#durbe x ryouga

[sirdurbe]

Durbe + his inability to keep his hands off Ryouga in ep. 99/100

[galaxygirl-katie27]

Ryouga/Nasch Redesign

Click for better quality!

More Notes about it under the cut!

-Firstly I wanted to make his past life a.k.a. Nasch look DIFFERENT than Ryouga himself. Past lives do not work that way. They may look similar, but not directly a copy paste version. I mean, Ryouga Kamishiro isn’t even Nasch reincarnated. It is implied, if not canon, that the Kamishiros are Descendants of Nasch and Merag (however so, because I don’t think they had kids??), so I guess it makes sense, that they look similar. But definitely not the same! I also made Nasch older than Ryouga, because I won‘t have a 14 year old fight in a war and lose every single one of his soldiers (and his sister and adopted daughter). Here he‘s 19.

-Which also brings me to my trans!Ryouga headcanon, where I think that Ryouga was actually born a girl— Important! Ryouga, not Nasch! Nasch was born as a boy. — So Ryouga was originally a girl, but after the accident, when Nasch‘s soul entered her/his body, Ryouga started to feel more like a boy, because her/his soul was now actually a male and not female anymore.

-Also I finally settled down, what nationalities I think all the Barinas are. As you can see I headcanon Nasch and Merag as Greek (maybe Japanese mixed as Ryouga and Rio, but still part Greek, because of the descendants thing). I just blame the locations of their ruins on volcanic locations shift, as someone informed me about it on my map post. You‘ll see what I came up with for the others, I’m especially excited for Vector.

-I also liked the Heterochromia in his Barian form, so I think he had it already as Nasch and only got it back, when regaining his memories and barian powers. Because the left eye of the barians only turns red when dueling, so they can see the monsters and all. You could say they see… Duel Spirits. But that’s the thing. They can only see them in duels or when they „activate“ their red eye. But I think Nasch, as the leader of the barians is so powerful that his red eye is permanent, making him able to see duel spirits all the time. (I mean Vector had to absorb 4 barian emperors to even truly compete with Nasch, meaning Nasch alone is as powerful as 5 barian emperors)

-I changed his necklace to an actual shark tooth, because I was so disappointed, when I found out it wasn’t a real shark tooth. I mean, yeah it‘s cute that it had a family picture of them in it, but I’m not saying he doesn’t have that anymore, just not in a necklace. I think the tooth is something he got it from his father, because I headcanon he was a marine biologist. Ryouga also wants to become a marine biologist and study sharks. Because being emperor isn’t really an option in this time.

-We know Ryouga and Rio share silver rings and he still has his, he now just has a golden extra one with a sapphire, which serves as a promise ring for him and Durbe. Durbe of course also has one, also golden with a ruby.

-He, Rio and Durbe all share friendship bracelets, with their barian aura colours. It was Rio‘s idea, but Durbe made them.

-I also love the idea of him and Rio having shark teeth. Were they born with them? No one knows…

-Now for the Nasch redesign, I gave him a more casual kind of look. Of course he has some armour, but only wears it later in the story, when really going into war.

-I also gave him a crow BECAUSE KING NEEDS A CROWN and made it look similar to his barian crown, but with extra wings on them. He let them be added to the crown, to show his connection to Durbe and the alliance with his king indirectly to the whole kingdom. Also because he misses him. Of course not every one was fine with this, but Nasch was such a beloved ruler, no one dared to oppose him.

-I got the Idea for the sword switch from a fanfic I read about them once, where they actually got their swords together ad named them after each others stars of the big dipper. So here they got their swords, but switched them and named them after the other (Dubhe and Benetnasch) so they could still fight side by side, even when apart.

If you have any other questions about the redesigns, ask away, because as you can tell I really like to yap about them! :)

[higuchimon]

[fanfic] Love Is In The Cards:  Chapter 2

Title: Love Is In The Cards Characters: Shark, Ryuu||Ships: Shark x Durbe, Ryuu x Io Chapters: 2-??||Words: 1,612||Total: 3,228 Genre: Drama, Romance||Rated: G Prompt: zexal10thanniversary; Zexal Week 2021, day #1, “A Parallel Self” Notes: For the purposes of this story, BKCBL & Zexal take place in the same universe. This is about three or four years post-canon for Zexal and in the middle of season one for BKCBL. Also, the Barians still retain some of their powers. Summary: It’s almost Durbe’s birthday and Shark wants to find a nice place to take him. So he heads up to Binan to check it out. He’s going to find a lot more than hot springs and places to eat.

The Kurotama Bathhouse wasn't the most elegant or beautiful that Shark had ever seen in his life. In point of fact, it was somewhat plain. But the building was clearly well taken care of and the owner, a tall and strong red-haired man who vaguely reminded Shark of Gauche, greeted his companions in a way that said they were well-known to one another.

"Yumoto's off with Wombat somewhere," the older man told Naruko and Zaou as they entered with Shark. "Don't know how long he'll be gone." His eyes flicked over to Shark, and Shark found himself being very clearly weighed and measured by some unknowable scale. "Any trouble?"

"Nope! Just introducing our new friend here to the Kurotama," Zaou declared, handing over the payment. Shark nodded slightly.

"Kamishiro Ryouga," he introduced himself. "I'm looking for places to bring a friend of mine when it's his birthday." He had few intentions of telling these folk he'd just met that Durbe was far more than a friend. They didn't necessarily need to know. Friend would do for now.

"Well the Kurotama Baths are a great place to bring people!" The owner declared, brightening up. He dug into a drawer and pulled out a handful of coupons, offering them. "We have special discounts for birthdays."

Ryouga accepted the coupons and tucked them in with his clothes as he got started on getting ready. Quiet voices came from the area of the baths, and Zaou poked his head in there for a second before he looked back. "It's the guys," he reported. "I'll let them know we're going to have a guest."

He popped on in there as soon as he was done, while Ryouga and Naruko finished up preparing. Ryouga liked the place so far. Kind of homey and the company wasn't bad either. He strolled into the bath area to see Zaou and two others there, one with dark blue hair and the other a blond. The dark haired one waved a bit as the newcomers slid into the hot water.

"You just missed Yumoto," he said to Naruko and Zaou. "He's taking -" there was a breath of a pause, hardly more than a second, but Ryouga noticed it - "Wom-san out to see a new sweet store that opened up."

Zaou nodded, getting himself comfortable. He flicked one hand, along with a few drops of water, towards Ryouga. "This is Kamishiro Ryouga," he introduced. The dark-haired one introduced himself as Atsushi, the other as En. "You said something about a friend's birthday?"

"I want to do something special for him," Ryouga said, relaxing. This did feel good, especially after the long trip up here. He could see why people enjoyed it so much. "Things have been rough for the last couple of years and now that we're in a better place, I want to do something for him."

True enough, as far as it went. No one needed to know the full details of how things had been 'rough', since world-ending events like that didn't happen all that often. The fact he wanted to bring Durbe here was what remained important for the moment.

The blond's attention, a lazy sort of thing that brushed over Ryouga and Zaou, fastened back on Ryouga. He blinked sleepily before he glanced over at his friend. "Do you hear it?"

Atsushi frowned ever so slightly and En looked back towards Zaou. "Hey, say something. I want to be sure."

"What are you talking about?" Zaou didn't seem that much bothered. If anything, Ryouga would have said that he were amused. But En then nodded.

"You two sound alike," En told them. He tilted his head back. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you two were voiced by the same voice actor."

Ryouga blinked. He didn't think he'd ever heard anything like that before. "What makes you say that?"

"Because it's true?" En shrugged. "Things like that happen sometimes."

Ryouga decided that he didn't want to think about that a great deal. En very clearly was unusual. Not like Vector was - but Vector would forever be in a class by himself. Thank goodness.

He leaned back in the water and relaxed, letting his mind roam free. It was rather pleasant not to have to worry about anything. There hadn't been any truly annoying problems since the end of the war. They'd managed to settle things fairly quickly in the Astral World as well, and that led to a lot of downtime. Which was what led to him being here and planning on how to surprise Durbe soon.

The soft murmur of voices didn't quite disturb him, but he knew the others in the bath were having some sort of conversation amongst themselves. He cracked his eyes open a little without seeming to and regarded them. Something seemed vaguely familiar, though it wasn't something he could place off the top of his head. Something about the way that they reacted to each other - an the way they watched out for each other. All of them seemed oddly aware of what was going on around them. He wasn't sure if they even were aware of it themselves.

