~.~.~

Title: A Day Late

Summary: Yuri arrives in the other world late, and the race for the Boxes has already begun.

Notes: Maxine of Small Cimaron claims responsibility for what happened to Caloria and receives Justice, in Yuri's first, impressive act as Demon King.

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Part I, Chapter 2

First step

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"The refugee camp is down this road. They should be able to help you get back where you belong," the old woman said, pointing down the left forks in the large road leading out of the city. Yuri stared at the large, strong hand that appeared out of her cloak. In turn, unnoticed by him, the woman's attention lingered on their strange clothes.

"What about you?" Yuri asked, shaking away his surprise.

"Oh, I'll be fine, kiddo," the woman said, chuckling. "I've been looking for survivors. Though there probably isn't anyone left to find..."

"Thanks for all your help," Murata said with a smile. He waved as the woman turned back to head into the ruined city. Yuri glanced at the fork in the road, but neither made any move down the left path.

"I don't really get it, but we have to close this box, right?" Yuri declared, cutting off whatever Murata had planned to say. He nodded to himself, as if the reasoning was clear.

His friend could only shake his head. "That's not really..." Murata trailed off, sighing as he met Yuri's determined gaze.

Of course, Yuri had already made up his mind. There would be no talking Yuri out of this, Murata knew. Yuri was never the type to back down once he decided that something had to be done. Murata was all too familiar with that particular stubborn tendency. And judging by the effects, how comparatively limited they were, he could only assume that the wrong Key had been used. They might have a chance. A very slim chance.

Not that Yuri cared. And what was Murata supposed to do, knock him out and haul him? ...Well, that wouldn't work for long. He sighed again.

"Made up your mind just like that, did you? That's so like you, Shibuya," he muttered instead.

"Hey, the way I see it, we ended up here for a reason. And I can't just leave some cursed weapon of mass destruction lying around, causing problems for so many people," Yuri said, nodding to himself. To him, it was that simple.

'Simpleton,' Murata thought. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "The bell rings on the right, and always just before we feel the tremors. So the epicenter must be in that direction," Murata reasoned. "That should be enough. We'll be able to tell when we get close. It's not exactly something you can miss."

Neither noticed a cloaked figure following them surreptitiously as they turned down the right-hand path.

~.~.~

Murata had been right. It wasn't hard to find the place where the Box had been opened. They could both feel it as they got closer - a slowly pulsing miasma that permeated the air and the ground. The tremors became more and more common until they blurred into a constant vibration beneath their feet, which occasionally crescendo'd into a full quake.

Even without the feeling of spiritual taint, the location was clear. As they traveled onward, the terrain became more and more ravaged. The ground had been shattered and overturned, the road all but erased from existence.

Soon, the land gave way completely.

"Is this it? It must have fallen into the sea," Yuri commented, staring down into the waves, which almost appeared to be boiling, letting off clouds of mist - or maybe steam.

"Look," Murata pointed along the curving edge of the new crater. Through the fog, they could just make out the figure of a soldier - apparently standing guard.

Reaching out, Murata tried to pull Yuri back, out of sight, only to miss as Yuri moved forward, waving. "Hello! Hey, over here!" he called out.

"Shibuya, wait! We don't even know what country they're from!" Murata protested, but it was already too late. The soldier had spotted them and was sounding the alarm.

Heedless of the commotion, Yuri asked, frowning, "Why does that matter? We can ask them for help."

"Don't just assume they're going to help!" Murata said. His shoulders slumped in defeat as the sentry was joined by several more soldiers and all of them began to advance on the two boys, spears raised menacingly. "I don't suppose you could use an illusion to hide us," he wondered without much hope.

"No way," Yuri said dismissively. "I'm just a beginner, remember? It doesn't work when someone is looking straight at you already. They'll be able to break out of any illusion right away."

"Of course," Murata muttered under his breath.

As the soldiers neared, both boys raised their hands in a disarming gesture, Yuri adding a friendly smile. "Um, hi. We were just looking around the area. I promise, we're not here to cause any trouble."

Judging by their expressions, the soldier didn't believe them.

~.~.~

At least the soldiers hadn't just run them through, Murata thought with a depressed sort of optimism. Next to him, Yuri was less sanguine about the situation.

"Ow! We're going, you don't have to shove!" he protested as one of the soldiers prodded him sharply with the butt of his spear. "Where are you taking us anyway?"

"Keep quiet and move!" the soldier barked in reply, hitting Yuri again. "Lord Maxine will decide what to do with you!"

Before Yuri could say something to anger the soldiers even more, Murata quickly stepped in. "Listen, gentlemen, this is just a big misunderstanding. We're refugees. We were trying to go to the camp, but we took the wrong turn. That's all. We didn't mean to trespass!"

