/ Duel Universe
/ Author: The Cowboy of Oklahoma
/ Ch 46: Precious
/ word count: 2176
Spirit Castle
Moving through the castle corridors, I was lost in my own thoughts, my mind going back to when I was holding that deck. How it was affecting me, clawing its way into my mind, giving me thoughts of power and greatness. Any human holding that deck will be seduced by these urges, these feelings of want and destruction. I didn't even realize what was happening to me until both Sage of Eyes of Blue and my Rainbow Kuriboh stopped that train of thought. The deck is now being held in a safe location that only a few monsters even know about and no human is allowed near it. It's far too dangerous for anyone to use it, and humans are more susceptible to its effects.
I continued to walk when I heard a soft voice clear their throat behind me. "Ahem."
"Hmm?" I turned to see Dark Magician Girl standing behind me, "something I can do for you, your Majesty?" I noticed a human standing off, closer to the door leading into the room but staying away.
"Are you well, captain? You were just mumbling to yourself about something," She pointed out.
I nodded, running a hand through my hair just to get my mind off that subject "yeah, yes, I am well, thank you. Just thinking."
The man by the door shifted but didn't get closer, and I thought to see just who this person was. He wasn't personnel, no uniform for starters, so I suspected civilian but I wasn't even sure why he was here.
"Who's this then?" I made a notion in the man's direction.
Dark Magician Girl peeked over her shoulder and I could have sworn her cheeks tinted pink.
"He's…he's just a friend," she said unconvincingly.
"Well, 'just a friend', civilians aren't allowed into the palace under any circumstances," I informed him.
"Not even when the patriarch personally invites them in?" She questioned with a hint of authority in her words.
I held my tongue for a second until I had my minor reprimand under control, "of course, your majesty. I guess I'm just feeling particularly on guard after what has recently happened.
"Understandable, captain, but he is here expressly on my invitation and is allowed in whenever he likes," she explained.
I raised an eyebrow, "whenever he likes?"
Her cheeks turned red and then changed her wording, "eh, whenever prudent, of course!" She cleared her throat
"Of course," I went along for the moment to die down, not! "So who's your boyfriend?"
Her cheeks weren't red anymore. She was absolutely crimson with embarrassment and stuttered her words, "b…b…b…boyfriend!? I…I…I…I have absolutely no idea what you could be insinuating, captain! He is not my boyfriend!" She stammered out.
"Ah, my misunderstanding then," I stepped back, "your boy toy then."
"Yes, he's my boy to…! No!"
The man by the door hung his head as she continued to fall into my verbal trap. She apparently didn't have many opportunities to deal with our earth-based humor. They sat side by side on the smaller sofa, or loveseat, in this case, her majesty was still red with embarrassment as the situation began to calm down and I hadn't poked fun at her or the fact that she and this man were in fact coupling. Nightly I'd say but who knows how long they'd actually been together, It could have been recently that this started and it was more for her to have experience of what it's like to be with a human rather than be in love with him. He was comforting her an awful lot for it to just be a fling, at least wise for him. They were holding hands and he occasionally would kiss her forehead reassuringly.
"How did you figure this out, captain? No one else has ever verbally said anything about his presence nor made it aware that we could be an item," she admitted.
"Thanks for confirming it, but it was just a moment ago as we were talking that he made a few human gestures that indicated you were important to him. That and his general presence here raises some questions," I explained.
Her face, once again, got red with embarrassment and frustration but this time she didn't voice it, just gripped his hand a little tighter.
He extended a hand towards me gesturing for a handshake, "my name's Zachary, Zachary Truesdale."
"Truesdale, I've never heard the name. Any family in the service?" I asked.
"No, I was the only one to survive from my family. My parents were taken pretty early on and I didn't have any siblings," he explained, "but I had a desire for dueling and used that as an outlet before the landing happened, then I found my way to one of the companies responsible for gathering resources and material for the exodus and worked my way onboard one of the ships. The rest is history, as we say."
"I see, but how did this all happen between you two? I mean, you," pointing to Dark Magician Girl, "had told us that fraternization shouldn't be encouraged and coupling isn't a wise idea for how the family situation works here. Parents burying their children and lovers saying goodbye, leaving the monster to grieve alone."
"Yes, but I am a woman as well, captain, and I am, though I tried very hard not to be, susceptible to the charms of a good man, especially a persistent one with a sincere heart and strong deck," she explained.
"I bet that's not all he's got a 'strong thing' of," I played on her words.
Her cheeks tinged red again. Knew it.
"Well kiddies, it's getting late and I, for one, am not wanting to wake up late tomorrow," I said as I got up and made my way to the door, "don't stay up too late now," I winked.
Zachery grinned and Dark Magician Girl pursed her lips in annoyance as I turned away.
I left the lovers alone to their own vices.
When they were alone, they sat there for a minute longer before either spoke. "So, wanna do it here?" He asked casually.
Her eyes went wide, "are you insane!? We're sure to be caught here by one of the staff maids that clean the rooms!"
