Series: On Dragon's Wings||Title: Ring The Dinner Bell||Chapter: Destruction
Romance: Mizael x Vector
Chapters: 9-10||Words: 1,641||Total: 14,444
Genre: Romance, Fantasy||Rated: PG-13
Challenge: Diversity Challenge, YGO Zexal Aus, section I12, 10 chapters
Notes: This is an AU with princes, magic, knights, dragons, flying horses, and other such things. But no dueling with cards.
Summary: Dragons devour virgins and keep princesses captive. At least, that's what the legends say, and when a dragon arrives in good Prince Vector's kingdom, the prince finds that his father knows a lot about legends. But maybe he can learn a little something about dragons?
Vector tilted his head back and laughed at the expression on his father's face. Never before had he seen the old man looking that surprised.
I guess he didn't expect to come for his son and find a demon instead. He didn't know if he really was a demon or not. He could feel a demon's power flowing in his veins and he had to admit, while not at all what he was used to, it felt almost right.
But he wasn't going to indulge himself in pointless mayhem. His mayhem needed a reason, and he had one: rescuing Mizael. And perhaps setting this whole mess to rights in a way he'd never thought of before.
His father had proven himself completely unworthy of the throne. And that meant as prince and heir, he had but one task: to remove his father from the throne.
He laughed again, the sound echoing back from the stone walls, and strode through the empty hole where the cell door had been only moments earlier.
"Do you like my choice, father?" he taunted, waving one hand and sending out a spiraling wave of destruction. His father stumbled back, trying to avoid the chunks of masonry that fell from the ceiling. The mages who came with him danced a pretty dance in their own efforts to avoid being squashed flat and Vector laughed at that too. Everything seemed so much more amusing than it had only a few minutes earlier.
That probably had something to do with the fact he was the one with all the power now. Nothing any of them could do could even come close to stopping him and he liked that. No more boundaries but the ones he chose for himself. Nothing else stopping him from doing what he wanted and what needed to be done.
And today had started off so horribly too.
"Vector -" His father gasped out his name but Vector didn't care to hear it anymore. Not from him.
"You tried to make me kill my only friend. You were going to enslave him if I didn't. What makes you think I'm going to be merciful anymore?" Mercy wasn't going to save Mizael. Mercy would only bring about a fate worse than death. Vector had had enough of that.
No one was ever going to do anything like that in his kingdom ever again.
But that would come later. Right now, he had a very beautiful dragon to save.
Funny, he'd always read that princes and knights saved kingdoms from dragons instead of the other way around. But Vector wasn't that bothered by reversing the old stories. Those same stories painted mages as wise people who gave of their knowledge and skills to help others, not ones who spun webs of lies and did all they could to bring about death and ruin.
He would have no more of them, either.
With each step he took forward, his father scrambled backward, eyes widening in fear. Vector liked how that looked. He wanted to see more of it, to savor it.
The thought that he'd never wanted to see his father terrified of him vaguely flashed through his mind, there and gone again in less time than a breath takes to draw. He hadn't wanted it before. He wanted it now. And he could have all that he wanted of it.
At least until he killed his father. And he knew full well that he would do so. That was the only end this could have.
"It's only an animal, my son, my prince! It doesn't deserve your attention!" The king babbled, closer now to the room where Vector had last seen Mizael. "You are a true son to me, I can see that now. We can work together. This kingdom will be yours one day!"
Vector could not smile. Oh, but he wanted to, and it seemed whatever shape his face took certainly conveyed that. "You're right on one of those. The kingdom will be mine one day. And that day is today. But as for the rest of it?" He shook his head with great and grave majesty. "No, father. Mizael is far more than an animal and I will never, ever work with you."
He laughed again, loving the sound of it. "Oh, Mizael? Can you hear me? Are you there? I've got a lovely surprise for you!"
For a moment he wondered what the dragon would think of his new look, and of what he'd done to save them both. Then he dismissed that thought as well. Mizael would be grateful. He had to be grateful.