He didn't have much hope that just talking would work, and as expected, the soldiers ignored him. As Yuri opened his mouth to protest again, Murata elbowed him sharply. Finally taking the hint, Yuri fell silent. Or perhaps he had noticed they were approaching what must have been their destination - a hastily thrown together camp on the edge of the crater, with several winches and lines leading into the roiling waters. More soldiers quickly moved to join their group as they approached.

"Who are they?" one of the soldiers asked another, Murata quickly losing track among the identical uniforms and concealing helmets.

"Dunno. We picked them up skulking around nearby," a soldier answered.

"They don't look like Calorians."

"Do you think they're from Big Cimaron?"

"Are they from that ship that was sighted?"

The murmur of the soldiers' voices rose as everyone began to talk at once. Though some attention had been taken off the two boys, they were still surrounded, with no chance of making a break for it. Glancing at Yuri, Murata suspected it would have been pointless to even consider the option.

"What is going on here?!" a new voice cut through the hubbub. Instantly, every soldier fell silent and snapped to attention. They parted quickly, clearing the way for a tall man with long brown hair, who strode toward the boys with an expression of fury on his face. Staring at his ponytail, Yuri made an odd sort of choking sound.

"What is this?" the man snapped. "Who are these louts? Spies? Infiltrators?"

"We're not-!" Yuri tried to protest, only to be cut off.

"Sir! We found them at the crater, Lord Maxine!" one of the soldiers sounded off, back ramrod straight.

Maxine's eyes narrowed in a harsh glare. "So they are spies," he decided. "Where are you from, scum? Big Cimaron? Svelera, come to gloat? Or that detestable Demon Kingdom?"

Yuri's reflexive reaction at the last name had more to do with it being the only country he recognized, but it still looked like guilt to Maxine's paranoid eyes.

"I knew it! I knew it was only a matter of time before you Demon Tribesmen crawled out once that ship showed up. Well, tie them up. We'll get some answers out of them. The Demon Tribe are supposed to be the ones who know the most about the Boxes, aren't they?" Maxine sneered.

"We're not spies!" Yuri protested, his earlier plan for diplomacy overridden by righteous indignation. "And you've got no right to take us prisoner!"

"I was sent to this territory by His Majesty, the king of Small Cimaron himself!" Maxine shot back, sneering. "And you are clearly attempting to gain information about our use of the Forbidden Box!"

"So you were the ones who caused all this devastation?" Yuri said, his expression darkening. "Why did you do that? What were you thinking?"

"That's right. We opened the Forbidden Box, the Ends of the Earth, here," Maxine declared. His expression showed not a single shred of shame regarding the death and destruction his actions had caused. If anything, he appeared triumphant, though there was a subtle strain in his expression.

"Caloria's fake lord tried to go behind our backs and deal with Big Cimaron, and her people tried to refuse to fight for us. So we used this opportunity to test the Key we had acquired." Maxine's lips twisted into a smirk as he made a show of looking around the ruined landscape - the torn up earth, the gaping crater and roiling sea. "The results were certainly impressive. It'll be a long time before this territory dares to rise up again."

Yuri could only stare as Maxine laughed, a tinge of madness in his voice. He couldn't find words to express the feelings welling up inside him. Anger - fury, even - struggled with a deep-seated horror. This was wrong, on a level Yuri could barely grasp. This man hadn't just led to the deaths of innumerable people and the destruction of an entire city - he had caused it with full intent. No matter what the people of Caloria had been doing, they hadn't deserved this.

Murata glanced at him nervously as Yuri's hands clenched into tight fists and he began to tremble. He couldn't tell if Yuri was shaking in rage or fear.

Even as the ground shuddered again, almost sending Murata to his knees, Yuri remained frighteningly still.

"You..." Yuri finally forced the words out, each one almost sticking in his throat. "You... had no right..."

Maxine sneered. "Caloria is just a territory of Small Cimaron. They were the ones who had no right to get so full of themselves! In the end, at least they could be of some use to us - showing the world the power we now hold!" Maxine chuckled again. "Once we retrieve the Box and the Key, and Small Cimaron's future will be assured!"

"Small Cimaron's future? Of some use? People lost their lives! And it still hasn't stopped! Those left behind might never be able to return to their homes!" Yuri yelled. "All for what?!"

"Shut up!" Maxine snapped back, gesturing to the soldiers. One stepped forward and clobbered Yuri heavily across the back, sending him to his knees. "We'll make use of you too. You there, ready the retrieval gear!"

