost the ability to form contracts. I can't even cast spells anymore."
The four girls all gave 'Ohs' of sympathy and condolences before quickly trying to think of a more pleasant topic.
"Do any of you want to go to the market tomorrow, assuming where allowed after Buster Blader broke into the castle of course," suggested Yuzu.
"Yeah I'd like that," Ruri perked up, "I could do with some new clothes."
"Really?" Rin replied cynically, "I get that we're two steps away from royalty and basically have an unlimited spending budget but you and Yuzu each both have more than quadruple the amount that Serena and I have combined. It's not like we can even get any use out of them since we're required to wear our formal priestess attire in public and around the castle."
This reminder made Ruri fidget uncomfortably; apparently her brother had been right, she couldn't be trusted with an unlimited credit card, "I was actually thinking of something more practical like hiking boots. I realised today that I don't have any clothes suited for travel or combat."
"Oh, I can help with that," said Serena enthusiastically.
"Then it's settled, tomorrow were going on a shopping spree," Yuzu fist pumped.
"Well you girls have fun then, I wish I had a flexible enough schedule to just go shopping when I want," grumbled Ray, "Dad wants at least one of his children present for the diplomatic meetings with that Crowler fellow tomorrow and my dear brother Reiji managed to delegate it to me before I even found out about the meeting. So while you girls are enjoying the day out, Crowler is going to insist on visiting the city museum again and I'll be stuck looking at broken pots of greed for hours on end."
They all chuckled at Ray's misfortune before she told them that they all had to go to bed. While the others were fairly quick to fall asleep, Ruri was kept awake by turbulent thoughts. She still had her spirits but it wasn't the same as having someone to confide in and it made her feel so alone.
Staring up at the roof, Ruri wondered what Yuto was up to right now. She desperately wanted to find him if only to verify that she was alright. Then she wanted to hug him close and not let go for an hour. Being trapped inside someone else's head had really made their relationship quite difficult. Even if Yuzu and Yuya were kind enough to loan their bodies for the day, it was still awkward to have at least six their people watching and commenting on all their intimate reactions. It was also quite clear that Yuya was more than capable of overriding any of his counterparts whenever they tried to do something that made him too uncomfortable. Since she and Yuto were further along in their relationship than Yuzu and Yuya were, that happened a lot. This also bugged Yuzu to no end since she wasn't capable of forcefully taking back control of her body when they wanted to do something that she didn't (like that time Rin took them on that horrifying roller coaster).
Ultimately if she wanted to find Yuto then she'd have to eave this place and if she didn't want to get him killed when she finally found him then Leo's forces couldn't be with her. If she left without permission then Leo would know something was up and try to bring her back, by force if necessary. She could take her brother, even if he didn't remember the old world she could trust him to always take her side. It also helped that for whatever reason Shun really didn't like either of the Akaba men even if he kept his mouth shut about it. Unfortunately, even if she could convince Sayaka to come with her without to much trouble, her friend would be a liability. Sayaka couldn't fight, not in this world or the last one, which meant that she would also slow them down. Since Leo would try to keep up appearances as the 'good' guy, Sayaka would be safer here.
Ruri took out the potion bottle to examine, running her fingers over the decorative ridges and squiggles on the bottleneck. As for her cousins, unless she could restore their memories somehow than they would only attack Yuto. She desperately wanted to help them remember and wanted to believe that they would do the same in her position but she didn't know how. It brought her back to the question that had been nagging at the back of her mind as soon as she had gotten her thoughts straight: Why had Buster Blader (for he was obviously the one in charge of the three), an elite soldier of the Pharaoh Atem, gone to the effort of bringing back her memories? And why her in particular? They mentioned that the potion was hard to come by so surely they wouldn't just give it out randomly.
