Boss Rush

XXXI: Forgetfulness

A few weeks earlier...

Although Shimotsuki Setsuka had made him drive a Swiss Army blade through his hand, had beaten him with sheer prejudice enough to hurt, had threatened his cards, and had kicked him out of one of the largest Duel tournaments of the decade, Adrian had to admit that her gift in exchange was pretty damned cool. He could have gone without the rather extreme warning of bodily injury, though.

"Fantástico!" he screamed. "Esto es todo lo que Shinamori dijo que sería!"

We're running and you still can say that, Vennominaga gave a good-natured grumble as a basso bellow sounded behind them and trees in the forest crashed.

"Come on!" Adrian answered, keeping a steady breath despite running from the King of All Animals. "I mean, Shinamori can just disappear for weeks on end and you're never curious?"

You're risking your life like this. And, I believe that one of my domains are somewhere here. I never needed to be curious. What he does in his own time is hardly our business.

"This is cool!" Adrian whooped as he lost the Behemoth and finally slowed, the blue jewel sparkling on a thong around his neck. "Hey... where are we?"

We could be somewhere near the Land of the Eternally Young, where Summer holds its power. Or we could be in the Dark Forest of Winter.

"Hey, Ryuusei is Summer, right?" Adrian muttered as he walked through rolling fields of red, yellow and green.

That could mean nothing. In the long run Summer is merely a warmer court, but may not be a better one.

"Well, at least I know who to call if I'm being overtaken by that woman again," Adrian defended as they walked, keeping a lookout for the vindictive Beast. "Is it me, or is this forest weird? As in, really too picturesque to be real, that kind of weird?"

This forest is the Forest. Who knows.

Adrian considered as they continued walking. "What happens if I attack a tree?"

I do not know, but this is a forest. We could disturb the local spirits. Hide, dearest.

"Ugh!" the Venom Duellist tucked himself away as he spied the whirling dancers before the large clearing.

Beautiful didn't come close. It didn't start to come close. Men and women danced together, dressed in regalia of the different times and ages, which consisted mostly of a mix of light armour, flowing robes, or ragged tunics or other things Adrian lacked the vocabulary or the attention to detail to describe. The hairstyles in evidence, if any, corresponded as well. One wore hers sapphire-blue, and others wore silver and gold, or of other colours, mostly cool shades. Here and there, light gleamed from metal or gems set into ears, brows, or lips, and the riot of subtle colours gathered around each and every dancer in its own distinct, fascinating nimbus, a corona of energy, of power manifesting itself as they danced.

Even without the whirling auras, the way they moved was something hypnotic in itself. He could not look anywhere on the dance floor without seeing someone who should have been making fun of people on the covers of magazines for being too ugly, or too fantastic to be real but was indeed existing.

Breathe, Vennominaga reminded as the half-Hispanic Duellist gaped. An Aquarian Alessa waltzed with an Aqua Madoor, mere paces by his hiding spot. They were beautiful, in the way diamonds seem to glitter beguilingly and beckoning, like a candle-flame to moths.

The trumpet solo stopped, the dancers parting with various bows and deep curtseys as she appeared. Even far away, even when she had changed her clothings to things Adrian was fairly sure she had hardly worn, he could recognise those features, especially those cold eyes, anywhere.

"Shimotsuki?" he stared. "How the hell did we get here?"

Time and distance are hardly important in the spirit realms. We must have crossed over to Winter through the Forest.

Applause was sounding, obviously the musicians were being congratulated. Adrian saw her, the graceful princess putting on a dilettante psychotic nymphomaniac act. It was also scarily effective, it seemed, as silence spread while she took her place upon the large throne with the snowflake sigil dominating the place that stood beyond the dance floor.

"Prince Dewloren, my majordomo," she began speaking as a quadruped figure stepped up. "What have you here from your watch upon the mortal realm?"

A horrible thought occurred that he was eavesdropping. The part of him that was more keen on standing up to bullies, like he occasionally saw her as, argued that she was talking in public anyway.

Dewloren was a tiger. As in, one of the white-coat, weighing about over a hundred kilos, and would probably eat him, that kind of tiger, wearing armour, and was apparently anthropomorphic. "My Queen. Your right hand calls upon you. Regulus has been sighted in the city of Neo Domino."

