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Title: Maoh, A Day Late
Summary: Yuri arrives in the other world late, and the race for the Boxes has already begun.
Notes: Yuri shows Adalbert the past, how Yuri saw just a single glimpse of war.
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Part III, Chapter 5
I laughed and lived
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Adalbert stopped, raising his sword slightly. His experienced eyes ran over the misty landscape of jagged stones and shadows.
Smirking, he called out, "Come out! You can't hide from me!"
A slight figure stepped out of the shadows and approached him slowly. As features drew into focus, Adalbert could see that it was the boy from before, the one who had been so scared. Or had that just been an act?
"I wasn't trying to hide," the boy said, in a low voice devoid of fear.
In the faint light of the full moon, it took Adalbert a moment to realize that something was different. Magic clung to the boy's skin, making his clothes and hair sway gently.
His hair was black, as were his eyes.
"Double-black," Adalbert muttered to himself, smirking. "Then you must be... Not bad. Even I was fooled. Well then, Demon King, do you plan to strike me down?"
The boy shook his head. "No," he looked away, oddly uncertain. "I didn't come here for that. The reason I wanted to meet you was... because of Julia."
Adalbert's eyes widened, shock catching him off guard for a moment. Just the sound of her name was like a blow to the chest. Then, anger surged. "What do you know about Julia?!" he demanded, gesturing with his sword. "She died because of your precious Great One! Long before you were even born!"
"That's true," the boy said quietly, looking so damnably sad. "But... she hadn't wanted this for you. That's why she didn't want you to know. But if it's already like this... I can tell you, what happened before she died. Do you want to know?"
'Yes,' Adalbert thought immediately. The very notion of finally knowing the truth was enough to make him lose all common sense and caution. Before he knew it, he had taken a step toward the boy, his sword lowered.
But somewhere in his heart, something small and scared shyed away. What kind of truth would Julia have hidden? How terrible would it be, and could what remained of his heart endure it? Or... would it be the opposite...?
Or, perhaps, it would all be lies. Why would the Demon King tell him the truth? Perhaps this was all a distraction, even. Better to strike him down now, before he could act out his whatever ugly plan he had...
The boy held out one delicate hand, and all Adalbert could see was Julia, reaching out so many times, never knowing if anyone was even there, but still so sure and trusting.
Adalbert's large hand closed around that small one, his grip tight and trembling faintly.
The boy's magic surged for a moment, and the shadows around them began to deepen, growing thicker and darker until their surroundings had disappeared completely. Even the sound of the sea against the rocks had vanished into the void.
"This is an illusion," the boy said, his voice even but also unsure. "I don't think I could explain it with just words. I'll show it to you, my memories of how I met Miss Julia."
"Met...?" Adalbert repeated, disbelieving.
The boy nodded. Hadn't he himself agreed he was only born after Julia died? How was that possible?
"The first thing I remember is hearing a voice, from somewhere far away..."
Everything in Adalbert stilled, caught in a single moment, as that voice reached them.
"I understand. I will do my part," a woman said quietly, her voice gentle, soft and so very sad.
'Julia...' Adalbert's heart beat in memory of that voice, that name. 'Julia. Julia.'
"As one of the Demon Tribe, I obey your will, Great One," she said, somewhere he couldn't reach. "If that is what is required of me, then I will die for our great kingdom."
Then, Adalbert understood what he was hearing. It was as he had always suspected, as he had known. Julia had been ordered to die, by the Great One himself. A woman like Julia knew her limits. She knew that saving one less person today would mean living tomorrow and saving a dozen. She was not that foolish, surely...
His teeth gritted painfully, and his hand tightened around the boy's, but he didn't flinch or try to pull away. He just looked sad.
"There are a lot things that aren't clear to me," he said, "but as I understand it, Miss Julia was very perceptive. Or, I guess, she could perceive things that were hidden from other people. Because of that, despite not being a priestess, she could hear the Great One's voice. He was able to relate his plan to her - how the war would end, and what would happen after. And also, who would become the next Demon King."
A faint, ephemeral light slowly filtered through the pitch black around them.
Out of the corner of his eye, Adalbert saw a flicker of movement, something pale against the darkness. His eyes widened as he tried to turn, catching just a glimpse of that longed-for face and figure.
Julia. Julia knelt nearby, cradling something in her arms. Adalbert reached for her, thoughtlessly, but his hand passed through her shoulder, through the strands of her long pale hair, like a ghost. Or rather, she was the ghost, just a memory that had long since passed on.
Julia shifted, her cloak slipping aside to reveal what she held so carefully - a child. She reached out in that same half-confident, half-tentative way to stroke back the boy's dark hair, her sightless eyes still focused on some point far beyond. Slowly, the child stirred and sat up. It was boy, Adalbert could see, dressed in dark pants and a short-sleeved white shirt of strange cut.
In the faint, flickering light it took him a moment to realize the boy's hair was pure black and, as he blinked awake, so were his eyes.
"Are you alright?" Julia asked softly, drawing back a little to give the boy some space.
"Um... I don't know," he mumbled. His eyes were confused and a little unfocused as he looked around the large chamber, which Adalbert finally recognized to be the center of the Tomb. "What's going on? I just... must be having a really weird dream."
"Oh? I suppose so," Julia said, smiling faintly. "I guess you could say this is a dream, of another world and another life."
"Wha.. what does that mean?" the boy wondered. "Mm, how did I even up here?"
"Hm, it's just a dream, right? What's your name?" Julia asked instead of answering, and that was just like her. She had often done that to Adalbert too, floating away from his questions as if nothing could hold her down.