If this potion was in such short supply then wouldn't they only use it if they had some sort of idea of how her behaviour would change? If that was the case then they wanted someone to oppose Leo Akaba but wouldn't it have been better to go after someone stronger like Reiji or her brother. If Atem had enough knowledge of the old world to know she would oppose Leo Akaba then he had to know about the lancers. Maybe, maybe she met some sort of criteria that the others didn't. That seemed much more likely since she had the unique eternal magic En Birds but that didn't seem quite right. Atem, Yugi and Seto Kaiba between them had the biggest, most deadly compendium of magic and counter magic in the world. They just didn't need her ability to cripple xyz spirits.
Suddenly it hit her: her memories. How could she have overlooked something so blatantly obvious. This potion didn't give people back their memories! It only accelerated the process! Ruri had already been having flashes of her past life for weeks. Somehow the Pharaoh had found out and taken advantage of the situation to undermine Leo Akaba. She already knew that both Atem and King Jaden objected to Arcia's stance on dragons so if a rare opportunity presented itself then some kind of covert op was plausible. It was a shame they couldn't apply more than vague political pressure since two was still a minority in the five kingdoms treaty. The Executive Council that ruled Old Domino was to incompetent to ever DO anything and the astral beings just didn't give a shit about anything that happened outside their own walls.
Deplorable politics aside, assuming she could get her hands on another bottle of memory potion, if she could somehow stimulate the others into having flashbacks to their own lives then they could take the potion and get their memories back. Then she wouldn't have to feel so alone anymore and they could obviously escape with her. The flashes probably had something to do with will power and or spiritual awareness, probably both. That sort of made sense since she knew from the parasite incident that she had the strongest will. Think back, there had to be something else. If that was all it took then Seto, who definitely had a stronger will than her, would have invented all that fancy technology that his company was famous for.
Was it need perhaps? The only people that were close enough to examine and likely to get their memories before her were her brother and Reiji. But they didn't really have any particular need to remember. They were quite capable of obtaining anything they wanted without it. If the need to remember so that one could overcome something was a possibility than it wasn't what had triggered her flashbacks. She had been perfectly content not knowing who Yuto was or what Leo Akaba had done to her. Or was she? That was it! Before her memories started coming back she had been dissatisfied with the hunting of dragons and about whether the dragon princes were really the evil enemy that Leo had made them out to be. She wasn't happy with things and wasn't quite able to accept that this was how her life was meant to be. Her dreams and flashbacks had happened so soon after that that she had mistaken the effect for the cause!
So than if she could make the others realise that something was missing from their lives than they would become receptive to the potion. Rin would probably be the hardest to bring back not only because she was much colder and battle hardened then she had been in the past but also because she had interacted directly with Yugo and not reacted. Oh! Ruri cringed at the sudden realisation. Rin would be devastated when she realised she had killed Yugo's Clear Wing Synchro Dragon. It would bring back memories of what she did during the parasite incident. Her synchro counterpart's trauma from that was definitely the worst. At least part of her own trauma was remembering that terrifying dragon that Yuya had summoned. Rin's pain was solely the result or her 'own' actions.
Ruri finally pocketed the potion bottle and spent the next hour contemplating what supplies she could get away with buying tomorrow without tipping anyone off and how to cause the other three girls to start having flashbacks before she finally fell asleep.
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The next morning everyone got up bright and early. After breakfast and getting permission to leave the castle, all four priestess went out into the city markets. As one might expect, the place was bustling and lively with different vendors selling their goods in brightly coloured stalls. More upmarket or essential stores had their own buildings but regardless of whether you were rich or poor everyone could agree that the paved streets of Arcia were supposedly a good deal cleaner than other cities.
While all four priestesses had travelled outside the city for the purposes of eliminating dragons, it could definitely be said that Serena was the only one who was good at, or liked, traveling in general. At least that was the case before Ruri got her memories back. As a resistance member, even if it wasn't long before she was abducted, she definitely had an appreciation for the art of survival. As Serena dragged them from merchant to merchant, Ruri wondered how much of this stuff Rin would have already known since she had lived in a orphanage and had to scavenge off the streets for meals. The 'new' Rin didn't seem to know and only paid vague attention to what Serena was suggesting to them. Although to be fair, she did use her spirits to fly everywhere and had a habit of ditching her assigned bodyguards in monster infested forests. The position for the White Priestess's bodyguard was still open since mercenaries were no longer willing to take the job and the last four soldiers King Leo had tried to assign had immediately resigned from service.