The soldier he had pointed to hesitated for a moment, something that Murata noted with narrowed eyes. But under Maxine's glare, others readily hurried to the winches set up near the edge of the crater.

"You see, we made a bit of a miscalculation," Maxine mused, watching the soldiers struggle to wind the cables, which were continually being drawn back and tangled by the sea's chaotic flow. "Under the power of the Box, this entire area collapsed into the sea, taking the Box with it. The currents are too strong for any ship to approach, so we've had to send men to retrieve from here."

'Those cables are from ships' anchors. They must have been repurposed,' Murata thought, noting the thickness and strength of the cables. 'But they're so worn. Just how strong are those currents? There's no way anyone could survive long enough to reach the Box.'

Finally, the cables were dragged free of the water, and the array on the end appeared over the cliff. It was also repurposed, from a ship's cargo hauling system, really just hooks and nets to wrap around the Box. But tied to the array was something else - soldiers in Small Cimaron uniforms, stripped of the outer armor and boots.

Or rather, those were the soldiers' bodies.

Murata could easily imagine what had happened. They had been sent to try to reach the Box, but the strong currents had pulled them under and...

With a faint expression of disdain, Maxine gestured for his remaining subordinates to untie the bodies from the cables. Strolling up to them, he toed one corpse, then suddenly kicked it over the edge, back into the sea.

"They've all failed," Maxine stated dispassionately. "But maybe you'll have more luck."

'This is really bad,' Murata thought. 'We'll die for sure. We need to get out of here.' His eyes darted across the temporary camp and the soldiers gathered around them. 'There aren't too many of them. We might be able to make a break for it...'

He glanced toward Yuri, hoping to somehow convey that they needed a distraction, something Yuri should be more than able to provide. But the sight that greeted him made Murata pause.

Yuri was still kneeling where he had been knocked down. His head hung low, his expression hidden. But something other than the wind stirred his hair, which darkened and appeared to lengthen even as Murata watched. The soldier who had approached them to carry out Maxine's orders froze, staring in shock as well.

A sudden, violent tremor sent everyone stumbling. Only Yuri remained unmoved. Then, in the next instance, a powerful aura erupted from his body, sending the soldiers around him flying and forcing Murata to shield his face. Winds ripped across the camp, flattening the tents, and a violent pressure kept everyone pinned to the ground.

"You, who would throw away lives so callously, both of innocents and of your own men, have no right to such power! You touched what should have never been disturbed! And in your arrogance, you brought ruin to this land! Your crimes must be punished!" the Demon King declared, sweeping his arm out in a grand gesture. "Justice be done!" The sea surged behind him, a tidal wave bursting from the crater and engulfing the Small Cimaron contingent.

The waters flowed across the cliff, then drained away, taking with them Maxine and most of his men. Only Murata and a single soldier, who had crowded close to the two, remained beside the crater.

Having passed judgment and no longer concerned with their fate, wherever they had been taken to, Yuri turned to face the sea. As he approached the edge of the crater, the waves suddenly parted, forming a path in front of him. In the center of the newly-revealed seabed, the Box gave off an ominous light, all the more obvious as the sky darkened.

"Shibuya! You have to open the Box and take out the Key!" Murata yelled.

The Demon King gave no indication of hearing his advice as he paused for a moment on the edge, then jumped off into the caldera.

He covered what should have been a fair distance with a single, graceful leap, landing just a few feet from the Box. The pressure of the forbidden object pushed even the Demon King back before he gritted his teeth and forced himself to take a step forward instead.

Yuri refused to give up, even as he felt the malevolent power of the Forbidden Box envelop him. Up close, he truly recognized its nature. He couldn't leave something like this where it could continue to poison the world and where it could be used again.

Still, it felt like his skin was being flayed off.

That was only an illusion, Yuri knew. The damage was being done deeper, invisibly, to his magic and soul. Even with the power he had suddenly been able to grasp, he wouldn't hold out for long.

He could see his hand, visually undamaged, reach out to the Box and grab onto its edge.

The sensation was like taking hold of a live wire. All the muscles in his arm clenched simultaneously, spasming. Yuri could not have released the Box even if he had wanted to, and he swore he could feel something reaching out toward him, trying to take hold of his soul.

'Open the Box and take out the Key,' he repeated to himself. 'Open the Box, take out the Key.'

Throwing all his weight into the motion, he pushed the lid up and tossed it back. The power inside the Box shuddered, letting him loose, and burst forth into the sky.

Yuri squinted against the light, forcing himself to stand his ground. Inside the Box was... an arm. Someone's severed arm was the only thing inside the otherwise plain container. If he hadn't needed to focus his entire being on simply withstanding the Box's power, Yuri would have felt nauseous.

