Boss Rush
XXII: Messenger of Peace
Unbeknownst to Ryuusei, Duel Spirits had their own methods of long-distance travel despite the lack of physical body, funds or even voices by which normal humans could perceive them, and several of these ways were faster than anything the mortal world had imagined. This effectively meant that approximately three hours even before the arrival of the ferry to Neo Domino Jetty, five Duel Spirits were already high-tailing it across water to the island in question.
"First place!" Hiita crowed as Aussa and her barrelled through the veil between worlds, hidden away on the island the humans used to hold the Sangenma once.
"Hiita!" Aussa scolded. "We're supposed to be watching out for Ryuusei-sama! Don't take it as a joke!"
"It's fine, right?" Hiita complained. "I mean, the Summer King right now is way better than Tytannial ever was, right?"
Aussa sighed. "It's not about whether the king is better or not. It's that..." she trailed off as two more appeared by the portal.
"Oh, someone came before us." There was completely no inflection in Eria's voice as Wynn and her noticed their fellows.
"Wynn! Eria!" Aussa greeted with forced cheer. "Erm, wow, all four of us in the same place for the first in a long time. Where were you?"
"Lia Fáil," Eria tonelessly answered. "With the Winter Court."
Aussa could almost visualise Hiita's spine straightening behind her. "Oh... did you see Dharc?"
"I did!" Wynn smiled. "That guy finally mastered Familiar-Possession!"
"I know!" Aussa exclaimed. "It was only three months ago that I saw him, and he already mastered it! I wonder how Lyna and him are..."
"But, if you're with Winter, then we'll be facing across, right?" Hiita spoke up.
Complete silence greeted them.
"H- Hiita!" Aussa exclaimed. "L- Let's not talk about those negative things when we meet each other for the first time in a very long time, shall we... oh, right, Wynn, how did you join up with Winter?"
"The Flamvell attacked my clan," Wynn simply answered.
For a moment, no one said anything. "Then, Hiita, I thought you were the type to be independent," Wynn finally threw in the towel.
"The Verz tribe attacked the tribe," Hiita scowled.
The tension between the two seemed to grow more intense, that is, until a hooked staff landed. "Alright," Dharc wearily shook his head. "Stop arguing already and follow me. Or do you want your precious king to be horribly lost somewhere?"
"Ah!" Aussa started. "I forgot to tell Ryuusei-sama how to get here!"
"Is there a need?" Hiita scowled. "He's got Marguerite, the Witch of the Time Flower can teach him."
"You're right," Aussa nodded sheepishly as they five gathered in a circle. "Come on, Hiita. We should prepare the welcome."
Words of power whispered, the Charmers were then swept up in a wave as they were cast to the Shine Palace. There, history would be made... hopefully...
"Are you nervous?" Marguerite whispered. The three had found their way back to accommodation and stored away their medals, and were now trying to sleep. At least, two were resting while the last debated inter-world politics with an invisible Duel spirit.
"Yes. No. Maybe." Ryuusei admitted. "What... what did I do? Just now?"
"You turned her into part of the land," Marguerite dismissed. "All living beings will return to nature one day. It is merely a matter of time."
"I... I turned her into stone," Ryuusei emphasised.
"It is within the right of every individual to defend themselves," Marguerite dismissed.
"Marguerite! I can't just turn people to stone!"
"Why ever not?" Marguerite questioned. "Queen Titania used to do such a thing. Why, we even had to use some of the punished as target practice when the gardens got too crowded."
Ryuusei swallowed. "But... but it's not right! That's not good!"
Marguerite blinked slowly. "If they have defied or attempted revolt against the regnant monarch, obviously some time in reflection is due, whether in the process of petrifaction or thrown into the dungeons," the witch enunciated.
"But... but what about good and evil?" Ryuusei was grasping at straws.
"Good and evil are human concepts, and so obviously cannot be applied to something that is not human." Marguerite answered.
"But... never mind," Ryuusei gave up debating morals. "Can you tell me which areas are we still supposed to hold onto? And, how are we supposed to get to the place, anyway? You don't think that it's going to be just us coming to the human world?"
"Of course not," Marguerite dismissed. "Tribal leaders from both Summer and Winter will be present, not to mention the arbitrator, Kuraz the Light Monarch, and the Winter Queen. We will be going to the Imaginary World. It is high time you learned, anyway. As for your first question..."