Several times Ruri could have sworn she saw someone spying on them but their bodyguards either didn't mind the individual or didn't seem to know who she was referring to. By midday they were done shopping for travel and survival supplies and decided a to stop for lunch. Unfortunately Yuzu hadn't bought much, regarding most of the items as 'unflattering and unnecessarily heavy'. They dumped all their shopping on Sir Barrett and ordered him to take it back to the castle with Serena taking great glee in the opportunity to ditch her bodyguard. After lunch the four girls split up and Ruri managed to convince Shun to patrol from the air without too much difficulty. He was on high alert after what happened and concerned about the recurring individuals Ruri kept spotting. Barrett had mentioned one of them was just castle staff but Shun was always suspicious and fortunately never turned that suspicion on his little sister. If he had, Shun would have realised that Ruri didn't want him to be able to see what she was purchasing.
Going from one perfume or potion vendor to the next, the Black Priestess asked them if they recognised the bottle design of the memory potion and quickly moved on if they just gave her a sales pitch. Based on marketing convention (aided by the all conforming universal language of money) almost all potions that existed were categorised and assigned a particular bottle shape, colour and/or pattern. This helped customers quickly find the product they wanted and also made things faster when grabbing potions in an emergency. Health potions came in round bottles, antidotes came in vials, etcetera etcetera. It also made glassmakers a lot more money too. Eventually she knew she found someone in the know by the name of Dark Doriado when they acted with wary suspicion.
"It is an unusual product with a questionable purpose," answered Dark Doriado shrewdly, "I'm not entirely certain as to what it does and I'm not sure it would even be safe to reproduce."
"You know what it does, unlike the last twenty bozos I've asked don't you," Ruri grinned like at cat with a mouse.
"Do you?" Doriado responded flatly.
"Maybe," replied Ruri.
The pseudo-spirit closed her eyes and huffed, "I'd have to smell it to be sure. The supposed contents is very hard to make and ingredients are harder to come by. It wouldn't be the first time a potion has been poured into the wrong bottle."
In other words if Ruri was going to dob her in for knowing how to make it then she wanted to be able to dob Ruri in for having it. So the Priestess removed the glass stopper and held out the bottle, keeping a very firm grip on it in the process. Doriado raised an eyebrow and used her finger to tilt it closer to her nose.
"That's definitely an old world memory potion," Doriado surmised as leaned back, "I take it you were the one who drank its' contents?"
"Perhaps," Ruri shrugged as she pocketed the bottle.
"I'll take that as a yes," said Doriado as she glanced around for eavesdroppers, "Why are you coming to me instead of your previous distributer?"
"Bit hard when I was force fed it by one of Atem's personal best," Ruri grumbled under her breath.
Doriado looked bewildered, "That Oaf actually snuck into the royal castle."
"You knew about Buster Blader?" asked Ruri with equal surprise.
"He's been here for the past week pestering every pendulum spirit he could find," Doriado replied looking disgruntled, "Polite, easy going, said he was on holiday."
"If he's polite then why would you call hi an oaf?" Ruri probed.
The pseudo-spirit gave a derisive wave, "Three days ago he tried to sell me a super conductor tyranno leg. While I'll admit both the hide and the bones are quite valuable, he just dumped whole thing on the counter, bleeding everywhere. And let me tell you the stench from that particular dinosaurs flesh is absolutely rancid. Despite all this, Buster Blader had absolutely no idea why are was upset with him even when I was gagging for breath."
Ruri gave a sympathetic chuckle before getting back on topic, "So . . . can you make the potion?"
"Hmm," hummed Doriado hummed in serious thought, "I do know the recipe however I've never made it before. It's extremely complicated even though it doesn't involve any celestial conditions such as full moons. Since you are one of the four Priestesses I know that you'll definitely have the money however it would be unreasonable of me to ask for payment in advance when there's a good chance I might botch the product. How much were you after at a minimum?"