"Indeed?" There it was, the amused laugh with a tinge of sadism. "And for what purposes has the servant of Ancient Fairy Dragon, her closest retainer have, for the mortal world? Sooth, there is nothing in Neo Domino at the present time that might interest the servitors of the Crimson Dragon."

Dewloren growled. "I believe that Ancient Fairy is acting in her capacity as a ruler of spirits, My Queen. Regulus has been instructed to contact the Night Rose Knight."

Adrian could feel the cold descending, something implacable and heavy as her face lost any semblance of a smile, turning into something flat and beautiful, but also chilling. He did not even need to see it to tell; it hung around her, like body heat. "Is that so? Then Ancient Fairy is involving herself in these games. Why, perhaps she should know better. Winter does not play fair."

A howl of wind echoed as behind her, the aurora danced in the skies. Beneath her feet, the stones of the greatest of the mountains behind the clearing began to cry out, a low, low scratching sound that resounded through the plains. "Let the games begin."

Chico? The inquiry came as Adrian slowly backed away. When his oldest partner was using Spanish to communicate, things were about to go south fast.

"I don't like it," Adrian growled. "She's planning something, Naga."

Winter and Summer always are. This is a mere ritual. Do not endanger yourself, chico.

"Intruder," it hissed behind him.

Adrian tripped over his feet in his hurry to jump away, sprawling out as the Fiend loomed. By its feet, the Mag Dog of Darkness growled, strings of drool dripping from its maw.

"Intruder!" Broww the Huntsman of Dark World hollered, the sound carrying into the party.

Adrian got that he had overstayed his welcome when the arrow dug right between his ankles. As the Mad Dog growled, he picked himself and was running away really, really fast. Pawing, howls and, blending with the distant howls of the winds, a long, mournful, somehow hungry horn call.

Another horn rang out, this one more a droning, enormous basso – only that the second horn came from the opposite side from the first. Over the next few seconds, more horns joined in, and drums, and then a rising tide of monstrous shrieks and bellows, all around now. In the mountains east to Adrian's path, one of the snowcapped peaks was abruptly devoured by a rising black cloud that hid everything beneath it. A quick check around showed several other peaks being blanketed in shadow. Horn calls and cries grew louder and continuously more numerous.

They have come to slay you or drive you forth.

"Not helping!" Adrian shouted, though on hindsight it was a suicidal move as more bellows approached.

He was running through increasingly intense clouds of mist, snow, and ice now, which was admittedly stupid and unbecoming of him. Beyond the wind, still vague but growing slowly more clear and immediate, he could hear the cries of things that thrived in the dark and the cold. There were drums and horns, wild and savage and inspiring the kind of terror that has nothing to do with thought, and everything to do with instinct.

"Come on, come on! And make it elaborate!" Adrian hollered as he ripped the necklace from around his neck, the cool weight heavy as it glowed in his hand.

There was an empty field of snow flurries, and then, there was a large, elaborately carved double doorway. Made of some black wood he could not identify, the doors were eight or nine feet high, and carved in rich bas-relief. At first the carvings could be of a garden theme. As he ran closer, there was more detail apparent in the dying light. The forms of people lay among the vines. Here and there, one could see a pair of eyes, a veiled figure, little faeries, leaf-clad dryads, pipe-wielding satyrs, and many, many others hiding, dancing. Beyond that, he was running away from monsters enough to not care.

"I didn't mean that elaborate!" Adrian bellowed as he ran, and the hunters were beginning to surround the door like a noose. Before he could make the jump, he glimpsed her, astride a panting horse, and her cold eyes stared at him.

The Winter Queen winked.

He went through...

Splash!

… the torrent of water was strong, driving him down as all the concussive force of the waters splashed down with force enough to merit perhaps the destructive power of a flood.

It was a sopping wet Adrian that crawled to the banks much later, coughing as he laid out and took in the surroundings, which he recognised as somewhere near the base of the Angel Falls.

"Great," he coughed. "Just fantastic. Venezuela."

Does it matter? Vennominaga was floating above him, her snakes hissing. But, the movement of the Winter Queen... just because a war ends does not mean that the rivalry ends.

"Yeah," Adrian groaned. "We're going to have to warn Ryuusei."

Present day...

