Dragon Genesis!
Putting all of his strength into his foot, Seiryuu roared with his entire chest while drops of sweat flew from his forehead. Falling back to the ground, his marine-blue hair shined in the sunlight that beamed down onto the outdoor stadium while his teammates surrounded him to celebrate the goal. But maintaining his cool gaze, he brushed them aside feeling nothing.
Ignoring his teammates, Seiryuu walked back to his position and reached his hand outwards to the sun for a brief moment before casting his gaze back downwards at his now closed fist.
This was already his sixth goal as a member of the PSG U20 team but...
No matter how many times he scored...
It just didn't feel the same as before.
The exhilaration of out-dribbling his opponents, the thrill of the goal, the taste of victory...was stale.
The players here couldn't satisfy him.
Trying to cast his loss in the Holy Road Semifinals behind him and avoid the pitying gaze of the haunting amethyst eyes in his mind, he had run away to France like a pathetic coward. And now, though he could feel his skills and strength steadily increasing, a sense of perturbation perpetually interrupted his thoughts.
Though Seiryuu wished he could blame this strange feeling on his most recent loss, this sensation...as if something were missing...had been bothering him much longer than that.
Unsure of what this feeling was, he had left Japan hoping to escape from the useless thoughts that crowded his mind but it was still the same no matter where he went.
The days went by quickly : breakfast in the canteen, training, lunch, training, rest, training, dinner and finally sleep. Each day, the routine was the same and Seiryuu had become used to the monotony but he knew that something was lacking.
Letting out an uncharacteristically weary sigh, Seiryuu slammed the door to his locker shut after wrapping up the match with another hat trick when he saw a pair of turquoise eyes that shone like the depths of the ocean staring at him. Trying to hide his surprise, he furrowed his brows and frowned at the woman who was standing with her arms crossed and had apparently been lying in wait for him.
Then taking a quick second to contemplate his options, Seiryuu shoved his things into his bag quickly and began to head out of the locker room only to see a ball zoom past him and slam the door he had attempted to open, tightly shut.
Knowing that she wasn't going to allow him to leave without a troublesome talk, Seiryuu rubbed his temples while turning around to face the long-haired woman whose bright blue strands of hair hunt down her sides like shimmering waves. Then nodding her head towards the bench in front of her, she commanded simply,
"Sit."
Sitting himself down in front of her, Seiryuu looked up at the woman whose similar blue hair and eyes made them look as if they could be siblings. However, wanting nothing more than to go back to his room, Seiryuu opened his mouth to ask with a twinge of annoyance leaking into his voice,
"What do you want, Magalie? I don't have time for games."
"..."
Gazes unwavering, the two stared at each in silence with Seiryuu maintaining a scowl that seemed to have become his default expression since coming to France.
Finally opening her mouth to speak, Magalie looked downwards disdainfully while slamming her shoe onto the bench beside him.
"Pathetic"
"You little edgelord shit may have been tolerated in the kiddie league but here you follow my rules and I'm here to play football, not babysit some teenager going through his emo phase."
"..."
Expecting more of a fight from the arrogant striker, Magalie was taken aback by how silent Seiryuu had fallen and she ran her fingers through her flowing locks with a touch of agitation.
This is why geniuses were the worst.
So fucking delicate.
Sitting herself beside the silent striker, Magalie sighed before punching him lightly in the arm.
"Hey, don't think too hard about it. Apologise to your teammates and I'm not expecting you all to be holding hands and singing kumbaya but when you're in the pro-league, you need to at least treat them as your coworkers, so I don't want to see you ruining the atmosphere like I saw today? Got it?"
Then slapping him one more on the back heartily, Magalie stretched her arms behind her and continued speaking without hesitation,
"Anyways... Now that that business is out of the way, I'm expecting you bright and early tomorrow. That's right, I know you're touched. The Great Magalie Durand, only the best striker in the world, has agreed to train you. If you manage to survive, I guarantee you'll have a chance to possibly be 1% as good as me. There's no reason for—"
"Okay." Seiryuu interrupted bluntly before Magalie could finish and picking up his things, he gave her a small nod before leaving her alone in the locker room.
"..."
Shocked by his quick escape, Magalie stared at the door before pounding her fist and releasing blue flames from her body.
That damn guppy! Didn't he know how rude it was to interrupt a person's monologue?!
Licking her lips with anticipation, Magalie's gaze cooled.
She had been planning on going easy on him due to his age but it looked like it would have to be up to her to show him what the real meaning of hell was.
"Are your ears just for decoration or do you need hearing aids, Seiryuu? I said 'fall back'!" Magalie bellowed across the field causing the other U20 members to look at her and sweatdrop though Seiryuu continued to push forward recklessly.