He shrugged, "Are they cute too? They could join u..!" His words were cut off by an arm pillow to the face.
"You're incorrigible!"
"I know," then he pushed her onto her back, "let me show you again how 'incorrigible' I am."
"How about insufferable?" She said, smiling and sliding her hand across his cheek.
Their lips met and didn't part for several minutes afterward. Pushing his tongue deep inside wrestling with hers, interlacing their fingers, her legs slowly began to rise above his hips, rubbing against his body.
Once they parted, Dark Magician Girl let loose a purr of absolute ecstasy, "hmm! Take me to the heavens once again."
"You got it." He whispered, sliding his hand down her side, and beginning to remove her clothes.
Elsewhere in the castle
Someone was moving through the castle, headed to the ramparts to get some fresh air thinking to themselves, this world is strange, a world where nearly every mythological creature in our world's history comes from. Possibly why we had dinosaurs, dragons, magicians, mammoth behemoths, and sea monsters, all from here. And here we are now living with these same creatures, "creatures I'm hoping to destroy myself!"
They moved through the castle carefully searching rooms for any they couldn't enter. A room that could be either heavily guarded, warded, or so out of place to be missed if one wasn't looking for it. They've pretty much looked everywhere that humans have been allowed, but now they were sneaking through corridors where most humans aren't allowed to go. Using a high-tech ultra-blackened suit and sticking to the shadows, the suit blocks all sensors from locking onto it. Heat sensors can't see body heat, it locks in all sound so no ear or microphone can catch on to where it is. It is equipped with a silent grapple to allow the wearer to get off the ground quickly and quietly to hide in ceiling shadows or behind high-hanging curtains. From the outside, the wearer can get to high balconies and ledges normally unreachable. They continued through the castle corridors, hiding from both human and creature guard patrols alike, on the lookout for individuals not supposed to be there. Until they spotted a door off at the end of a corridor that seemed out of place. Slowly making their way to it, they saw symbols written on the door, doorframe, and wall surrounding the door itself.
"Magical wards! They want to keep something contained or keep everyone else out, or both. I need to see into that room!" They told themselves.
Moving their arm in front of their face, to look at a holo of the castle. It had recorded their movements too, throughout the entire time they've been moving, it was keeping their coordinance and compiling them on the map of the castle and overlaying them to make a detailed map of the castle interior. This room was an internal room with no external window to make an alternate entrance and almost the entire length of the corridor next to the door was missing on the map. So this room may house more secrets than just one powerful deck. They made it to the door, then it began to glow with its runes and wards. Gruff voices and heavy footfalls could be heard coming from down the corridor where they had come from, and there was no high ceiling or curtains to try and hide from these newcomers. So that made one option, to open this door and go inside. The problem is how to unlock it and get inside without being seen doing so. They touched the knob that would allow access to the room and the wards glowed as they did, but the door had no visible locking mechanism. They tugged at the knob and the door didn't budge. Then they pushed against the door and it gave way a few inches. It was inlaid! They pushed harder as the noises of the footfalls got closer and louder. The door squealed and then opened enough for them to slip inside. The door seemingly pushed back shut easier than it was to open. They stayed silent as the footfalls got closer, right outside the door, and then just stopped. They listened and waited for the creatures to open the door and search inside, but they never even pushed against it to see if it would open. Some grunts of words and discussion came through the door but none were discernible. Soon footfalls could be discerned moving away from the door and that gave them a reason to exhale for the first time in minutes. They took out a small light and began to look around the room which was completely devoid of fixtures. In fact, there was nothing even in the room at all. Looking around, the beam of light never fell on anything for several seconds until a small glint could be seen deeper in the room. They made their way closer and soon found the only thing in the room, a single pedestal at the very end of the room, with what appeared to be a deck of cards covered with a soft red satin cloth. Removing it felt like lifting a greater weight than what was possible, even as it cleared the deck. They let it go and it fell to the floor with an audible sound like a falling curtain or heavy blanket. When their eyes fell onto the deck itself, they were transfixed by its awe and majesty. It was the most precious thing that they would ever behold! Then they touched it and it felt like they could take on the entire universe alone! The power that suddenly surged through them was tangible and empowering. They knew they had found their prize for their employers, no! For themselves! Why should they share this power with anyone else?
"It's mine! My own! MY PRECIOUS!!" They screamed in defiance.
Later as they made their way out of the castle, they had changed outfits into something less conspicuous, and someone finally noticed them stepping out of a side room.
"Captain Wang lei Wu!" Came a friendly sounding voice of a castle aid, "I did not know you were here in the castle. What business were you handling, sir?" They asked him with a quizzical look.
Wang's fist clenched and he had to consciously stop himself from just attacking this soldier and running away, "I was looking to meet with her Majesty, but she was otherwise engaged. I will return another time to try again," he lied.
"I see. Very well, sir. Enjoy the rest of your night," the guard said politely.
"Thank you," was the quick reply, then made his way to the transport area.