He wasn't sure if he'd ever figure out what was going on there and he wasn't sure if it even mattered. He just wanted to relax for now and so far, this hot water and the pleasant company made that so very easy.

Zundar didn't often come to this part of town. He preferred staying in the better areas. Kinshiro had many flaws - most of which Zundar enjoyed turning to his own benefit - but he also offered the sort of comfortable lifestyle to which Zundar truly wished to become accustomed to. But down here also offered an interesting array of folks to choose from, and Zundar made sure to note them all. He far preferred people from Binan High School itself, but one should never turn down a chance for a proper monster.

There was the one who was the youngest in their family and thought they could never do anything worthwhile without being shown up, deliberately or not, by their elder siblings. Then the one who kept losing significant others to their own friends. What caught most of his attention, however, was the young man who did attend Binan High as a third year, and whose family owned a small hot springs that wasn't doing very well. Zundar wanted to keep a very strong eye on this one.

Other than those, the one that he wanted to know the most about was that young stranger. Zundar had followed them as far as the Kurotama but wouldn't go inside. Who knew what sort of traps might be hiding? There shouldn't have been any, but with the odd aura the newcomer put out, he couldn't ensure what might or might not happen. Best to stay outside and watch for the new one to come back out.

Eventually he did, smelling fresh from the bath and of the oddness Zundar had noticed before. Being a little closer now, Zundar could get a better whiff, and he breathed in to do so.

The sea and stone - a lot of stone. This isn't Earth stone, either. He didn't recognize it as being from any planet that he knew of, and he'd been to several of those. Carefully he scampered along, making sure to stick to where it was unlikely that he would be seen, and tracked the stranger until he was back in his hotel room. So far Zundar hadn't been able to figure out anything that he might be able to use to get his hooks into this one, but he had far more resources than he'd used just yet.

Once he memorized which hotel this young man stayed in, Zundar made his way back to Kinshiro. That wasn't difficult at all; a quick teleport was all that he needed. He arrived in Kinshiro's bedroom, to find the other putting away the last of his schoolbooks. That was quite pleasing for Zundar; he wanted to talk to him anyway.

"Zundar-sama!" Kinshiro visibly perked up the moment he saw the emerald-green hedgehog. "I'd wondered where you were." His lips thinned ever so lightly. "I haven't decided yet who will be our next target."

"Don't worry about. I have someone that I have my eye on." Zundar got himself settled, regarding his young protege. "He's a visitor to the town, but there is a definite sense of something that could be useful about him."

Kinshiro raised one elegant silver eyebrow. "Oh? What sort of something?"

Zundar drummed his feet against the table. He did wish he'd been able to learn more. "I can't be certain exactly. He doesn't entirely smell human, but he's not from any world that I know about."

Kinshiro looked worried right away. "If he's not human, would we even be able to use him?"

That was a good question. Zundar considered it very carefully. "I have done this before," he said thoughtfully. "But I always knew what I was dealing with. I'd rather not jump into this without being sure. If this person is an alien, I want to know where he's from. I haven't yet heard what name he's using. I'll gain that information first."

Kinshiro nodded without argument.  That was one of his better qualities, in Zundar's opinion.  Of course, he probably shouldn't have, but it wasn't as if Zundar intended to tell him that any time soon.  For now, he just started to describe the stranger, so that if Kinshiro saw him before Zundar could acquire his name, he would not be unaware. 

To Be Continued

Notes: I decided since this fic fit the first day’s prompt, I should update it. I had something else in mind for the first day, but that hasn’t properly panned out yet. Maybe later in the week. But: Ryuu and Shark share a VA and fourth wall breaking is known to happen with the magical boys!

When I first saw the prompt of shared Vas, I did a little research, and found out that Kaito’s Japanese VA also does Roxas and Ventus from Kingdom Hearts. I did so love the idea of Kaito gaining a Keyblade and the Keyhole for Heartland would absolutely be at the top of Heartland Tower. Maybe another time?

[baddyzarc]

6/7 Ruins: Legends of Labyrinth

1 2 3 4a 4b 5 x 7  

Due to the severe overlap in Vector and Nasch/Merag’s story, I couldn’t finish talking about all of Vector without talking about Nasch first. He is integral to understanding Vector’s behavior and roles. 

Nasch and Merag are the final Barian Emperors of the show. Unlike the other Emperors, they don’t have a “canon” legend of their own. Their story is told to us through the memories of Ryouga after being prompted by Abyss, the Guardian of this ruin, and Durbe.

Although this legend is supposed to cover both Nasch and Merag, Nasch ends up with the fuller story (and therefore more focus). Merag died at the start of the legend and only had a couple of episodes as an Emperor. Her role is important for Nasch’s motivations, but that’s just what she is—a motivation for Nasch. It sucks, but there a few noteworthy things about her.

These ruins are located in the Labyrinth under the ocean. It isn’t clear what trickery is at play (I assume Duel Monsters magic) so this place may or may not be a real location. It existed in the past, but that one was on land while this one is submerged. However, the Labyrinth is an interesting choice for the ruins due to how it relates to Nasch’s story. 

The story started in the United Lands of the Poseidon Ocean, where Nasch was a beloved king and Merag was a priestess and princess. It followed the latter half of Vector’s tales. 

Vector attacked their land, he was unsuccessful, in retaliation Vector summoned a powerful God “Number 73: Abyss Splash, the Roaring Waterfall Deity” by performing a blood sacrifice, Merag sacrificed herself, you know the gist. Oh, Durbe was there but this wasn't about him.

This began the long rivalry between Nasch and Vector. Since I described most of what happened in Vector’s story already, I don’t need to gloss over it here. But there were a few notable things from Nasch’s perspective. 

Something new that we find out was that Merag’s sacrifice was pushed onto her by Don Thousand. It was implied that she was hypnotized into killing herself in an attempt to send Nasch into despair, but this was where things get a little mucky with Don Thousand’s interventions. She died under hypnosis (?), but then she came back as a spirit to guide Nasch through his journey. And then she went to Barian World after Nasch died. I think. I don’t know. Someone help. 

Since she wasn’t exposed to her Mythyrian Number and Don Thousand’s explanation was very lackluster, we don’t find out what truly happened to her aside from being sacrificed. My honest interpretation is that Don Thousand didn’t directly kill her. Instead, he gave her knowledge on how to stop “Abyss Splash”. It was ultimately her decision to sacrifice herself, and she did. This gave her access to Don Thousand’s powers, yet she maintained her autonomy, allowing her to aid Nasch in the afterlife before going to Barian World.  

Another new detail was that Nasch found a little girl named Iris in one of the destroyed villages. The girl bore a high resemblance to Merag, and Nasch said that Merag may have guided him to this girl to aid him in his destiny.

After finding the location of Vector, and with his army still injured from previous battles, Nasch decided to face Vector by himself with “Abyss Splash” by his side. As he battled in the Labyrinth, Durbe, his army, and Iris advanced into the battlefield to try to save him, resulting in everyone (except Durbe) getting slaughtered by Vector’s army of men and monsters. 

When the Shadow Game of the Labyrinth was completed, all of Nasch’s men and Iris laid dead outside of the Labyrinth, sending Nasch into grief. This grief sealed his fate as a Barian Emperor.  

The story ends with Nasch pursuing and defeating Vector in his Cursed Royal Palace.

What we never found out was how Nasch died. Death is needed to become a Barian, and the last we saw of him was in Vector’s castle. He may have lived out the rest of his life until old age got him, but this was never stated. Personally, I think Nasch killed himself after completing his goal, which was to stop Vector’s terror. He lost all his men in battle, and the one person he cared for, Merag, was gone (he still had a kingdom to care for but this is Mr. Shark we’re talking about here). He fulfilled his desires. If he had nothing left to live for, he could end it there and ascend into Barian World to be with his people. 

Nasch is also a character whose fate is tied to Merag closely, as both Ryouga + Rio and Nasch + Merag. When Rio was hospitalized in the first season, Ryouga lost the will to duel (and since this is yugioh, that essentially equates to life) or be productive like going to his classes. When Vector tossed Merag into a Black Hole, Nasch followed her; if it wasn’t for Abyss, they would’ve died together. I’m not saying that there’s enough evidence to conclude that he killed himself in his past life, but the actual cause is unknown and if Nasch is a person whose fate is interwoven with Merag’s, perhaps. 

Alright. I skipped over a lot of the details in the story because there are a lot of things that happened there.

To begin, Nasch is an Emperor who went to Barian World on his own accord. 