"Enough for three people," Ruri requested with tentative hope.
Doriado frowned and Ruri was unable to hide the dismay on her face.
"I'm afraid I only have enough for two, assuming I don't stuff up; as I said earlier, the ingredients are quite rare," stated Doriado, "1000 gold coins per bottle, that price is not negotiable as the ingredients are worth roughly 850 gold coins to procure. It should take me three days to make so I expect you back here in a timely fashion to collect your legally dubious off my hands."
"I accept but is there anyway you can make more if you had more time," pleaded Ruri.
"Tragically no," Doriado said with a look of pity, "Magic is a strange and complicated thing. I am not a scholar who is knowledgeable in the old world and until today thought it was likely a myth but I have heard some of the more popular rumours surrounding the legend. No one knows who was responsible for the conversion of the old into the new but they say that the one responsible is still watching and always ensures that 'the truth is always obtainable for those who truly wish to seek it'. This potion is peculiar in the way that at any given point in time events play out so that there are only enough ingredients to make exactly enough potions for the number of compatible with it. So I'm afraid that even after I have finished making them, only two of your companions will be compatible by the time you have to leave."
"How would you know when or if I have to leave?" bristled Ruri defensively.
"Don't mistake me for some fool, child," scolded Doriado, "I am a spellcaster that uses the six attributes in harmony and weak as I may be, even I can see the damage king Leo is doing to the balance of the world. While I have no clue as to what your past in the old world was, if you had been aligned to his goals and ideals then you would be asking someone in the castle to make the potion rather than out here asking me. When you are found out you won't be able to stay."
"Thanks for the warning but I'm not planning on getting caught anytime soon," Ruri stated tersely, "I'll be back in three days time to collect two potions and I would appreciate it if you look into acquiring the ingredients for a third."
With that Ruri left for the castle and was told on arrival that the renovations to the Priestesses wing of the castle were complete so she could return to her quarters. Finding her day's purchases dropped off in front of her room, she carried them in and unpacked them only to find a small package and a letter that wasn't part of her original purchases. Since the letter didn't feel like it contained any magic she decided it was safer to open that first.
To the Black Priestess
I hope that this letter finds you in good health after our last encounter.
My Lord Felgrand in his divine wisdom has instructed me to bequeath this gift to you and trusts that you will use it when the time is right for its' intended purpose.
May you live long enough for our paths to cross again,
K. C.
Ruri only had one thought in response to this letter: What kind of cryptic know it all git leaves a message like that! If the Knight of Creation wanted her to use something for a specific job than he should just tell her. Also, she was quite certain that Felgrand Dragon was dead.
Huffing, Ruri ripped open the small package that had been so thoroughly and lovingly well rapped as if it were some holy relic only to gasp and nearly drop the thing because it really was just one step away from being considered a holy relic. If she only had her memories from this world, she would not have recognised it as the small talisman in her hands really was just that rare. However, as she did know she remembered the object clearly from the playing card and knew the lore associated with it in this world. It was Monster Reborn or more correctly: a monster reborn talisman.
: :
: :
Prince Reiji Akaba strode down the moonlit corridors of the castle. It should be noted that, while Reiji did not have any memories of the old world, if one were to compare his attire between his two lives they would find a striking resemblance. He had always been a man of power, inheriting the role of CEO in the old world and Prince in the new one. However he never really conformed to how you would expect a CEO to dress. Any normal person from the old world would quickly label him for a geek because instead of nice suits and designer clothes he chose to wear things purely for comfort while ignoring all fashion trends and expectations. The prime example of this was his cheep variety store shoes and his aversion to socks. In this world, while the materials had changed, his attire looked almost identical with a plain long leave blue shirt, long white pants, red rimmed glasses and favourite red scarf. The only change was a pair of practical generic boots simply because sneakers no longer existed.