Magalie had met numerous stubborn geniuses at all levels of play, but this was the first time she had encountered someone almost as stubborn as herself.
While he was completely adept at picking up technical skills from her, the more she attempted to ingrain her style of play onto him the more he pushed back. After dedicating three weeks to basic drills, technique training and hissatsu practise the two had begun their 'evaluation' of Seiryuu's current play style.
Seiryuu, however, preferred to think of these as Magalie's brainwashing sessions where she attempted to stuff as much crap into his brain as possible.
Neither willing to back down, Seiryuu had finally snapped and self-exiled himself from Magalie's training sessions two weeks ago leaving the French striker in the dark. So deciding to appear at Seiryuu's debut in an official U20 match today, fittingly against the Olympique de Marseille U20 team, she had no idea what would be in store for her today.
"So that's him?" a low voice asked curiously from behind Magalie.
Gaze unwavering from the match before them, Magalie didn't turn around hearing the familiar voice and instead lifted her hand simply in acknowledgement.
"Wesh~Glad you could make it today Rococo ...we'll finally see whether the little guppy sinks or swims" Magalie cackled rather sinisterly. But already accustomed to her rough tone, Rococo scanned her face instead looking for hints at their youngest team member's thoughts regarding the new striker from Japan.
Signed on to the team at the age of 18, Magalie 'The Tidecaller', was not only a member of the Five Disasters but considered one of the best soccer players in the galaxy at the moment, regardless of age or position and consequently all eyes were on her. It seemed however, that possibly due to the lack of sufficient rivals or due to an insatiable desire to dominate, she had developed a habit of 'training' new geniuses who joined the team who she called 'guppies'...
While most were enthusiastic to have the opportunity to train with the world's most prominent striker initially...
Few had been able to keep up and 'sank', quitting the team...and in many cases...soccer completely.
But looking at Magalie's face today...
Rococo sensed a rare glimmer of anticipation dwelling in her sea-blue eyes that urged him to take a closer look at the youthful teen who was currently fighting to maintain possession in Marseille's box.
"Seiryuu, back and left!"
Sliding his foot around the ball, Seiryuu flicked it upwards with precision to avoid the defender approaching him from the front while using his left arm to block the spindly arms of the defender beside him. Clenching his jaw, Seiryuu narrowed his eyes in annoyance seeing a third defender come in from the right while ignoring the repeated calls by his teammates to fall back from the box.
Seiryuu's lip twitched, but with no other options he sent the ball back in a quick pass while recalling one of his earliest training sessions with Magalie...
"Abruti..." he heard her mutter under her breath before blowing her bangs out of her face in exasperation.
"How many times do I have to tell you Seiryuu? The Flow! The Flow! It's like you're not even trying to pay attention...I know you're incapable of using more than 1% of your brain but it's so simple!"
Magalie lifted her fingers slowly for emphasis while she continued her tirade into Seiryuu's earpiece during the match.
"One. Scan. Two. Assess. Three. Search. The match isn't revolving around just you. You can't expect to just power through for the rest of your life! You need precision. It's like...mmm...imagine the field as an ocean and the ball as a wave in the waters.
While by itself it would be easy to predict how the tide would move, just as the relative positions of the sun and moon can affect the tides, each player is exerting their own 'force' on the ball making it much more difficult to read the flow of the match. You understand? Of course, just as there are many other possible factors that can change the flow of the sea, in just one instant the flow of the match can change entirely based on even the smallest factor so you must be sure not to miss a single detail! You must always be ready for the opportunity to change the flow of the match in your favour...Seiryuu are you listening?!"
"..."
"Seiryuu!"
Ha...
Irritated by the distracting voice during the match, Seiryuu had thrown the earpiece out of his ear much to Magalie's consternation but now two weeks later, her words lingered in his ears like pesky water that wouldn't leave no matter how much he shook his head.
Ingrained into his brain, it was as if her words gave him a new perspective of the field; he could see the ball now shifting along the waves at his feet after receiving the ball once more and he could see it now...
He knew exactly how he could change the 'flow' of the match in their favour...
He just needed to pass now, but...
That.
That wasn't what he wanted.
'The Blue Dragon is a symbol of strength and courage and though he is known as a ferocious warrior who makes even the mightiest rulers bow to his will he is also the protector of the weak...' a rather petite girl explained, putting the stuffed dragon doll in his hands calmly.
Pushing it back into her hands, the boy who was even more little than she, shook his head vigorously in staunch refusal.
"I don't need some stupid doll, I'm not a kid." he muttered sulkily, sinking lower into his arms. While he was surprised by how warm the doll had felt in his hands, due to the events of the day he wasn't in a mood where he wanted to accept any gifts at the moment.