He isn’t tricked or hypnotized into going there, and this distinction is why I think Nasch is the most powerful of the Seven Emperors, alongside Vector for about the same reasons. Their own raw emotions led them to Barian World, making them “true” Barian Emperors. 

For Nasch specifically, this also allows him to access a unique form of Chaos. Yuma mentioned that Nasch’s Chaos possesses is different from previous forms of Chaos.

Unlike the others, whose powers derive primarily from Don Thousand’s Over-Hundred Numbers and trickery, Nasch is an Emperor who is separate from Don Thousand (although Donny prodding him with a stick could count i guess). His Chaos is not the same as Don Thousand nor the other Emperors. Rejecting Don Thousand isn’t the only thing that distinguishes his strength, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

There is a sizable amount of subtext that proves Nasch’s unique Chaos, aside from Yuma’s direct observations.

In the final scene within the Labyrinth, the place that sealed his fate as a Barian and why it holds such significance as the location of his ruins, Nasch defeats Vector and causes a familiar object to fall from its pedestal and shatter. 

Although seemingly meaningless, this sequence tells the audience how Nasch views Don Thousand. He walks away from the remnants of Don Thousand’s crest, and the entire framing of this scene tells the audience to pay attention to the broken crest and what Nasch is doing there. Nasch quite literally destroys and rejects Don Thousand. This is in stark contrast to Vector, an Emperor who derives all of his powers from Don Thousand, who is constantly framed with the emblem behind him. This is critical in how Nasch and Vector function as Emperors; one accepts Don Thousand’s power in its entirety while the other turns his head. And as you know, this rivalry comes back later in the show. 

(My only gripe with this is that we don’t know how Nasch got his Over-Hundred Number. All of the others had their cards explicitly injected into them, but with Nasch, it’s ambiguous how he acquired his Number.)

Furthermore, a few scenes with Iris and Merag hints that Nasch will not become Don Thousand’s Emperor due to his motto of “doing things his own way”.

Nasch has a destiny, and his destiny is to become a Barian. 

I think this particular scene spells it out nicely. As Nasch recounts that “this” is his destiny, the scene pans up towards the Big Dipper, which is what all of the Emperors are named after. The subtext implies that “this is my destiny” equates to “becoming an Emperor”. Nasch is fully aware that being a Barian Emperor is something he cannot escape. 

However, the final line states is that he will “fight against it”. This somewhat implies that Nasch tried to escape becoming a Barian, but that’s a shallow reading that contradicts his original statement. His fight isn’t to escape becoming a Barian Emperor. His fight is to escape becoming one of Don Thousand’s Barian Emperors, or one that is influenced by Don’s Chaos and manipulations. 

In that case, Nasch succeeds because he is the only Emperor unaffected by this evil strain of Chaos, and the scene in the Labyrinth backs this up.

Now, how did Nasch fight Don Thousand’s influence? I don’t think he did this alone. 

And this is where I think Merag fits in. I believe it’s her influence and guidance that allows Nasch to become the Emperor that he is.

Merag represents a positive influence on Nasch in all of the lives they live. Within the past life, she guides him through it and “protects” him. It’s the reason why Ryouga becomes so hateful and bloodthirsty without Rio to keep him in check, or why Nasch pursues Vector with so much anger prior to running into Iris, a proxy of Merag. She is a purifying force, and because of her, she prevents Nasch from falling into the path of revenge and hatred.

Merag is responsible for Nasch coming into contact with Iris. Originally, Iris’ role isn’t very clear aside from having someone for Nasch to grieve over, but I suspect that Merag orchestrates this to keep Nasch’s motivations “pure-hearted”. As in, he shouldn’t be pursuing Vector for only revenge. 

Prior to meeting Iris, Nasch’s primary motive is to kill Vector and avenge his fallen sister. He chases him everywhere, growing angrier and more bloodthirsty as he did so. But when he comes into contact with Iris, his goals seems to have shifted. He finds Iris in a village pillaged by Vector. By witnessing this atrocity and its effects on a familiar girl, I believe it pushes Nasch’s motives away from “kill Vector because revenge” to “kill Vector to protect the lives of innocent people like Iris (and a sprinkle of revenge)”. Soon after meeting Iris, Nasch realizes that his fight with Vector is costing innocent lives, and this realization influences his actions in the subsequent scenes. 

This may be reading into it too much, but Merag may have been “protecting” Nasch from a fate of becoming a Barian of hatred. Although she can’t escape Don Thousand herself, her goal was to aid Nasch in his fight against Don Thousand’s influence. 

And finally, there’s Nasch’s relationship to his Mythyrian Number. 

Out of all the Emperors, Nasch is the only who consistently uses it in its base form. Despite being a Barian Emperor, Nasch relies on the Mythyrian Number “Number 73: Abyss Splash, the Roaring Waterfall Deity” as much as he does his Over-Hundred Number “Number 101: Silent Honors Ark Knight”, and he is the only Barian Emperor to do so. (with Vector being an exception which I’ll explain later)

This almost doesn’t make sense since we know that Mythyrian Numbers are the antithesis to Over-Hundred Numbers. They have been able to purge Don Thousand’s Chaos from the bodies of the other Emperors. But, BUT Nasch isn’t one of Don Thousand’s Emperors, isnt he? 

Nasch acquired “Number 73: Abyss Splash, the Roaring Waterfall Deity” via Merag, and unlike the others, this Mythyrian is never purged from his body. He becomes an Emperor even with a Mythyrian in him, which is quite a feat and shows how strong his Barian-destiny is. Not only that, he is able to take “Abyss Splash” and transform it into a Chaos Number “Chaos Number 73: Abyss Supra, the God of Roaring Cascades”. Like previously stated, Vector also has this distinction (although he never summons the base-form of “Judge Buster” like Nasch always does). 

Nasch is also on very good terms with his Mythyrian Number. After all, a key plot point in Zexal is that “Abyss Splash” saves Merag and Nasch after Vector sends them into the black hole. He also agrees to unlock their memories as Barian Emperors if they met again. And for a Mythyrian Number, this is odd. Supposedly they are the opposite of the Barians and Over-Hundreds. “Abyss Splash” should keep their memories as Emperors locked since it means he is erasing two very strong Barians from existence. 

But I want to make a point that Mythyrian Numbers only reveal the true emotions and memories of their beholder. With Alito during his Ruins duel and my discussion with Vector, the Mythyrian Numbers reveal the truth. They expel false emotions, which is why the other Emperors acquire their true personalities or memories when exposed to them. Since Nasch was uninfluenced by Don Thousand, this means he is made of only true memories and emotions. Therefore, Nasch has nothing to hide and “Abyss Splash” has nothing to purge, providing more evidence that Nasch is a true Barian. 

Likewise with my discussion with Vector, where I said his Mythyrian revealed nothing new about Vector because what we see is what we get, these two Emperors are “true” Emperors with some key differences (Don Thousand’s Chaos being one of them). Their individual revolves as Barians are so strong that even with the purifying effect of their Mythyrians, they are persons who are naturally destined for Barian World. While Vector ends up rejecting his Mythyrian Number, Nasch embraces it and synergizes with it. This explains his constant reliance on “Abyss Splash” and his ability to chaosify it by natural means. Vector, on the other hand, holds no respect for his Mythyrian and only manages to play its Chaos form by sheer luck. If we consider that Vector is heavily influenced by Don Thousand (which the Mythyrians suppress), this may explain why he is unable to synergize with his Mythyrian Number. Because Nasch does not rely on Don Thousand’s powers, he is able to use his Mythyrian Number without an issue. And since Nasch does not belong to Don Thousand, “Abyss Splash” is willing to help him. 

So Nasch is a unique Emperor, but why is he as powerful as he is?

For Chaos, my assumption is that you become a Barian if you die with strong desires, or some form of attachment to your life as a human. (simply being evil or hateful isn’t a strong definition due to Yuma and Iris.)

For most of the Emperors, this culminates in their desire for revenge against the people who betrayed them. For Merag and Nasch, their situation is different. Merag, I believe, died with a desire to stay by Nasch’s side, and maybe some of Don Thousand’s influence since it wasn’t very clear what he did to her aside from sacrificial stuff. With Nasch, revenge may have been on his mind, but that motivation concluded when he defeated Vector for the last time. Nasch should’ve been satisfied. So why didn’t he go to Astral World? 

Aside from his destiny as an Emperor, it’s because he held attachment to his past life. Nasch couldn’t go to Astral World, or ascend with a clear conscience, because he cannot let go of his life as an Earthling—the people he met, the friends he made, his choices leading to their deaths, his grief and remorse. Nasch cannot move forward from nor forgive himself for these things. Because he is held down by his emotions, it makes him the perfect “true” Barian, one that isn’t motivated by solely hatred or short-lived revenge but simply by strong attachment and honest heart. 