Petals fluttered, flickering to conjure a map or a scribble thereof of the landscape. "Lia Fáil to the north, with the Ice Barrier Mountains and the Dragon Mountains encapsulating the Ice Barrier Plains," Marguerite indicated the northernmost part. "From there, to the west is the city of the Luminous Spark, east is the Shogunate's sphere, held by the Castle of Mist at its stronghold. Our stronghold, Cloch de Fáil, is within the Deep Forest, around the Spiritual Forest that skirts Black Garden and edging the Closed Forest where the Ancient Forest may coincide with Naturia Forest where most food supplies are gotten. Further yet north from the forests is the Searing Land, Muspellheim, which stands between the Shogunate and Cloch de Fáil and the Forest territory immediately and stretches to touch more forest, where the Secret Village of the Spellcasters may be."
"So we have to secure the Searing Land, and Naturia Forest the most," Ryuusei guessed. "Since these were taken over by Winter."
"And since the Shogunate has traditionally recognised Summer as its nominal ruler, we leave them alone," Marguerite added. "The lands in between are for debate between Summer and Winter, as always."
"We have to solve this, then," Ryuusei tapped the disputed area as he heard a tapping by the windowpane. He looked up to see Chase stare at the large bird. The white beast spread its wings, beckoning at him.
"Queen Winter has found the gateway," Marguerite intoned. "Come, then."
"I'm going for a walk," Ryuusei told the other two as he got up.
"Right," came the twin choruses that he tuned out.
Even as he walked out of the dormitory, Ryuusei suddenly realised that he was under-dressed in just jeans, a T-shirt with the Blue blazer thrown over it, and sneakers. "Marguerite... are you sure I can face Kuraz like this?"
"What- oh," Marguerite dismissed as they followed the bird. "Silly child. There are tribal leaders out there that will dress much less than you. Although... I will show you another trick later."
Ryuusei followed the beckoning spirit, for it could only be a spirit if Chase and he could see it but Rex never raised his head. It led him down a path through a copse of flowering trees, the petals seemingly giving a luminescent air to the muddy path itself under faint moonlight.
King of Summer...
Ryuusei stopped abruptly at the whisper. "What was that?"
"Mere shades," Marguerite dismissed. "They will fade with time. Heel, Blizzed!"
The bird, or Blizzed, beckoned further. Ryuusei was beginning to stumble. "I should've brought my flash-light..."
Marguerite coughed delicately. "You are the Summer King, Monarch of Land and Light. Make one."
"Huh?" Ryuusei glanced at her. "I don't think I have any light-based Duel Monsters either..." he trailed off under the witch's glance, which communicated perfectly that he was, again, missing the point.
Marguerite pointedly held up an index finger. "Flamme."
A small flame of violet flared to life on the tip of her finger.
"Your turn." Marguerite indicated. "All the rulers may bend the aspect by which they rule to their whim, to an extent. No force of nature may be completely tamed, not without changing deeply."
Ryuusei frowned down the darkened path, the beckoning white Blizzed, and swallowed. "This is going to take a while."
Calling power had been easier than first thought; in a way, Madame Shimotsuki had taught him how to control his psychic powers this way. In a way, he just had to remove the idea of a DuelDisk and focus on creating the images himself, ignoring any principle of physics and/or common sense that screamed impossibility. A literal form of mind over matter... It was like magic, and perhaps it could have been a form of magic. The darkness split in a wave of brightness, taking the form of wings and tail.
"Took you long enough," Marguerite murmured. "Still, I hardly expected a shape as much as a mass of flames for a first attempt."
Ryuusei groaned at the flying bird, wiping sweat from his brow. "What?"
"A crow," Marguerite cast a look at Blizzed. "Blizzed is a raven. In short, the opposite of Winter's chosen messengers."
Ryuusei grumbled as he followed along, the flames condensed in the form of the crow lighting the way in warm orange as Blizzed grunted, following along. Soon the large white raven alighted on an outstretched arm, and Ryuusei nodded in greeting to its mistress as his own alighted by his side, the bird tiny in comparison.
"You've finally learned that trick," Setsuka commented tonelessly. "I thought you might have chosen a different emblem."
Ryuusei looked down. "I may have been focused on origami."
"Hmm," Setsuka dismissed the bird as it flew, grunting lowly. "The gateway is below this hill."
Ryuusei took a look at her black uniform with white hem. "A- Are you sure-?"
"Come," Setsuka commanded, walking in. The fire-crow took flight, beckoning as it glided. Ryuusei rushed after, his feet almost tripping as he walked in.