Rex Atlas was exhausted. Between Riding Duels, helping to care for an infant of a younger sister, and his dad having gone MIA already due to the upcoming arrangements for the Stygian Dirge, of which said Duellist was a guest commentator and sponsor, it was understandable that anyone at his age would be slightly irritable. At least Reina was asleep... for now.

So, his temper peaked as his cell-phone gave a soft vibration.

"What?" he mumbled.

"Rex? It's Ryuusei."

Rex paused. That his friend was calling instead of messaging... "What happened? A bomb in the letter box? Another stalker and creepy letters? Shimotsuki said that you're being sent to some indeterminate part of the world?"

His friend gave a laugh, harsh and bitter. "None of the above, but the last might be true. I found out that apparently, myself and Seika by extension were provided for in Madame Shimotsuki's will, and only now were we eligible to it."

Rex could hear the disbelief from the speaker. "Oh? How much."

"Ten million yen."

Rex choked. "Take it! Take it!"

"That's not the worst thing," Ryuusei muttered. "Apparently, she also returned my card."

"Card?" Rex echoed. "You left a card with her? Which- oh. It's that one, right?"

"Yes..."

Rex mentally debated. "That's good, right? You have an ace no one knows about."

"That card is cursed," Ryuusei insisted.

"So is Blood Mefist," Rex bluntly answered as he drew a few cards in his hand, the Mephistophelean monster prominent amongst the hand. "Right, so you get an insanely powerful card and a sizeable nest egg. What about it?"

"Rex, I... you know that Chase and I can see Duel spirits, right?"

"Yeah?" Rex shifted.

"Well... what would you do if I said something ridiculously unbelievable?"

"You're going on a tangent," Rex advised. "So you got back that card that you locked away a long time ago. But you never said what happened."

"It's... it's got to do with Seika and the Shimotsuki," Ryuusei admitted. "I... it doesn't feel right, taking money that should belong to Shimotsuki, even if it's Shimotsuki."

"To her it's probably a drop in the ocean. Shut up and take it," Rex mumbled, yawning lightly. "If you really feel that bad, use it to pay Seika's fees. Okay, that problem solved, back to the Duel spirits. Jeez, you're really messed up if I'm the one realising that you're babbling."

"S- Sorry."

"What, is your stalker a spirit now?" Rex joked. Silence permeated the line, that the Atlas scion was growing worried. "Oi, oi, I was joking... is it really?"

"...apparently, to them I taste good."

"Is it there?" Rex pressed quickly, grabbing his blazer and throwing it over the black vest he had on. The rest of his motorcycle wear was with the Throne, it'd be fine. "Do you need help?"

"How are you going to help?"

The question threw him for a loop. "I... you're right. I can't fight or Duel something I can't see, much less sense or touch. But... so, the only thing I can do is talk to you, right?"

Silence.

"You're right. I don't even have a Duel spirit partner," Rex mumbled. "I have nothing to fight them with. I'll only be dragging you down, right?"

"...you do," Ryuusei was back. "Do... do you remember Marguerite?"

"The crazy biddy, very elaborate dresses," Rex recalled. "Loads of pink. Yeah?"

"Yeah, she's actually... very nice. For a given value of nice. Erm, when we entered Lia Fáil, each of us fell under her spell for a brief moment. Part of Marguerite's power is to enhance potential. She... let's just say she did something, and I'm not equipped to deal with this. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Talk now," Rex severely growled. "What did she do?"

"She... Dedication," Ryuusei sounded weary. "Do you remember? We were given power, and supposed to kill each other for them... but there's no need, so there's a lot of people with some power running about, and you're one of them. If you use that power... you can see them. You can fight them."

"...We'll talk tomorrow," Rex declared. "Even if we have to skip class. You, me, and Chase. Got it?"

"Y- Yes."

"Good. Night," Rex hung up, flinging the phone down with his blazer. "Ryuusei, you pick the worst times to call..."

On the other side of the line, Ryuusei let his phone clatter on the bedside table as he stared at the card.

It was almost a mirror of Black Rose Dragon, but... No, it was not Black Rose Dragon; while this creature's shape and form was exactly like that of his mother's dragon, its neck and tail were a deep red rather than black, and the petals of its wings were pale scarlet, seemingly dipped in ichor. Where the two dragons faced the left, this dragon faced the right, a sanguineous reflection of the two. It was deadly, and oh, so very beautiful.