If attachment can lead to a powerful Barian, then Nasch has to be one of the strongest Barians. 

My evidence to this is his entire duel with Thomas. It reflects Nasch’s heavy attachment in an ironically tragic way. 

The duel occurs shortly after Nasch finds out he is a Barian Emperor. Throughout and prior to the duel, he argues that he is a Barian Emperor. His actions, however, suggest that he hasn’t fully accepted this fate yet. It’s evidenced that during this duel, Ryouga still resides within Nasch through his consistently mumbling that he hasn’t lost his human heart.

It makes sense that he is unable to detach himself from his previous human life as Ryouga Kamishiro because by his own nature. Nasch cannot let go of the past; he cannot abandon humanity that easily. His nature, the one that made him such a powerful Emperor in the past, is also hindering his ability to become a full Emperor in the moment.

This proves especially difficult since his opponent is Thomas, who has such a powerful bond (???idk, the show said it not me???) with Ryouga that he is able to tap into Nasch’s humanity.

Nasch will not abandon Ryouga by choice. His attachment is so heavy that he cannot reject it under normal circumstances, so what he does in this duel provides some insight in the strength of his bonds and how far he goes to break them. 

(I suspect that this is why he tells the other Emperors to kill him if his resolve as their leader begins to falter; he isn’t sure he has the strength to reject his human side).

So in all of the duels that involve Nasch, he is always void of cruelty and sadism. He does not toy with his opponent like Vector usually does. His duel with Thomas is the only one where he is sadistic towards his opponent. The writers make it extremely noticeable that his treatment of Thomas during this duel iss not due to, like, him being an actual sadist. He isn’t a naturally cruel person or because he hates Thomas, which is reinforced repeatedly throughout the duel via Nasch’s internal thoughts. 

On the contrary, he torments Thomas because by resorting to vileness to someone he once cared about, Nasch is putting himself in a situation where his actions speaks for him. If he can emotionally hurt and physically kill Thomas, it is enough for him to accept that he can no longer be a human; he crosses a thick line by performing these actions. Even if Nasch lacked malice, what he does to Thomas means is able to harm and murder humans; whether he means it or not is irrelevant. 

Although he starts by insulting Thomas on a personal level (which cmon, baby-banter dude), he manages to get the reactions he wants by showing Thomas the death of his allies before callously mocking them. Nasch is doing something unforgivable and appalling, but that’s exactly what he is going for. By resorting to this level of cruelty to Ryouga’s friend, Nasch makes it difficult to return to his old life as Ryouga.

And I don’t think Nasch is enjoying this process in the same way as a typical villain would. Each time he is successful in coaxing IV to hate him, he keeps monologging about how Ryouga will “die” or thanking Thomas for being a stepping stool to Emperor-dom. 

His underlying motives is oriented towards a specific goal rather than sadistic pleasure, which I think is important for his character overall. When Thomas finally snaps at him, by finally referring to him as the monster Nasch rather than his friend Ryouga, Nasch affirms that he burned the bridge. 

Thinking about his actions and his nature, Nasch literally can’t abandon his old friends until he commits an atrocity so bad that Thomas calls him out for his lowliness. In order to lose his attachment to the humans he cares for, Nasch has to resort to being uncharacteristically inhumane towards them. If we assume that he holds this level of attachment during his past life, it makes plenty of sense why Nasch is as strong a Barian as he is. 

So… It’s hard to tell if he succeeds in abandoning his humanity during this duel. 

I mean, obviously he chooses the Barians over humans in the end, but his actions at the end of the duel is… questionable?

These reactions aren’t from someone who lost his humanity. His mannerism towards Thomas says that he still has kindness and sympathy in his heart for humans. 

And this line—

—which can be tossed up as an odd translation, but if I were to look at this, this line implies that “Ryouga” is still alive despite what Nasch does, but he won’t be for long. Ryouga will die once Nasch kills Yuma and all of his old friends. That’s just me though. I don’t really have a solid answer for this duel’s conclusion. 

Nasch may be a person who is incapable of severing bonds, or if he is, he has to take extreme measures to do so. These final scenes somewhat show that it isn’t easy for him to unattach himself from his old life.  

Merag shares this theme too. With the minimal amount of screentime she gets, we get to see that Merag shares similar levels of attachment with Nasch. With her original death, I assume that her desire to be with and protect Nasch is enough to send her to Barian World (along with whatever Don Thousand did, wasnt too clear there)

During her duel with Tetsuo, she cries after killing him, which is sound evidence that she holds emotions and attachment to her life as Rio Kamishiro as much as Nasch is with Ryouga. 

She is a powerful Barian Emperor. She would’ve defeated Vector had it not been for Don Thousand’s interference. Although her weakness comes from her inheritance of Don Thousand’s Chaos (and I’ll explain why this is a major weakness soon), he does not trick her into wanting revenge before her death. Rather Merag and Nasch (and perhaps Vector, too, although his sendoff is due to his high levels of malice for life on Earth) are powerful because they hold attachment to their previous life. They both struggle to let go of the past or abandon what they love, and in the terms of becoming a Barian, this is a very good thing. 

This brings us to the final question. Nasch--why no evil. Why is his Chaos unlike that of Vector, or Don Thousand, or the other Emperors? What exactly is this unique Chaos that Yuma saw in Nasch?

The ruins may be finished, but there’s a couple of unfinished things I want to address with Zexal’s World of Chaos.

[sirdurbe]

durbe/nasch is soul-crushing devotion across multiple lifetimes but durbe/ryouga is so petty gay and i think that's criminally underrated

[galaxygirl-katie27]

Time for departure

[sirdurbe]

[galaxygirl-katie27]

Rio/Merag Redesign

Click for better quality!

More notes about the Redesign under the cut!

-Okay, first of all- BURN SCRAS. Queen was so long in the hospital after her fire accident, completely wrapped in bandages and there is literally nothing showing?? No, girl is a survivor and it shows. If the writers decide to put her in the hospital for like 75% of her screen time, then at least show the consequences that came out of it. She also can’t completely open her left eye anymore. It’s not blind, she just can’t completely open it.

-She also has PTSD from the incident and is afraid of fire ever since. She can stand it with loved ones around, but she‘ll never go alone near a fire again, because it gives her major flashbacks. (Rio isn‘t the only barian with PTSD. Honestly I think all of them have it, some more so than others for different reasons.)

-She is also officially a jock girl. We saw her rock every sport possible at school. I think in my redesign, she wouldn’t be in the drama club, but in a sports club, like football or basketball (probably even being captain). And for those wondering what her shirt says, it says „Heartland Academy“. The 48 actually being related to her star Merak.

-Although she is a confident queen, she still has some demons to deal with and isn’t really comfortable with showing ALL her scars (hence the sport leggings under her shorts). It actually took her a lot of time to go out again after being released from the hospital. But with the help of her family, especially Ryouga and Durbe and her friends, she‘s slowly healing.

-I also headcanon her as a lesbian. I confess to being a Rio x Anna shipper. Especially after seeing prompts and fanart of them bonding over burn and explosion scars. Love me some mechanic and jock lesbians.

-I think the Greek nationality explains itself, since she‘s Ryouga‘s twin. So if you want my reasoning for that, check out my Ryouga/Nasch redesign.

-Of course she has the sibling ring and the friendship bracelet with Ryouga and Durbe.

-Now to Merag. I tried to make her look like her barian form and also using lighter colours for her, since I used darker ones for Nasch. Also gave her the tiara she has in her barian form, because she is ROYALTY.

-I also gave Merag actually short hair and a long veil, to kinda give the illusion of long hair, because back then it was unusual for women to wear short hair. But she wanted it short, because she also practises sword fighting. Durbe was teaching her in private. She‘s actually better than Nasch at it and always kicks his ass in (sword) duels. This could also be a reason, why Rio is so frustrated at losing to Ryouga in card game duels. Because her soul was so used to winning against him.