"First of all, you are currently ten years old so by all accounts you are a child. And second , dolls aren't valuable for what they are, it's for what they represent. For most...it's memories...but you need to make an oath. An oath that you're going to be just as strong as the Blue Dragon...no...stronger...okay?" said the girl with a firm tone, pushing the doll back in the boy's hands.
Nodding slowly, the boy conceded reluctantly.
"All right...I promise you I—"
"No...not to me...it needs to be to yourself. You have to do it for you." corrected the girl urgently, looking over her shoulder as if she were expecting someone to come.
Just then, as if on cue, adults could be heard shouting closer and closer...
"Ojou-sama! Ojou-sama!"
Casting a downward gaze at the boy with blue eyes, the girl gave him an unreadable look before standing back up and dusting off her small dress.
"I'm going now...if we meet again...I hope it's on the field next time Tatsunori."
Then crawling beneath the hedge to her side of the garden, the girl disappeared and the boy was left alone with the dragon doll. Staring at it more closely now, its beady blue eyes which resembled his own seemed to be mocking him.
The boy gripped the dragon tightly and not wanting to look at it a second longer, flung it as far as he could which...wasn't very far at all and he saw it get stuck in some bushes only a few metres away looking very pathetic despite its draconic figure.
Looking at the sad state of the dragon doll, the boy walked forwards slowly before snatching it quickly as if afraid of being seen by someone. Turning the doll around multiple times, he was surprised to see it was wet and touching his face realised it was due to his own tears.
He knew what the girl would say if she saw him now...
He wasn't going to let her have the satisfaction of that.
"I–"
"I'm going to be...strong. Stronger than you, stronger than her and I'm the one that's going to become the best striker in the world!" he swore with his entire being, such that his entire body was shaking while he swore over and over again.
"I'm going to get stronger and stronger and stronger...and once I have enough power...I'll make everyone bow down to me!"
That was right.
How could he have forgotten his initial resolution so easily?
Perhaps due to complacency after becoming the 'Number One Striker' or perhaps it was due to a fear of what lay beyond the attainment of his initial goal that Seiryuu had forgotten the critical principle of his soccer...but now neither of those mattered now.
The mist clouding his mind was gone.
He could feel something stirring from the very cells making up his body, as if every bone in his body was awakening once again...
As if his blood was heating up and power was filling every fibre of his being...
He knew she would be chasing after him soon...
Though she had been the one he had worked so hard to surpass, now it was his duty to become an unclimbable summit that would forever remind her who the strongest in the world was!
And so...to the girl who was rival, this was his final answer :
Power.
The only thing that matters in soccer is power. The ones with power would be the ones left standing and the weak would be the ones left on their knees...and Seiryuu was the one who would always have the satisfaction of victory.
Nosaka...Tamaki...Magalie...Mika...
They would all need to bow their heads to him and acknowledge his strength...
Because he was the Blue Dragon!
Letting out a deep bellow, a draconic cry was heard throughout the stadium while an impressive set of fully-materialised, lapis lazuli blue wings shined with a resplendent hue behind Seiryuu.
Legendary Keshin : Dragon God Tiamat!
He no longer needed to wait for any tides to flow in his favour...
Because he was the only force that the tides needed to obey.
Turning the field below him into water gradually, Seiryuu blitzed to the left with the ball stuck tightly to his left foot before switching to his right as he cut infield where the most frigid and fierce waves had gathered. Jumping upwards, the ball began to shine with a luminescent light as he sent it surging towards the Marseille goalkeeper.
Draconic Sea!
"Not bad, not bad at all guppy!" Magalie cried with ecstatic delight as she watched the ball soar straight into the back of the net.
"You're not upset?" questioned Rococo, cocking an eyebrow at the zeal in Magalie's eyes.
"Why would I be?" snapped Magalie, wondering for a short moment if he had gone senile due to his old age.
"It's the complete opposite of what you were instructing him to do...You prefer possession-style play where you can control the flow of the game with precision and quick passes but it's clear Seiryuu is leaning into an aggressive finishing style that emphasises power above all." Rococo evaluated meticulously but Magalie brushed his words off with her hands.
"If he had just followed what I told him to do like some dumb mule, that would've been the real disappointment. There's no way anyone would be able to outdo me in my own speciality anyways so he should at least be the best at what he does to give me a real challenge." explained Magalie, feeling slightly more generous than usual due to the success of her pupil today.
"Now get outta the way Rococo, it's only right for a teacher to congratulate their student!" Magalie yelled while already jumping over seats to get onto the field, much to Rococo's embarrassment.