"I'm Yuri," the boy said, getting caught up in her pace.
"I'm Julia," she said, carefully reaching out and ruffling his hair. The boy made a face. "Come on, a dream isn't any good if you don't enjoy it, right?"
"It really felt like a dream. I knew who I was, but I couldn't remember how I got there at all," the same boy, only a little older, said to Adalbert, still holding his hand. "And somehow, it didn't seem to matter much..."
"What's happening? I don't understand," Adalbert said. "Something like traveling to the past, is that really possible?"
"With the Great One's power," the older Yuri replied. "But even so, I suppose this is what you would call a miracle - two hearts, bound by fate, coming together for a single night."
Numbly, Adalbert allowed himself to be drawn after Julia's figure, as she pulled the younger boy out of the cavernous main chamber of the Tomb and into the courtyard. It was early evening outside, and the moon was just rising. As they passed the fountain, he could see that neither he nor the older Yuri had a reflexion. They were simply observers in a memory that had taken place twenty years before.
All they could do was watch.
The water in the fountain rippled oddly as Julia and the younger Yuri passed by, as if drawn toward their very presence.
"Wow," the younger Yuri murmured, looking around in wonder. "The sky is so clear. I've never seen the stars look so bright..."
Julia smiled at his innocent amazement, taking a deep breath of the fresh night air as well. "This is the Great Demon Kingdom," she explained, simultaneously herding him on and letting him lead her. "It's home to us, the Demon Tribe. It's a wonderful place..."
Her voice was tinged in sadness, and Yuri turned to look at her with slowly deepening concern. Without thinking, he gently squeezed her hand.
The sound of footsteps and armor came from around the corner as the Tomb's guardians continued their patrol. Glancing in the direction of the noise, Julia quickly pulled off her cloak and handed it to Yuri.
"Here, put this on," she said.
"But won't you get cold? I feel okay," Yuri protested, making Julia smile and ruffle his hair again.
"Aren't you a gentleman," Julia beamed. Her smile widened as she pressed more firmly and scrubbed his scalp in a classic noogie, the way she had to her poor brother Del so many times.
"Wah, ow, ow, ow! Okay!" Yuri protested, quickly pulling on the cloak and flipping the hood up just to get away from her.
"Lady Von Wincott!" one of the guardian maidens hailed her as the patrol passed by. "Your audience with the Great One..."
"It was successful," Julia said evenly, her smile unchanging. As the guard's eyes slid to Yuri's hooded figure, looking quite ridiculous in the oversized garment, Julia added, "Oh, this is my nursemaid's cousin's daughter's friend. She's quite a tomboy, and her family started getting worried about her finding a husband. Then they heard that if you can get a bearbee to give you a selenia blossom, a husband will be assured, but of course, selenias only grown in the south, so they sent her to their cousin's family in the Karbenikoff territory, but the road was washed out. It's a bit of a long story since then, but she'll be staying in castle for a bit."
After a stuttering pause, the guard nodded, apparently accepting the explanation or perhaps not wanting to inquire about the rest. Saluting, she rejoined the patrol, while Julia turned away, satisfied.
"She? Why am I a she?" Yuri hissed, tugging at her sleeve unhappily.
"Only women are allowed in the Tomb of the Great One," Julia replied serenely.
"...You're really weird," Yuri muttered.
Julia smiled like a saint and herded him outside, or at least in the direction of a wall next to the gate. Yuri felt a bit tempted to let her walk right into it, but his mother's good teachings made him sigh and corrected her course. Julia's smile made him feel like he'd passed some pop quiz.
They walked down the narrow path hand in hand until they drew closer to the main road. As they crested the hill, Yuri stopped, staring in surprise.
The main road was filled with men, horse, wagons and carriages all hurrying onward to and from the capital, a procession of torches all along the path. But they weren't merchants or travelers. Even Yuri could see they were almost all soldiers. He swallowed heavily as he saw the telltale signs of wounds on many of them.
"Miss Julia..."
"The Great Demon Kingdom is a wonderful place," Julia repeated. "But right now, we are at war." Shaking her head, she tried to push Yuri onward, but he stood rooted in place, still staring down at the road. A medical wagon was passing, the most heavily wounded laid out inside it. At the sight of one man, missing an arm, and his companion, his head almost completely swathed in bloody bandages, Yuri paled even further. His hand, in Julia's, had become cold and clammy.
"War...?" he repeated, as if he barely knew how to pronounce the word.
"Do you not have war where you come from?" Julia wondered. Her expression softened, but underneath, there was something pained and despairing. "It's terrible, but it will end. ...If only through more blood."
Yuri shook his head furiously. "That's not right! War shouldn't... war should never happen! People getting hurt like that can't be right!"
"There things worth fighting for," Julia said neutrally.
"Making sure war doesn't happen is worth fighting for," Yuri insisted, puffing up angrily.
Julia smiled, reaching out to pat him on the head. "Yes, I think so too. It's my wish that the Demon Kingdom find peace."
As they moved down to the road, keeping to the side, Yuri's troubled eyes still followed the wounded men. Julia squeezed his hand, but he could tell that her fingers were shaking too. Looking up at her, Yuri could see the strain beneath her kind, gentle features.
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((This chapter... what was I thinking when I planned it? No, really. I don't even know. Obviously, this is basically episode 52 Conrad Standing Tall, but I also used a bit of episode 44 The Phantom Girl. Julia is haaaard.))
In my mind, Yuri calls Julia "nee-san". "Neesan, you have to believe in your friend!" "You're horrible, neesan!"