-SHE‘S AN ORACLE. She was bestowed the gift of foresight by Apollo. She gets visions of the future. It’s mostly why she became head priestess. She also got them way less, when being reborn, because she and her soul had to get used to regularly getting future visions again. They could be big visions, like enemy‘s approaching or just small things. Like in the middle of doing something she suddenly spaces out before saying: „Oh my Abyss, Vector is going to fall down on the parking lot in 10 minutes, I gotta see that-“

[higuchimon]

[fanfic] Love Is In The Cards:  Chapter 1

Title: Love Is In The Cards Characters: Shark, Ryuu||Ships: Shark x Durbe, Ryuu x Io Chapters: 1-??||Words: 1,616||Total: 1,616 Genre: Drama, Romance||Rated: G Prompt: zexal10thanniversary Notes: For the purposes of this story, BKCBL & Zexal take place in the same universe. This is about three or four years post-canon for Zexal and in the middle of season one for BKCBL. Also, the Barians still retain some of their powers. Summary: It’s almost Durbe’s birthday and Shark wants to find a nice place to take him. So he heads up to Binan to check it out. He’s going to find a lot more than hot springs and places to eat.

Shark stepped off of the train and looked around. The first thought on his mind was This place is quaint. Binan didn’t look anything like Heartland City. Heartland was a place where he could happily ride his motorcycle anywhere, and if he couldn’t, there were other ways to get around, such as the monorail.

Binan didn’t have that. It wasn’t a very large place, so most people seemed to get around simply by walking. He guessed there was probably a bus system, but he wasn’t sure. There was at least a train, so it wasn’t as if it were utterly cut off from the modern world.

All the research he’d done also said there wasn’t a lot of dueling here. People here lived very quiet lives – though he’d also caught a few glimpses of reports that said it wasn’t so quiet.

He gathered up his bag and headed away from the station. He’d been on the train for a couple of hours and he wanted to find a place to rest that wasn’t moving. He only had a couple of days here before he needed to get back.

Finding his hotel didn’t take long. He settled in, then pulled out his D-Gazer and slipped it on. He didn’t need it for dueling, but it came in very handy for phone calls.

“Rio?” He asked as soon as the two devices connected. She rested her hands on her hips and glared at him.

“Took you long enough! Did you get there?”

“I’m there.” Shark settled down on the hotel bed and started flipping through the town’s website. “I’m going to grab something to eat and check out a few places. Durbe still doesn’t guess?”

Rio shook her head. “We told him that you’re checking out some potential places to dump Vector at.”

He’d never do that. He didn’t want to leave Vector where he’d be someone else’s problem. At least they knew how to handle him. But it made for a good enough excuse while he scouted places for Durbe’s birthday.

Truth to tell, most of his fellow Barians didn’t know when their birthday was. He and Rio did, at least their current birthday – sometime even he got confused on that. But Vector and Durbe, Mizael and Gilag, and Alit as well, they didn’t have birthdays that translated very well into the modern calendars, and they’d never bothered celebrating anything like that when they were Barians.

But now that they lived among humans – and technically were human again – Shark wanted to do that. It would help them all fit in a little better. So they’d picked dates as close to what they recalled from their human lives.

He had a week left until it would be Durbe’s birthday and he wanted to make it the best trip that he could manage. So here he was, in Binan, hoping that it was what he’d read about it.

He focused back on Rio. “I’ll let you know what I find out later.” He wanted to sample one of the places he’d read of for dinner, then go checking for one of the famous hot springs.

“All right. You should probably call Durbe tonight too.” Rio smirked at him. “You don’t want your boyfriend moping around, do you?”

Shark snorted. “I’ll call after dinner. See you.” He cut the connection and tossed the D-Gazer to one side. His stomach rumbled again and he headed out, checking for the closest place to eat.

The Aqua Catch. Every review he’d seen on it said that it was pretty good so he headed out there. He’d always had a taste for seafood and he knew Durbe did too – somewhere in the flickers of memory from his first life as Nasch, he recalled sharing a plate of tuna. That wasn’t the only time they’d shared meals, of course. It happened frequently on the march to do battle with Vector…

He shook his head to get the image out. That was long done with. Time to move on to happier events. Which meant checking The Aqua Catch out to see if it would be a good place for Durbe’s birthday dinner.

The Aqua Catch wasn’t somewhere that Ryuu frequented that often. The prices were reasonable and the food really good, but he’d always thought of it as a place for special occasions or special people. He sort of wanted to take Io there for the other’s birthday once December rolled around.

But for now, he took Io there because just the day before, Io had saved his life. Which, these days, wasn’t such an unusual event. He still hadn’t fully wrapped his head around the thought of superheroing and monsters being a regular part of their lives, even though they were. But the day before, one of those monsters the Caerula Adamas created almost took his head clean off.

Io – Battle Lover Sulfur – cracked open the earth itself underneath the monster, burying it in the ground before sending a powerful blast from his staff into its face. The other three helped him back to his feet, then they’d gone on to take care of the monster. Just a normal afternoon for them, but Ryuu wanted to do something for Io now.

“This is all on me,” he promised. Io looked up from the menu, a tiny smile on his lips.

“You don’t really have to do this.”

Ryuu crossed his arms over his chest and glowered. “You saved my life.” He wasn't going to say anything else about it. Io knew what he meant and they didn’t need to get anyone else’s attention.

They both perused the menu, and Ryuu almost didn’t notice when another diner was settled down at one of the nearby tables. He glanced over casually, then did a double take. He’d never seen anyone like this guy before and he prided himself on noticing the interesting people around town.

This guy was definitely interesting. Probably about Io’s height, with deep purple hair and sea-blue eyes. His hair sort of – well, it looked kinda like tentacles if Ryuu tilted his head a little, and right over his forehead the hair was a paler blue that resembled a crown.

Is that natural or did he have it done? Ryuu wasn’t sure and itched to know.

So he leaned over. ���Excuse me?” He waited until the other looked at him. “I was wondering – where did you get your hair done?” He wasn’t sure if he wanted to try it for himself or not, but it looked nice on this guy. It might be worth a try.

The stranger blinked back at him. “It’s not ‘done’. It’s natural.”

Ryuu couldn’t quite believe that. “I didn’t know anyone had hair that shade.” He didn’t keep the admiration out of his voice. Though he’d seen a few odd colors – such as whenever he looked in the mirror. But deep purple wasn’t one he’d run across before.

“Well, I do.” The stranger picked up his menu, very obviously done with the conversation. Ryuu shrugged; he’d asked, at least.

That wasn’t the only person who’d ever questioned him about his hair. This one did seem more appreciate than anything else, so Shark didn’t think much of the exchange until after he’d finished his meal, paid, and headed out, stopping a little way down the street to check out his map of the area.

Let’s see. A good hot springs. Maybe one of the local baths?

“Hey, did you need some help?” That voice. He’d heard something unusual about it the first time he’d heard it, but he had too much to think about then. Now here it was again. He glanced over to see that same pink-haired person standing there, their friend beside them.

If the stranger hadn’t looked so genuinely as if he wanted to help, Shark would have just dismissed him. But perhaps he could use a bit of help, especially from a local.

“I’m trying to find a bathhouse. Not any one in particular, though.”

Both of them brightened up at that, and the one with pale green and gold hair chuckled faintly. “Yumuto would never forgive us if we let this chance slip away.”

“No kidding!” The first one grinned broadly before he looked back to Shark. “We know a pretty awesome place. Ever her of the Kurotama?”

Shark frowned; he remembered reading it when he’d done his research, but it had been only one of a long list of hot springs and bathhouses. “Vaguely,” he admitted.

“Come with us, then,” the pink-haired one offered. “We can show you the way.” He gestured to himself. “I’m Zaou Ryuu.”

“Naruko Io,” the other introduced himself.

Shark considered, then mentally shrugged. “Kamishiro Ryouga.” He wasn’t going to tell them his real name, nor would they get to call him Shark. If they didn’t recognize his face, then they probably didn’t follow any sort of professional dueling. All the better. He wanted to be here as a tourist, not as a celebrity.

“This way then, Kamishiro-san,” Zaou said, and Shark followed him and Naruko.

Zundar pointed his nose out, following the odd scent that he’d been tracing for almost an hour now. It wasn’t easy following people in this city but he’d finally locked it down. Now he regarded the person it emanated from.

Never seen anything like that before. He wondered exactly what secrets this strange purple-haired person had hidden in their heart. He couldn’t be sure of what it was with just a quick glance but perhaps if he followed, he would figure out more.

Assuming he could keep up with them. But he had that scent now, so he’d find his target anywhere in Binan.

To Be Continued

Notes: Shark and Ryuu share a voice actor. I wasn’t aware of that until I started researching.

[higuchimon]

[fanfic] Dreams of What Was

Durbe. Durbe. Durbe. Wake up. You’re having a nightmare.

Durbe jerked up, stone fingers clutching at the soft blanket he’d pulled over himself when he’d retired for sleep.