"Ohoho! So it looks like you haven't been slacking off after all, little guppy!"
Sliding along the final railing, Magalie jumped onto the field and landed with a thud, her light, sea-foam blue hair blowing behind her in long river-like strands. Walking past the fallen French U20 members who were still gasping for oxygen like fish out of water, she smacked the lone standing striker's back heartily.
"About time you stopped dicking around and learned to play with the big fish! I thought the day would never come...I can remember it like it was just yesterday. You. Crying in the rain. Begging me for my help. Good times..."
"..."
Wondering where on earth she was coming up with these delusions, Seiryuu brushed her arm off his shoulder and ignored the raucous woman who was still teasing him relentlessly when a much older man's voice was heard shouting at them.
"Magalie! I thought you said you were going to praise the kid, not bully him!"
"Ahhh, don't be such a softie Rococo, we're just messing around, right guppy?"
"Yeah, sure whatever..."
"Aww, come on don't be like that, you're going to make me feel bad!"
Then grabbing his arm, Magalie began to drag Seiryuu up the stairs of the stadium to the exit where a group of ten or so people were standing at the exit waiting for them.
"Dinner's on me today guppy!"
"..."
Looking at Magalie with a look of disbelief, Seiryuu paused before sighing with resignation,
"I'll go get my wallet..."
"The hell Seiryuu?!"
"What? Oh...so you were serious this time? Or is this going to be like last week when you said breakfast was 'on you' and then you 'forgot your wallet' at home?"
Ack
Spitting blood as she felt her image being destroyed, Magalie bounced back and countered,
"That was one time! I didn't know you were the type to hold a grudge Sei–"
Beginning to list off various times Magalie had leached money off him on his fingers, Seiryuu recounted easily, "Two weeks ago lunch at La Chaumiere...Monday the same week, dinner at L'Esturgeon, three weeks ago at Le Punjab–"
"Okay, okay, okay! I get the point! Sheesh!"
Feeling sweat drip down her back as she felt Rococo's death stare boring into her while Seiryuu had been recounting her crimes to the other team members, Magalie brushed it off hurriedly and declared,
"Order as much as you want tonight or my name isn't Magalie Durand!"
Not one for boisterous celebrations, though it was mainly a congratulatory party for the U20 players for their victory over OM, Seiryuu slipped out quietly from the restaurant, leaving the brightly lit building behind him.
Walking alongside the river, the dead silence of the river somehow seemed to cause waves in his heart and he found himself kicking pebbles across the water's surface wondering how his siblings were doing without him.
So caught up in his own thoughts the past month, Seiryuu felt a pang of guilt as he realised he hadn't communicated with them at all following his departure from Japan...
Daigiichi was probably crying somewhere...
Haruka was likely terrorising Doi or one of the other younger ones while Suzaku...
Well...Suzaku was probably fine.
Boom
Thrown backwards by the force of the exploding rock in front of him, after waving the dust out of his face he observed a woman who appeared to be in her late twenties, with luscious turquoise hair that was tied into two braids accompanied by two buns on the top of her head. Floating down atop the water, her white sundress landed softly on the water's surface without becoming wet and her violet eyes had a strange swirl of emotions that made the woman's face unreadable to him.
Continuing to walk along the river's surface barefoot, the woman finally reached the riverbank where Seiryuu was standing and holding her hand out, a strange soccer ball re-materialised within her palm and floated for a few seconds before falling to the ground. Dribbling it playfully, she continued to stare at Seiryuu with curiosity before commenting in a relaxed manner,
"So you're the best this world has to offer? You don't look like much...but I suppose no one looks good compared to me."
Ha...
Seiryuu let out a chuckle of disbelief, wondering where this disrespect was coming from and running his hand through his hair he replied crossly,
"If you're looking for trouble you've found it, Oba-san[old lady]."
Scoffing, the woman flicked her right braid behind her and set her arms to her side.
Oba-san...
Her?
Did he see the new wrinkle on her forehead? Or was it her eye bags? Didn't he know how hard multi-dimensional travel was on the body?
"Little shit" the woman muttered murderously, feeling the last of her mercy she had reserved drain out of her as Seiryuu stared at her contemptuously.
After confirming he had no intention of backing down, the woman narrowed her violet eyes into slits and kicked the ball high up into the air while jumping at a speed faster than Seiryuu could follow with his eyes,
"Die!"
Keshin : Goddess of the Vacant Skies, Athena!
"Seiryuu, get out of the way!"
Taken aback by the inhumanly fast movements of the woman and her gun-wielding keshin, Seiryuu pulled back as a set of familiar blue-locks moved in front of him defensively.
Keshin : Master of the Ocean, Watatsumi!