Other options weren't allowed to seep into his mind.
The fact he didn't hear a reply didn't encourage Vector towards calming down at all. He gestured, knowing in his bones how to handle this new power, and watched as his father stumbled toward him, straining to resist but not having a shred of luck in doing so. This was Vector's show now, and he wanted to have a little chat.
"What did you to do to Mizael?" There hadn't been any agreements to the tune of not harming the dragon until Vector made his choice. Earlier, Vector might well have thought that his father would behave himself. Now he knew better. He knew exactly how his father thought, even if he'd tried to deny it to himself for more years than he could count. Something had happened to Mizael and Vector wanted to know what.
He could hardly exact a proper revenge if he didn't know the details.
The only answer the king made was a somewhat garbled noise that made no sense at all. Vector gentled his will for a moment, just enough so that the king could say something coherent.
"He's alive!"
Of course he was. The king wanted Mizael's strength tamed to his hand, of course he wouldn't kill the dragon. Not unless Mizael proved untameable and Vector knew that wasn't true, sad as it might be.
But that still didn't answer his question, not properly. "Tell me what you did to him and I won't do it all to you." He might miss a few pieces of skin. Maybe.
It took another twist of energy before the king managed to answer. His words were choked off and harsh, but he told Vector what they'd done, and a fire lit inside the prince's mind at the images painted by them.
He dropped his father where he stood and stalked into the room, waving aside the guards and mages who attempted to come near him with a twitch of one hand. There, in the center of the room hung Mizael, still in human form, wearing nothing but the iron collar and his long golden hair, now damp with sweat, his back covered with the marks of beatings.
At the sound of Vector's approach, Mizael lifted his head, and Vector's heart eased a little to see the fire that still burned there. With the image of the vision the demon had shown him only minutes past, he'd worried…
But now he could see Mizael remained bloody but unbroken, and his heart leaped and capered in delight.
"Mizeal," he murmured, reaching out to touch the side of the other's face. The dragon blinked at his touch, then pulled his head away, eyes narrowing in distrust.
Vector frowned – somehow – then realized what the problem was. "It's me, Vector!" He liked how that sounded. He would have to keep that in mind. He eyed the collar; that would have to go. It really didn't go with Mizael's coloring at all.
Perhaps something in gold would be better…
No. No collars at all, not for Mizael, who'd spared his life when he could've eaten him and brought him food and clothes and done all that he could to help a confused prince try to figure out why his world changed so suddenly.
He dug his talons underneath the collar, feeling the magic of it as he did. Binding magic; the gemstone kept Mizael from speaking and the collar itself kept him from changing shape or using those draconic abilities that he still had in this human form. So long as he wore it, he could never be himself.
So it had to go.
A surge of energy through his fingers and into the collar, one quick jerk that he hoped didn't leave any marks on Mizael, and the offending creation shattered. Mizael drew in a deep, gasping breath, shoulders shaking, before he shook his head and stared at Vector.
"Vector? What happened to you?" He breathed again, his eyes narrowed this time, and began to squirm in his restraints. "Why do you smell like a demon?"
"That's a long story," Vector told him, reaching to get rid of the chains. He snapped through them as if they were little more than half-melted butter and Mizael dropped to the ground, rubbing on his wrists before he stood up. "But now I would like to kill my father and get this kingdom sorted out. Would you care to help?"
Mizael gave him a long, steady, measuring look. Vector couldn't read all of his expressions, even now, but he had a feeling that Mizael would like to have a very long talk at some point in the very near future.
Vector was fine with that. As long as it happened after his father's funeral. Assuming that he bothered to give him one. He hadn't made his mind up on that as of yet.
Then Mizael flexed his fingers much as if they were his talons and smiled a dragon's smile. "As a matter of fact, I would."
And the dragon and the demon turned on those who had brought all of this upon themselves and the screams did not stop for a very long time.
To Be Continued
Note: Next chapter is the last one.