Sleep wasn’t necessary for Barians. But it gave them time to rest their minds, which they did need now and then.

His eyes darted this way and that, hoping against hope for that voice to sound again, to hear Nasch as he had so many times. Then there would be an amused laugh and Merag would enter from somewhere as well.

Then the real nightmare, the one where they’d vanished and not been seen or heard from in over ten human years, would be over.

But they didn’t come. He heard nothing at all. Slowly Durbe let out a deep sigh.

I know I heard him. It wouldn’t be the first time. In the first handful of months after their disappearance, he heard and saw them everywhere, only they were never there.

A silent sigh, then he did what he always did when he woke from these dreams. He closed his eyes and extended his Barian senses, those that went beyond what sight or sound were. Try as he might, there wasn’t a hint of anything there. Nothing and no one.

No Nasch. No Merag. Just the castle that held only the other Barian Emperors.

Durbe sighed and pulled himself to his feet. There remained work to be done, and he was the one to do it.

Whatever he’d heard, it was just a dream.

Just a dream and nothing more. Kamishiro Ryouga peered out at the world, decided he didn’t want to deal with it today, and tucked his head under his pillow.

It wasn’t the first time that he’d had that dream. At least he didn’t think it was. He couldn’t remember the dream itself and most of the time he didn’t even think about it. It simply existed in the back of his head, a vague sensation that there was someone out there who he missed and who missed him.

Someone who wasn’t Rio. She was the only one that he’d ever told this to. She didn’t have any more answers than he did – and now she had no answers at all. He wondered sometimes if the dream had been a warning about what would happen to her.

Probably not. The dream wasn’t a warning dream. He remained certain of that, at least.

He pushed the thought out of his head and tried to get back to sleep. A tiny part of him thought about doing his homework before he decided he couldn’t be bothered. Going through his deck was a lot more attractive – even if he didn’t really want to do that, either. Dueling didn’t have the spark it once had, not since – well, not since that whole mess with IV.

He wished he could remember the dream. Whoever that person was, they had to be a lot more interesting than anyone he knew now.

Who wouldn’t be?

The End

Note: You know, looking back at this, I now have this idea for a soulmate AU, one of those where the soulmates share dreams. Just imagine that for Durbe and Nasch. Anyone interested?

[higuchimon]

[fanfic] Fair Won Prize:  Chapter 1

It wasn’t much of a tavern, really. One room, a dozen or so tables scattered around, all of them battered and knife-scarred, and the chairs set before them not that much better. On one side a fireplace kept the room warm, or made a reasonably good attempt at such anyway. The chimney was in good enough condition that the smoke wended its way out of it instead of into the tavern itself.

Vector sniffed at the sight of it, lip curling. “There isn’t anywhere better?”

“Not around here,” Durbe replied, catching the eye of the tavern owner and gesturing him over. “And not that we could get to before that storm breaks.”

“Are you sure it’s going to be a storm?” Vector wanted to know. He wasn’t pouting by any means; this place just looked like trouble waiting to happen.

Vector had no problems with trouble. He just preferred to be the one starting it.

“Gilag is and that’s good enough for me,” Alit said, hands on his hips. “You wanna argue about that?”

Vector sniffed once again but subsided, for the most part. He followed the rest of the group over to the largest table, suitable for seven people only if they were close enough to one another.

Vector made a point to sit next to Mizael. He’d made a point of doing that everywhere they could for the last three months, since they’d formed their little band of adventurers. For one thing, Mizael was the absolutely prettiest of the seven of them, and Vector saw no reason to deny himself an attractive view.

Sitting here also provided him with the chance to remain hidden from most of the other people in the tavern, because they weren’t alone there. With Mizael in his sight and the various groups of thugs, mercenaries, and dimwits out of his sight, Vector thought spending the time of the storm here might be tolerable.

“What can I get for you fine folks?” The tavern owner asked once they’d settled in. “Gotta tell you, we probably don’t have what high-born folks like you are used to.”

Durbe offered a smile. “You might be surprised what we’re used to. But a good round of ale should do for a start.”

Mizael cleared his throat and Durbe chuckled. “I’m sorry. A round of ale for everyone else and if you have some sort of wine, my elven friend here would much prefer that.”

The tavern owner peered at Mizael, who peered right back, head held up high and with a light tilt to his head, asking without words if there were some kind of issue to his presence there.

“A genuine elf? We don’t get many of your – we haven’t seen too many elves around here in the longest time,” the tavern keeper declared. Vector did not like the sudden switch of words, nor did he like the way the keeper kept on staring. Granted, Mizael was attractive, but he was also Vector’s.

He just hadn’t gotten around yet to admitting it. But Vector had plans on that score.

Before the tavern keeper could scurry off, Gilag raised his hand for attention. “Could you bring me some water?” His hand dropped back down, petting Ponta, and the keeper’s gaze followed that way, blinking at the sight of the tanuki.

“O-of course, sir! I’ll be back right!”

He hurried out of sight, eyes still a little round in surprise. The tavern just had one room, but a curtain hung in between the majority of the room and where he presumably kept his stock of liquor. They could hear him moving around back there, pouring out ale, wine, and water.

“So you’re an elf.”

Vector turned back to see half a dozen grungy guys, who looked as if they at best had a nodding acquaintance with a toothbrush and a comb, but probably hadn’t bothered to see a tailor about mending their clothes in some time. Patches and stitched up tears were all done in a very slapdash, haphazard fashion. But to make up for that, every one of them stood a minimum of six feet tall, with muscles on top of muscles, and they all wore nearly identical sneers.

The one in the front, who’d spoken, had his eyes burning toward Mizael, who barely gave them so much as a look. Alit, however, grinned mischievously.

“You’re an elf, Mizael? Why didn’t you tell us?” He reached over to poke at the blond. “Do we really know you, then?”

Mizael rolled his eyes. “I would’ve thought the evidence would be obvious.”

The leader of the intruders glowered at them both. “I was talking to him. No one said you could interfere.”

“You were talking at him,” Ryouga said, his voice dangerously quiet. “I don’t think any of us are interested in a conversation with you.”

Mr. Muscles – as Vector mentally dubbed him, for lack of neither knowing nor caring what his actual name might be – glared at them all, rolling his tattered sleeves up to expose his arms. “I wasn’t talking to you, either!” He took a better look at Ryouga, then started to laugh. “What are you, some kind of a musician? Get out of here with that kind of junk.” He turned his gaze back toward the others. “Can any of you put up a decent fight? It gets boring around here when the weather gets bad.”

He sneered for a moment. “Well, any of you except the pretty elf and the musician.”

The looks exchanged were quicker than lightning and ended with Ryouga rising to his feet.

“Oh, no, I said not you!” Mr. Muscles laughed raucously. “I wouldn’t want to break your delicate hands!”

Ryouga sounded more annoyed than anything else. “If you want a fight, you’re going to get it with me.”

The whole bunch of toughs laughed even harder. Mr. Muscles shook his head and cracked his knuckles hard. “Well, if that’s the way you want it. Just don’t blame me when you can’t warble a tune or play an instrument anymore.”

Vector leaned forward, a gleam of mischief in his violet eyes. “Let’s make this more interesting. I’ll wager a silver that Ryouga puts you on your back in under three hits… and that you never lay so much as a finger on him.”

Mr. Muscles stared at Vector as if he’d never seen someone like him before. “You’ve gotta be joking! What, are you new?”

One of his buddies leaned forward as well. “I dunno, boss, I think we should take his money once you’re done.” A greedy smirk twisted his lips. “I say we take all of his money when you’re done.”

Vector smirked right back at him. I am going to kill you. “Let’s see how this fight comes out first.”

Mr. Muscles and Ryouga moved to the center of the room, Muscles’ minions moving the other tables and chairs out of the way to clear a space. Muscles flexed.

“Remember, all the pain you’re going to have is your own fault. Don’t blame me for it,” Muscles declared. “Got it?”

“Got it.” Ryouga looked more or less bored with the whole thing. Vector wondered where their ale was; it couldn’t take that long to pour out their drinks.

Then Muscles threw a fist at Ryouga, a hit that if it had connected would’ve probably hurt most people.

Ryouga stepped back and moved around, still looking as if this were the worst way to spend an afternoon he could think of, and not out of fear of being beaten up.

Muscles snarled at Ryouga’s near-effortless dodge, and the three or four that followed. “Stop running away! You’re not fighting!”

“All right, if you insist.” Ryouga shrugged before he powered one fist directly into Muscles’ chin, packed with every ounce of his strength behind it.