The night air grew even colder as he followed, though the worst must have been kept at bay as the crow floated by him, the smells of wet earth dampened by cold. Around him, in the cave, spectral colours shifted, faded, changed, and melded like the Aurora Borealis against the very rock itself. Obviously, Setsuka had set up while he was settling his daily Duel.
"Apart," Setsuka whispered commandingly.
The colours shifted, their flow deepening, the flow quickening. A light breeze blew past, bringing in the earthy scent of water and mud, along with that distinct fresh smell of plant life and grass, rich and fruitful. Dark greens and bright yellow came to dominate, and a moment later resolved themselves into rolling fields of flat green with eggshell-white walls of a fort visible in the distance, high and strong.
Sunlight played from overhead, the orange-yellow darker light of dusk or dawn, and the breeze played over their hair and faces like a lover's fingers.
It was only then that Ryuusei realised, that the way was open. She had brought it forth so smoothly that where image gave way to reality was indistinct.
"You will learn," Marguerite scowled, floating beside him. "Anyone can do this. It is merely a matter of focus."
"We're... we're back," Ryuusei whispered, deciding to suspend disbelief like he had when the Madame had taken him through her full range of abilities. "But... the Luminous Spark is so far..."
"To use the power of Summer that dwells with you, you must discard the ideas of human rationality," Setsuka's words snapped him back to reality. "We will travel by air."
"Huh?" Ryuusei blinked as she raised a hand. "We're currently in the middle of-"
"This is the Sogen, which flows by the river of nine diversion, or Élivágar as it is called in this world," Setsuka answered. "Come to your queen, Clausolas!"
Mere moments had passed as a high-pitched whistling filled the air and overhead, the sleek bird-like machine descended, gleaming in the faint light.
"Call something large enough to hold you," Setsuka told him as she mounted it. Despite that there was no saddle by which to make mounting easy, she swung up as easily as if she had caught a stirrup in mid-air. "Of course, it must be a creature that is under Summer's command that will come to you. Otherwise..."
"I don't have to call its name, right?" Ryuusei muttered, looking away.
"Names have power, but feel free to do what you wish," Marguerite, now solid, answered. She was riding her staff like a broom again, the flowered end pointing back as she floated. "Well?"
Ryuusei put his fingers to his lips and whistled. For a while, nothing happened until a whinny split the silence and gallops sounded across soft ground, the Firewing Pegasus folding its wings as it slowed to a canter with its hooves touching the ground.
"Erm..." the young man regarded the flaming horse warily, running a cautious hand along its mane. Once satisfied that the mane was not about to set him on fire, it took a while to figure out how to mount a horse bareback.
"Bravo," Setsuka clapped as he took a running jump, grabbing the horse as a vaulting horse before neatly sliding to grip with his thighs.
"Never thought that Kajiki-sensei would have something good to teach..." Ryuusei muttered mutinously.
The equine monster pawed for a moment, testing, before it started on a trot that accelerated to a canter and gallop quickly, before a single thump and the flaming wings spread wide. For security, Ryuusei had ended up hooking his legs on either side of the wings' roots, which hardly seemed to disturb the horse as he held on for dear life.
Beside him, Marguerite was laughing. Setsuka was primly riding the Ally of Justice monster side-saddle and hardly seemed affected that they were flying.
"How are you not slipping off?" he demanded hotly. The Pegasus gave a whinny to which he responded with an apologetic pat. Again came the looks.
The Luminous Spark came closer, the wings of metallic and flaming spread wide as the walls loomed against, gliding with a grace and speed that should not have been theoretically possible. They did a circle around the towers, gliding out as they reached a stretch of turrets.
It was at the looming turrets of the Shine Palace that the Firewing Pegasus harrumphed, its hooves ready to lash out and its wings spread low. It suddenly reared up, the force billowing against the fiery wings like a parachute, the drag force slowing enough for the Pegasus to hit ground at a fast gallop. Ryuusei groaned, grabbing on for dear life.
There was a soft scream as Firewing Pegasus slowed to a canter soon enough, and then to a trot, right before it stopped altogether, pawing the ground. Beside it, Clausolas landed with a scratchy sound and a soft caw. Setsuka dismounted at the same time Marguerite floated to a stop, the ice queen fairly unperturbed.
"Oh my," the kindly white-haired woman murmured. Her black dress puffed out in the old Victorian styles, all lace and frills of caramel brown against orange petticoats, and a tiara as fine as spun sugar was nestled against white curls. "Why, I never."
"I'm so sorry, Ma'am," Ryuusei bowed as he helped her up. "Erm, it's my first time flying."