Finding the doorway he wanted, Reiji placed his hand upon the door so that the magical security system would recognised his summoning signature. Stepping through as soon as the door opened, the Prince walked into the pitch black room beyond without the slighted concern as the door closed behind him, sealing Reiji within. Why would he be concerned, after all he designed the room, which was a specially modified summoning chamber.
"In accordance with our contract I call upon thee," Reiji commanded, "Sages of eternal and infinite wisdom come forth and bestow your guidance."
Ten transparent pillars of blue white light immediately illuminated the room. Nine mechanical figures rose up within the pillars to sit suspended within the light. These were the D/D Savants, the council whose knowledge and wisdom was feared and revered as the greatest in all the land. While each had a face that vaguely resembled that of a human, the rest of their form was not recognisable or comparable to anything that could be called 'life'. As for the room itself, the walls, roof and floor were all obsidian black stone. It was round and vaguely resembled a courtroom with each pillar of light remaining behind an imposing bench in a circle around Reiji. The pillars remained the only source of light within the room leaving the rest shrouded in darkness.
"We of the D/D answer your call in accordance with our contract. Speak and we shall enlighten," spoke D/D Savant Kepler in a cold metallic voice that reverberated.
Reiji nodded. While others might consider such formalities of speech excessive, they were important when dealing with demons. Strict words prevented making mistakes and a demon that broke rhythm was likely trying to mislead their summoner. He had designed this chamber specifically so he could summon and consult with all the sages at ones without regard for the normal summoning thresholds. Even if most of them were physically harmless, vigilance was always best when dealing with so many demons at once.
"I have come to inform you of an irregularity and consult your opinion on the matter," Reiji announced crisply, "Two days prior Buster Blader and two unidentified dragon knights snuck into the castle and into the quarters of the Black Priestess. She was not harmed and no detectable magic was upon her. Nor did they see fit to steal anything or leave anything behind."
"A curious matter indeed," D/D Savant Albert replied, his voice, like all the others, was almost identical to the first.
"Since the event I have noticed behaviour from the Black Priestess that isn't in keeping with her character or the normal reactions to such events," stated Reiji, "The girl was vague and likely withholding information about her assailants and seemed to regard the authority figures she once respected with concealed distrust. Today I had a few of my men follow her and the other Priestesses and noted that she acquired many resources that one would use to travel or escape. She also browsed several apothecaries and potion vendors for information but visibly bought nothing."
"It is likely she had obtained her old world memories," concluded D/D Savant Schrodinger.
"I concur," D/D Savant Newton agreed, "She had already exhibited the early signs as we were all aware. The dragon knights administered the potion and then left before they could be caught, hence er sudden interest in the liquid forms of magic."
"A sound judgement and one of the possibilities I had considered," nodded Reiji, "Do you know any other plausible explanations?"
"No. If one examines the evidence than this is the only conclusion that we can draw from it," responded D/D Savant Dirac.
"Do you believe she is a threat to our plan. As we know little to nothing of her past life we cannot be certain how she will act," Reiji enquired, pushing his glasses up his nose.
"It is doubtful. If anything her actions will be a boon," D/D Savant Nikola surmised, "She will most certainly turn on her master, removing one of his key pieces. No matter how hard he may try to invert it, Leo cannot remove the connection between the En Priestesses and the Dragon Princes."
"The world cannot survive on its' current trajectory," added D/D Savant Galilei, "Spirits and humans are in constant conflict. Unless something is done to change how things stand, one or the other will cease to exist."
"This would be a most grievous tragedy," D/D Savant Thomas noted, "One that King Leo is bringing ever closer with his crusade against the neutral dragons. Humanity will not survive a full scale war between the forces of Order and Chaos."
"Even if the girl were to oppose us, it would be of no consequence. She knows nothing," affirmed D/D Savant Copernicus, "We advise that you do nothing for now. If she comes to you for aid then do so. As long as we do not reveal our hand than the plan will not fail."
"Very well," Reiji bowed, "I shall keep you appraised of further developments. I am certain that, if nothing else the coming months will be most interesting."
With that, Prince Reiji turned and left the chamber, the Savants exploding into golden particles as they returned to their natural domain.