Muscles blinked. His eyes slowly rolled up to the back of his head and he fell over, not moving. One of his toughs dropped down next to him, hand to his throat. Vector approved of killing a leader while he was down. Perhaps this one showed a little sense.

Then the tough moved back. “He’s alive. He’s just out like a candle.”

Vector mentally sighed. It was so hard to find good assassins these days.

Then he smiled, looking at the rest of them. “I believe I won our wager. Hand over my money.” His eyes flicked from one to the other of them. “I think one silver from all of you will do.” And it would pay for their drinks, too, once the tavern keeper finally brought them out.

Two of the toughs dragged Mr. Muscles out of the tavern while the one who’d spoken up before now started to count out pieces of silver. Vector recounted them openly before he swept them into a neat stack.

“All right. The fun’s over, go away now.” He gave a little flick of one hand before he settled back into his dark cozy corner, quite satisfied with events so far.

The tavern keeper hurried over, carrying their drinks on a tray, and settled it down on the table in front of them. “Sorry for taking so long,” he apologized. “But I heard what was going on and I didn’t want to get in the middle of it and mess your drinks up.”

Ryouga shrugged, reaching for one of the mugs – which at leas looked clean – and tossing it back so fast Vector doubted that he even tasted it. “Sorry for any damages.”

The tavern keeper only shrugged. “Bejt and his group do that kind of thing whenever there’s new people in town. I’m used to it. Your drinks are on me tonight, and just tell me when you want to stop.” He turned toward Gilag, mouth open to ask something else, and froze.

Gilag set the bowl of water he’d been drinking from on their table, while Ponta peered up from where he held the mug of ale in his own paws. The tavern keeper blinked, rubbed his eyes, and then hurried out of sight, leaving them to their drinks.

“I don’t care how much money he could bring in if he’s a real bard,” Bejt growled, staring into the spotted mirror and trying to decide how much of what he saw was because of the low quality of the glass and how much was from that one hit that ridiculous musician landed on him. “I’m going to kill him and I’m going to have fun doing it.”

One of his assistants reached as if to pat him on the shoulder and got a death-glare sharp enough to cut paper from his efforts. He pulled his hand back and managed a quick smile. “Of course you will, boss. Doesn’t matter how good they are, once they finish drinking the good stuff, they’re not gonna be going anywhere we don’t want them to.”

Bejt grinned, showing a mouth that wasn’t nearly as full of teeth as someone without his lifetime of brawling would have. “That elf’s not going anywhere, not until I’m done with him. I’m going to have some fun and then when he’s nice and obedient, I know a goodplace to sell him. He’ll make us enough of a fortune to last for the next twenty years!”

“Are we sure this is a good idea?” One of his other assistants spoke up, a nervous twitch to one eye. This wasn’t surprising; Olan twitched about everything. “I mean, they’ve got horses. And one of them is a winged horse. And all that armor. And weapons.” He shuddered, ducking his head. “They look like they know how to use them.”

Bejt shrugged. “They wouldn’t be the first traveling mercs we’ve taken down. Won’t be the last, either.”

“I don’t think they’re just mercs. I mean, winged horse?” Olan shuddered again, staring up at his boss. “I think they’re heroes.”

“Yeah, right.” Bejt snorted. “The whole bunch of them don’t look like they’re together enough to kill a slug, let alone a dragon.” Heroes did things like that. At least they had in all the stories Bejt had ever heard. Killed dragons, rescued princesses from ravening monsters – or monsters from ravening princesses. He’d heard a lot of weird stories.

But that bunch? A musician, a pretty elf, what looked like a priestess, some short kid with maybe half of Bejt’s own muscles and too much of a sense of humor for Bejt’s tastes, someone in armor who might’ve been a down on his luck knight, some guy who had even more muscles than Bejt did but spent his time talking to some sort of fuzzy raccoon thing, and that idiot in the back who never let anyone get a good look at him.

That wasn’t what heroes were made out of it. Heroes had lots of good armor and didn’t stop in places like this, no matter what the weather looked like.

They might’ve thought pretending to be heroes would keep people off of them, but Bejt wasn’t most people. Once they had two or three rounds of the house special, they wouldn’t be awake enough to do anything at all.

That brought his thoughts right around to the pretty blond elf. Elves lived a very long time, he knew, and he couldn’t help but wonder what that elf had done in his life and how much he could be taught. Bejt looked forward to keeping him for at least a few years. He’d need to get properly trained before he could get sold, in order to make the most money, didn’t he? Bejt hadn’t ever trained someone before, but it couldn’t be that difficult. Smack ‘em when they did what Bejt didn’t want them to do until they learned better, that was it

It would definitely be a lot of fun. He looked forward to finding out just how much fun it was. He’d always had an eye for pretty faces of every kind, and there weren’t too many people prettier than an elf. He’d never had the chance to have one like this before, and he looked forward to finding out what it would be like.

All he needed was another hour or so, and then he and the others would be set for life.

Vector sniffed at the mug, then set it back down after taking a tiny taste of the ale. He’d never been much of one for drinking in the first place, at least not drinks that came from places like this. He wondered if it would be too much to ask if one of their mage-types could do something about the storm so they didn’t have to stay here at all.

We could get some decent food and drinks somewhere else. Maybe even a good bed. He knew that being on the road didn’t entitle him to the comforts of home, but they could at least have some comfort of some kind.

He leaned his head back against the wall and winced at the shock of thunder that rolled on by a heartbeat later. No one else looked bothered by the rain at all. Gilag sat on the outside of the table, closest to the door, and from the way he kept looking out there, it wouldn’t have been too surprising if he got up to wander out there. Druids did things like that, soaking up the rain. Vector had no idea of why druids couldn’t invest in some kind of weather protection. Maybe it was a religious thing.

He’d never wasted his time on religion and until he’d come to join this group, he hadn’t associated with religious types of any sort. But traveling with a druid and a priestess meant that he got more than he’d ever wanted of the whole concept.

He let his gaze drift back to Mizael. He could think of one or two gods he’d like to thank for the creation of the elven race and for Mizael in particular. Along with one or two he’d consider offering up a tribute to in order to get the elf compliantly in his bed, without risking Jinlong having him for dinner or the rest of the group getting furious at him.

Which meant he would have to keep on courting Mizael so that it was all willing on his side.

He wasn’t used to having to ask for what he wanted. Or who he wanted. He’d commented once at breakfast that he’d seen an attractive person the day before in the marketplace and that evening, that same person awaited him in his bed, courtesy of his father.

That had been an enjoyable few months, all things considered. If it had been possible, or workable with his father’s plans, he didn’t doubt that he would’ve already enjoyed time with Mizael.

I think this might be more interesting, though. Frustrating, but enjoyable in the end, once he’d achieved his goal. There was something to be said for getting something desired by hard work instead of being given it.

Vector glanced to the others again, the sound of the rain battering against the side of the building, making it plain they weren’t going anywhere right now. He suspected Rio and Gilag would both insist that they shouldn’t try to mess around with the weather, something about natural causes and not interfering. That made no sense to him at all. What good was magic if you couldn’t use it to twist the world around to the way you wanted it to be?

His eyes narrowed suddenly as he took in what was going on with his companions. He wasn’t surprised to see Gilag’s eyes drooping, let alone Ponta’s, not with that rain. If it didn’t call a druid out to dance in the rain or whatever, it would probably put them to sleep.

But Ponta spent so little time being visible when they were in civilized territory that Vector almost forgot he even existed. There he was, having finished his ale – you’d think a magical creature would have better taste than that! - and now curled up on Gilag’s lap, sound asleep.

Vector checked on Alit: already asleep. Durbe was as well, eyes closed and chest rising and falling evenly. Ryouga still had his eyes half-open, and Rio looked as if she were fighting off the urge to sleep herself.

He looked at Mizael then, and knew something was wrong.

Elves don’t sleep. Not like that, anyway. Mizael had explained it once, but Vector had been too wrapped up in admiring the way the sunlight glinted off the elf’s golden hair to pay attention. He sort of wished that weren’t true now.

But Mizael’s eyes were as tightly closed as the others, even as Ryouga’s slid all the way shut, and Rio followed him into slumber in another few moments.

This wasn’t right in the slightest. Vector’s thoughts raced before he chose his path, closed his eyes, and let himself sag a little more, as if he’d succumbed as well. There wasn’t any use in trying to wake them up. They’d be too sluggish to do anything for too long. Not to mention, Vector had a feeling he knew who was involved in this, and he swore he’d paint the walls with their blood.