"So this is the mysterious card," Hiita mused. "A Fire Attribute, as expected of the Summer King."

Aussa looked pensive. "Queen Titania was never angry, but... she was known as the Bloody Rose..."

"There is a history behind this card," Marguerite guessed.

Ryuusei dropped it, still staring at it. "It was a birthday present. Tenth birthday. I just mentioned that I wished Black Rose had more support, but... the Madame was big on duality. When she gave me these cards..."

Here are two paths you can choose. You can be the knight of darkness, or you can be the blood-soaked monster. These two monsters are a reminder for you, that there is always a choice.

"I took both of them back," Ryuusei quietly confessed. "Later, there was a thief. One was stolen, but I brought the other to show Rex in school, so Night Rose remained safe. This card... caused the infamous White Witch Massacre."

He hung his head. "I... I sealed it away with the Madame. I thought she'd destroyed it. I've long forgotten..."

Marguerite quietly read the card text. "If she left it for you, even with the Winter Queen, then surely she must have been thinking about you. She must have cared for your welfare, even though her daughter was the Winter Queen. Surely, she did as needed for you."

"Sometimes... I miss her," Ryuusei gave a brief chuckle. "What did I do? I trusted in my friends, and now... I don't even know what I'm doing, or what I'm going to do."

"Do you need to?" Marguerite conversationally murmured. "Mortals, they spend so much time worrying about the future, barely even thinking about the present. The yet to come has always been a mystery. Sometimes, it is enough to think about what we are going to do next."

"Marguerite..." Ryuusei sighed. "I'm not even going into why you had to scatter the 'seeds' about, but... thanks for being here, I guess. Aussa and Hiita as well, I appreciate it."

"T- There's no need to thank us," Aussa sighed.

Hiita grinned. "You helped us to finally stop the war. After this... well, we have to loosen up this conservative prince, don't we...?"

Ryuusei turned to the tallest of the Spellcasters. "Marguerite, help me..."

"After this, the Winter Queen will be preparing a test," Marguerite cut in. "That is why it is imperative that you find those that you trust, and hold onto them. Otherwise, once the veil descends, you will not know who to trust or dismiss any longer. This is to save you from the pain that will follow later."

"It still hurts," Ryuusei admitted. "What if... what if they get hurt because of me?"

"Why are you thinking about possibilities here?" his spirit tutor scolded. "Think about certainties. You're the one being targeted. One way or another, you will be broken, demoralised, and you will feel pain both literal and metaphorical. What can you do? You can anticipate, you can plan, you can ward off that which she prepares. There are limits to what we can do, even for a monarch. Instead of regretting what we cannot do, or possibilities, it is better to do anything we can do. Even if what we do does not bring us to our final goal, it brings us that much closer to it. Right now, what you must do is to weather this. The future will come in time."

"O- Oh," Ryuusei stuttered, glancing at the dragon once more. "Thank you, Marguerite."

"It's fine... Your Majesty~"

"Marguerite!"

The witch clapped, as if dismissing his words. "Well, for now, recite for me the criteria of rulers."

"There's none," Ryuusei grumbled.

"No, there are some," Marguerite corrected. "But, the main criteria are 'power', 'respect' and 'fate'. Power is a commonly discussed one, such that there are rulers who have become kings by right of conquest before. Respect equals authority, or fear that is attributed by spirits."

"Then, wouldn't 'respect' and 'fate' be the same?"

"No..." Marguerite sighed. "How do we say it? 'Fate' would be more accurately translated as je ne sais quoi, I guess..."

"What?" Ryuusei almost sat up.

"A charisma beyond the common, some mysterious power to command spirits," Marguerite summed up. "Of course, the charisma of the rulers are sometimes described as something more, a potential that drives people mad."

Ryuusei swallowed as he turned to see the witch's form lean down towards him, her eyes sparkling.

"Yes, a madness," Marguerite whispered. "Whether it be by the lazy slumber of summer nights, or the hibernation of the winter cold, it becomes like a dream around the rulers. A glamour, a bewitchment, a sorcery cast by nothing more than mere presence. Something to assure that truly, this person is the one I will follow to death."

The boy's breath caught in his throat. "M- Marguerite-?"