"I can certainly tell," the older woman, or Duel Spirit, giggled. "I am Queen Tiaramisu of the Madolche, Chatelaine of Madolche Château. Present yourself, please."
Ryuusei looked flustered. "Erm, er..."
"Lady Tiaramisu, we are held up for time," Marguerite interrupted, checking a large pocket watch Ryuusei had never seen. "King Summer desperately needs to make himself presentable."
The Duel spirit flushed, if that were even possible. "Oh, you mean, this young man... well, really? How impressive."
"Thank you, Ma'am," Ryuusei bowed as he was badgered off into the castle.
"Oh, don't be so nervous, Your Highness!" the older woman smiled.
"Our arbitrator will be the Herald of the Gentle Darkness," Marguerite imparted as they charged desperately through before being whisked into an alcove. "Hmm... it's time for that trick. Tailor of the Fickle."
"Isn't that-" Ryuusei stuttered as his blazer changed shape, and in the blink of an eye he was wearing a sort of armour in deep red.
"No," Setsuka shook her head, her black uniform glittering with something like diamond-dust before it changed entirely to a gown of blue-white, the hems edged in stark deep blue lace and a headpiece of finely spun gleaming metal of a sort tangled on her crown like a tiara, if tiaras seem to glitter soullessly on the crowns of people. "No armour; he will give the wrong impression. A crown is unnecessary at this juncture, this preliminary meeting is to make clear who is friend and foe."
She considered as it changed. "And to master the art of the impossible dressing."
"This isn't going to fade at midnight or something, right?" Ryuusei asked suspiciously as Marguerite clicked her fingers to change his clothings from a surprisingly comfortable sheikh's robes in gold and green, to a light-armour tunic in red and gold, to something else Ryuusei was not quite sure of but resembled a dress.
"It will change back to your mortal cloths when we get back to the human world," Marguerite distractedly answered. "Officially, you are not King of Summer, though all of Summer will recognise you as such. Therefore, your title shall be the one you inherited upon the death of Tytannial, that of Night Rose Knight."
"Oh," Ryuusei sighed.
"But, everyone will still use 'Your Majesty' to address you," Setsuka interjected.
"To us, you are the one who holds Titania's soul," Marguerite whispered. "Though not everyone will agree with you, you are the one who holds the full might of Summer, powers a tier below the gods and the archangels but powerful nevertheless."
"I... it feels horrible," Ryuusei admitted. "What happens if I screw up."
Marguerite smiled. "You said before, you feel responsible for we of Summer, even though you have met only Aussa, Hiita and I, and your experience with Summer is not positive. Time will improve you, I assure you."
"But you're trusting your lives to me," Ryuusei breathed.
"It is either we trust you, or this blood-sickened peace continues," Marguerite murmured.
This blood-sickened peace born of fear is what keeps us apart, Ryuusei... I will break it open, so that you and my daughter will finally know not to be isolated by power.
Ryuusei's eyes hardened as the clothings fixed to some light armour, dark blue-black and almost purple, motes shimmering here and there like a night sky of stars, the cloak a deep crimson to swath around him. "Let's do this."
A corner of Setsuka's lips turned up as they exited the alcove to walk down hallways, the corridors surprisingly devoid of any living presence or even guards. It was when they reached the double doors after turning a corner, Marguerite being surprisingly familiar with the place, that Ryuusei realised that the entire population of the palace must have been either at the castle gates, or in this very hall.
Ryuusei had been here exactly once, in his first year when Youkai had somehow escaped to the spirit worlds*. The hall was elegantly simple, a high ceiling with deluxe decoration, a long table and high-backed chairs. Granted, at that time it was just after the Lightsworn Revolution, tending to his knuckles injured after a scuffle with Ryko the Lightsworn Hunter, and he and the rest of the people that came with him had had a hero's welcome, not a king's welcome. This time, either side of the table was already fully occupied, if not by flaming monsters and people in garish shades and tones of red, golds and greens, then by freezing monsters and people in blues, violets and blacks. Ryuusei spotted the stoic Arcana Knight Joker standing at attention by what he assumed to be the warm, or Summer faction, and opposite him was the Chevalier de Fleur by the Winter faction. Only the two knights were silent; the others were currently in an argumentative deadlock that sounded like it could break out into violence at any moment.