He tried to reach inside, only to scream in surprise as his arm felt as if it had been dipped in acid. Reflexively, he flinched away, the malevolent energy shoving him even further away.

Beyond his limited perception, the power of the Box was once more becoming agitated. The earth shook, each tremor stronger than the last. The edge of the crater began to collapse, the affected area widening. With his attention fixed on Yuri's efforts, Murata couldn't move back in time as the earth gave way under his feet.

To his surprise, the soldier who had doggedly remained beside him pulled Murata back and away from the edge. His helmet had been knocked away, revealing bright orange hair and piercing blue eyes that seemed oddly familiar.

There wasn't time for that. Murata turned away, looking back to where Yuri remained slumped next to the Forbidden Box.

"It's not enough," Murata muttered to himself. "He hasn't even had time to acclimate to this world." He ignored the way the soldier stared at him in surprise as he lifted both hands and held them toward Yuri's bowed figure. "Let's do this, Shibuya. You never back down. I know you haven't given up yet."

'It's not over till it's over!' they shared the same thought.

The magic in both of them pulsed together, synchronizing and strengthening. With that renewed surge of strength, Yuri pushed himself into action. Grabbing the edge of the Box and levering himself forward, Yuri reached inside, his fingers scraping across the wooden bottom before coming into contact with worn cloth and...

Yuri felt his stomach curl at the sensation. He felt sick. His hand wrapped around a strong wrist, and he pulled with all his might.

Murata gasped, his legs giving out under him. He felt the moment the Key left the Box. The seal had weakened, but it slammed back into place forcefully, cutting off the malevolent power inside. For a moment, everything was frozen in the same strangely still panorama.

Then, Yuri's figure wavered, collapsing as well. Around him, the standing waves began to fall, with his power no longer forcing the water away.

"Shibuya!" Muarata yelled, reaching toward his friend just before he was swallowed up by the sea.

The bright-haired soldier's hand on his shoulder pulled him back, barely in time to avoid a final violent tidal wave that rose from the crater and swept across the land beside the new cove. When the water receded, Murata saw with relief the figure of his friend and an innocuous wooden box, washed up on the shore.

"He actually did it," Murata mumbled, sagging. "What a way to start your reign, 27th Demon King."

~.~.~

"To think those Small Cimaron fools tried to match us and ended up losing control of a Box," Belar mused. Slumped on his throne, the king of Big Cimaron let his head rest against one fist. "Well, it might be for the best. Now, no one will be able to deny the power we hold - the power of one of the Forbidden Boxes. And of course, it's Key," he added, turning his smirk on the man standing respectfully behind his throne.

Conrart bowed deeply, his expression unwavering. "Of course, King Belar."

"Still, it's better not to allow those peons to get their hands on such power," Belar said, his eyes narrowing as he stared up at one of the tapestries depicting Cimaron's glorious past. "It's unfortunate you were unable to intercept the Box at Svelera, Lord Weller. You will also be in charge of the next expedition to recover another Box. Perhaps you'll be more successful this time."

Again, the man behind him gave no apparent reaction, making Belar frown. 'Weller holds the Key I need, but I can't trust him. A man who betrayed one master can easily turn on another,' Belar thought.

"Unfortunately, it seems that the Box Small Cimaron acquired has changed hands. According to my spies' reports, it was retrieved by the Demon Tribe. Those savages," Belar scowled.

The information was news to Conrart, though only the way his gaze shifted to Belar showed his surprise.

"Keep an eye out for them. You should be familiar with their methods, Lord Weller," Belar continued, though Conrart didn't respond to his jibe. Watching with interest, Belar added, "Especially not with those rumors of them finally finding themselves a new Demon King."

This time, the reaction was clear. Conrart stiffened, his eyes widening, though he forced himself to relax a moment later.

'So there is something Weller cares about,' Belar thought. He smirked. 'Well, that doesn't matter in the end. His arm is all I really need.'

Turning away, Belar carelessly finished, "They may seek another Box for themselves as well. That can't be allowed." He waved one hand in clear dismissal, having gotten what he sought.

Bowing again, Conrart backed away into the shadows. He let out a heavy breath as he stepped out into the empty hallway. The deferential expression slipped off his face, replaced by a cold, blank look.

"With this, I'll be in the best position to make sure that Box doesn't fall into Belar's hands," he said to himself, "but..."

He reached into the inner pocket of the Big Cimaron uniform. His fingers slid over the surface of the pendant he no longer felt worthy of wearing but had not been able to pass to the person it rightfully belonged to.

"Has he really arrived? Yuri..." Conrart sighed. He had already made his decision. There was no backing out now. "I'll do anything," he promised. "Whatever it takes."

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