"Perception is a weapon you must use," her voice caught his ears harshly even though she was nothing more than spirit, the spindly fingers mere ghosts on his skin. "This is not just a battlefield. This will be the battlefield of the court. Most are not used to courtly life amongst the spirits, hence the Queen will use this to her advantage. Your mortals invented the arts of war, so you think. Spirits have lived and played more mind games than you will ever perceive..."

"Marguerite, you're terrifying..." Ryuusei muttered.

The witch loomed, her hair seemingly waving out like snakes. "Believe me when I say that by the end of my service, you will be able to spot a trap from far, far away, and dissect exactly what kind of trap is it."

It was a terrifyingly sunny day, the kind that preluded a heat wave. All three boys were outside, hiding in the shade of one of the large trees that would occasionally drop blossoms down in a perfumed shower from the foliage.

Rex Atlas crossed his arms, glancing with a serious expression at his old friend. "So, Marguerite gave a few people special powers to find this so-called Summer King, not caring even if these people were to murder each other in the process," he began. "Out of pity, you made a contract with her, which lets her stay here. Then, you find out you're the Summer King, and therefore all those spirits after you are out to eat you."

Ryuusei shifted. Minus a few things, it was the story, after all. "More or less."

"And? Where's the wit- woman herself?" Rex corrected mid-growl.

"There," Chase pointed.

"Chase, that's empty."

The two that could see spirits exchanged looks, before sighing. "True, he's incapable of seeing spirits...but, that goes two ways," Chase shook his head.

"Marguerite, could you...?" Ryuusei murmured quietly.

Rex started as the form of the Sorciere de Fleur suddenly winked into existence. "Y- You-!"

"Salutations," Marguerite primly greeted, seated with both legs splayed out on the grass. "I am commonly referred to as Marguerite, the Witch of the Time Flower – Fleur de Sorciere."

Rex gaped at one of the few Duel Spirits about in the entire city. "Er, nice to meet you."

Marguerite smiled. "Such manners. And here I was prepared to restrain you already."

"...you're weird."

Marguerite dismissed it in favour of considering the grass for a few moments. "Leguminous plants... either way, Ryuusei, it seems like you have done the most difficult thing. Let me take over from here."

"I can tell them, Marguerite," he defended.

"Tell us what?" Chase demanded.

"In short, because of your proximity around him, you may become targets," Marguerite pleasantly answered, as if commenting on the weather. "Perhaps even more so than now. Any moment now, you may be drawn into a trap through no fault of your own other than that you're his friends. Your lives itself may be in danger. If you do not wish it, you may choose to become a bystander, but you will see your friend hurt."

"Yeah right," Rex growled. "We've been through a lot already. So what? We're supposed to leave him alone just because we might be in danger? Don't screw with me!"

"Rex..." the Fudo scion himself looked uncomfortable.

"Who's the opponent this time?" Rex demanded. "What's the plot?"

"The opponent is the Winter Queen," Marguerite lightly answered. "As for the plot, it should be arriving right now."

"Now?" Chase looked at his watch. "But now is-"

A light breeze blew, scattering a few stray petals and Marguerite's intense scent about, the scene graceful and beguiling if not for the heat dissipating under the winds.

"Sun's rays are gleaming. Flowers start to bud and bloom. Life is happier."

Chase lashed out at the newcomer as he landed from the top of the branches. "I told you to arrive normally! Not to fly or anything, bastard! And your haiku sucks!"

The newcomer was petite, with a slender and somewhat feminine build. Snow-white hair reached to his waist, tied up tightly. Pale as a ghost, the eerie impression was reinforced by crimson-red eyes. His attire consisted of an Obelisk Blue blazer worn over a black shirt with the long sleeves separated, matched with black cargo pants, black vans, and a leather choker set with an emerald crystal. An ear piercing with the same emerald crystal on his left ear completed the ensemble of illusionary beauty that seemed so prevalent amongst the current Misawa generation.

Misawa Nowaki laughed. "But, Chase, the roads were blocked!"

"Don't lie, bastard! At least land normally in campus first! I nearly had a heart attack! What are you gonna do if I land in hospital!"

Nowaki, or Youkai as he was more popularly known, had resorted to the long-known method of ignoring his boyfriend in favour of turning his unusual eyes onto Ryuusei.

"Please, help me."

Please review!