A voice coughed by the doors. "His Royal Highness, styled Night Rose Knight, by the agreements of the land Inis Fáil, and to the Imaginary World of the Gensokyo, within the expanse of the floating world of Ukiyo, and by the Illusory Gods of the twelve worlds, and the gods of the three thousand worlds beyond, monarch of the Summer, Chatelaine of Cloch de Fáil, titled Lord of the Black Garden and Master of All Arts."
All parties stopped immediately to stare at him, some with wonder, some with curiosity and others with hostility tempered by something. Ryuusei shifted under the collective gaze.
Another voice. "Her Majesty, styled Lady of the Frost Moon, titled Great Queen of Phantoms, by the agreements of the land Inis Fáil, and to the Imaginary World of the Gensokyo, within the expanse of the floating world of Ukiyo, and by the Illusory Gods of the twelve worlds, and the gods of the three thousand worlds beyond monarch of the Winter, Empress of the Six Domiciles of the Ice Barrier, Queen Winter, Yami, Gensokyo and any and all Dominions beyond, Queen of Air and Darkness, Chatelaine of Lia Fáil-"
"Enough already," Setsuka cut in. "Show us."
From either side appeared the four girls, Aussa and Hiita answering Ryuusei's jerky nod with wan smiles as they showed him to either side of the very head of the wide table. Kuraz the Light Monarch shone there, and beside him was the malevolent presence of Delg the Dark Monarch. Between them was a man in a crimson jacket, his head bowed. Beside each other were Lyna and Dharc respectively, each holding up slates and scribbling furiously.
"Why, you made it," the Madolche monarch greeted him as Ryuusei sat. "Lovely to see you, Your Highness."
"Please, call me Ryuusei," Ryuusei debated titles for a moment. "Tiaramisu-sama," he finally settled.
"Oh, Tiaramisu is the family name," the queen laughed. "Well, it's the only name I have that's frankly usable. I'm no longer the Puddingcess, after all."
"Eh?" Ryuusei considered. "How about Brigid? If I remember, it means 'exalted one'."
"Brigid..." the Madolche Queen repeated as the monsters fell silent once more. "Brigid... yes, I would like that."
"Enough," Kuraz rumbled as the monsters settled.
Aussa, Hiita, what Ryuusei recognised as Flamvell Uruquizas and Infernal Flame Emperor, the newly named Brigid, Dark Voltanis, Great Shogun Shien, Gottoms, Regulus, and an angry-looking Tytannial along with a familiar flaming blue-white dragon were along the right side of Kuraz, Ryuusei noted. The left seated Wynn, Eria, Dewloren and a tall woman in the blue robes of the Ice Barrier, the Harpie Queen, what Ryuusei recognised as Reign-Beaux, Overlord of Dark World, Maiden of the Aqua, the Archfiend Empress, Dark Necrofear, Fabled Valkyrus, and Zeman the Ape King. The tension and hostility was thick, that much was evident, and Ryuusei idly wondered if both standing armies were currently outside the city waiting for any signs of fighting.
That was worrying.
The man sat up, and Ryuusei caught sight of wildly cut brown hair, a wide-open expressive face, and eyes of gold.
"Yusei?"
Ryuusei blinked at the name. "Excuse me?"
The man in the red jacket, which Ryuusei realised with a sickening clarity as the Osiris Red of Duel Academia, rubbed his eyes. "No, Yusei doesn't have red hair... you're King of the Summer." Those gold eyes narrowed. "You're human." It was a statement.
"Fudo Ryuusei," Ryuusei introduced himself. "Fudo Yusei is my father."
"Oh!" the man grinned, the expression easy on his face. "Yuuki Judai."
"I know," Ryuusei honestly answered. "A pleasure to meet you, Judai-san."
"Just Judai. Seriously..." Judai sighed at the monsters glaring daggers each at the opposing faction. "You're... fate does funny things. You're... so young."
"Long story," Ryuusei murmured as Marguerite flickered beside him.
"Spirit partner?" Judai brightened, indicating the Witch of the Time Flower.
"Yes," Ryuusei answered. "Erm, not very auspicious first impression, but I think we're getting used to each other." As he spoke, the Dandylion leapt to the table and stuck its tongue out at Judai before nestling on Ryuusei's lap. "Sorry."
"They're fun!" Judai brightened.
Setsuka gave a delicate cough as Ryuusei and her sat opposite each other. "Can we begin? I would like to hear quite a few of the arguments before our time is up and this session has to be adjourned."
"Agreed," Kuraz murmured as Marguerite pulled out her watch again. "I therefore announce the opening of negotiations for the armistice between the Courts of the Summer and Winter."
*Infernity Mirage, Second Arc.
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