He couldn’t see what was going on, but after what felt like forever, he could hear footsteps entering, and a sense of shadow fell over him. He kept himself from moving, no matter how much he wanted to, and listened.

To Be Continued

Note: And now we return to the world of the Order of the Outcasts. This is that little interlude piece to explain something. A larger piece revolving around Yuuma, Kaito, Haruto, and Astral will come at a later point, on SilvorMoon's profile. But until then, I hope you enjoy this.

[baddyzarc]

1/6 Ruins: Legend of the Ancient Hero

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So awhile back I wrote a small, incomplete piece over Vector and his guardian, Minotarous, and how it connects to his legend and mythyrian number. Since then, I've been wanting to do it for all of the Emperors since there's enough details and Easter eggs to do that and nows a good time. I'm gonna be taking text mainly from the original subs since the dub did things to them that I do not agree with.

Since its gonna cover 6 different ruins, I decided to split this up into multiple parts.

So let’s begin with the ruins of everyone's favorite blind, book-loving, memelord supreme barian, Dubhe

Being the first to kick off the arc, Durbe’s ruin is probably the easiest of the ruins to understand. 

Aside from the theme of trusting in others, one of the other major themes of his ruins revolves around the self-sacrifice motif.

This is clearly seen at the very start of the arc. It started with the scene where Yuma jumped in front of a bear in order to protect Durbe, who is a stranger and a very likely candidate of the Barian Emperor that crashed into their ship. Yuma was willing to sacrifice himself to (or fistfight) a bear to protect a complete stranger.

The next example is a little more obscure, but I say it happens when Durbe pushed Ryouga out from under the falling rocks and trapped himself with the fish boy. This one is a bit tough to grasp what Durbe “sacrificed” by doing this, but I argue that Ryouga was immediately held distrust towards Durbe from the beginning. Durbe has no reason to save him, and it would’ve benefited him greatly if Ryouga is out of the picture. Instead, Durbe saves him, and in the process he sacrifices his safety for a person who really hates Barians.

This whole concept continues throughout the Durbe's ruins. “Numbers 44: White Winged Horse - Sky Pegasus“ has the ability to destroy a monster unless the owner pays 500 lifepoints, and due to additional effects, Yuma has to pay 1000 lifepoints (which is a quarter of his life) each time this happens. Yuma chooses to sacrifice his lifepoints to keep Durbe and Ryouga as well as his “Numbers 39: King of Wishes, Hope” alive. In the Legend, Mach sacrifices himself for Durbe, and Durbe sacrifices himself for Mach in the past. There’s also something to be said when Yuma places his trust in the Barian Emperor, Durbe, after recounting his disaster with my boy Vector too. Even near the end of the episode, Ryouga is willing to die in order for Yuma to win the duel. The whole mini-arc is lathered in this theme.

What I found interesting about the "self-sacrificing" theme is what Mach says at the beginning of the duel. He says that in order for Yuma to win (and in turn save Ryouga and Durbe), he has to surrender the duel, or "victory can only be achieved through surrender." In essence, Yuma has to sacrifice, or surrender, the Mythyrian Number if he wants to save everyone. This is usual villain banter, but in the context of this episode, it is almost knee-jerking and tragic.

Recall back to Durbe’s legend. The Legend of the Ancient Hero (recounted through the scriptures on the ruins, Durbe, and Mach) tells the story of a group of four brave knights with one of them being Durbe and his Pegasus, Mach. Together they protected a distant land. Durbe returned to his homeland for some time (presumably to aid Nasch in his quest). Corrupted with the aspiration for power, the remaining knights overthrew the king and took over the country. When Durbe returned, he tried to appeal to them by saying “their hearts [are] filled with justice.” Unfortunately, he failed to open their hearts, and the three knights attacked Durbe.

Despite the assault, Durbe refused to harm or kill the attackers because he saw them as his cherished companions. Instead of fighting back, he surrendered, and he was stricken down by their relentless attacks. 

Mach intervened in these attacks in order to protect his master, and he became fatally injured as a result. Durbe refused to retreat or abandon his dying steed, so he stayed by Mach’s side so they could perish together. 

The final line of the legend said that the knights saw how noble the two of them were in their self-sacrifice to each other. They committed their lives to prove the bond between friends, the knights included. To honor Durbe, the knights ceased their rebellion, and they laid Mach and Durbe to rest as heroes. 

In the case of the legend, even with their tragic demise, victory was achieved through surrender. 

Yuma does a similar thing. In order to win, he has to play Mach’s game. He has to accept sacrificing himself over and over again. Only by taking those hits, by surrendering his life, is he able to win the duel and save his friends.  

Okay, so enough about the theme of the ruins, let’s talk about physical ruins. 

Noteworthy imagery used in the ruins is the use of colors. 

When the characters got separated, they ended up in two chambers. One is lit by blue flames and the other by red flames. 

And the thing about Zexal is that blue and red have strong associations to Astral World and Barian World respectively. Not all of the time, but the usage of these colored hallways and flames disappear shortly afterwards. So if the writers didn’t want you to notice the difference, they would’ve omitted it entirely. These colors are included for some reason.

Now you're probably wondering why I bring this up. Ryouga, Durbe, and Rio are Barians, Astral is, well, an Astral, this separation doesn’t make sense. But consider where the characters wind up. The “blue light” leads to the legend of the hero while the “red light” leads to the Number.

With the "red light" path, their intention is to free “Number 44: White Winged Horse - Sky Pegasus”. 

Okay, slight deviation since this is important, but the Mythyrian Numbers are a special set of Numbers that Astral used to seal Don Thousand’s powers away. With Numbers, they do not belong to the Astral as a whole. If that’s the case, the existence of “Number 100: Numeron Dragon” implies that Astral created God, which is a little problematic (or a plot hole, take your pick). This is also why the Barians have their own set of Numbers. Astral is called the Original Number, so I take this as he is conglomerate of a bunch of strong Numbers, and Astral’s whole identity and powers is tied to the Numbers. This is why his memory shatters in the form of Numbers, or how other beings can absorb Astral’s Numbers. The Astrals simply used the powers of the Numbers to create Astral and lock Don Thousand away. I’ll explain this more later when we get to Mizael’s ruins and the whole smitck with the Numeron Dragon because it gets complicated.

BUT if anyone took the Mythyrian Number, whether it was carried out by Astral World, or Barian World, or an Earthling, Don Thousand’s strength will be restored. No matter what, Don Thousand's strengthening is inevitable as long as the characters choose to act on the red path.

For during the path of the “blue light”, or the one that Durbe and Ryouga took, the show hints that the evil Barians maybe aren’t evil. They have another secret to them that we don’t know of. In fact, the legend concludes by mentioning that the heroic Durbe and Mach ascended into Heaven, or into Astral World. This did not happen, of course, since we know of Durbe’s true fate. With Ryouga, his presence with Durbe allows for a crucial scene to play out later in the episodes.  This also steadily connects him to his Barian heritage.

I can’t say much for Rio, but I feel as though the writers were incredibly inept about handling her Barianhood in comparison to Ryouga. They had no idea what to do with her (aside from being a handy-dandy translator and expositioner) and her character suffers for it, but ill get to her later. 

Like, I may have an slight explanation for why Rio stays with the “red light” group. It’s kinda weak, but here we go.

Out of all of the legends, only Nasch and Durbe were not seen to be touched by Don Thousand's direct actions:

All of the other Emperors had a scene where an Over-Hundred goes into their heart or are possessed by Don Thousand. It is highly implied that Durbe also had the Over-Hundred Number monster enter his heart, but this was not shown since the scene cut away before we find out. Far as I know, Durbe was influenced to become a Barian when Donny made the knights turn on him, and the betrayal of his friends was so heart-breaking that Durbe descended into Barian World. Nasch was… well, ill get to him later too, but Durbe and Nasch could be the only ones who aren’t embedded with the curse. At least, on-screen. 

Whether it happened or not is up for your interpretation, but them staying on the “blue light”, in the path of true heroes, makes sense in this concept. 

Weak, yeah, but if there’s anyone that can explain why Rio is on the “blue light” side, let me know, aside from plot convenience. It’s obvious that the writers wanted Ryouga and Durbe to be together in the death rooms for plot reasons though. 

Moving on, more plays on colors could be seen with the drawings in the Ruins.

This handsome, colorful fellow is meant to be Durbe. This depiction of him is much different than the one that is shown in (hopefully accurate) flashback. 

It isn’t known who is responsible for scriptures and drawing in all of the ruins. 

But the person who did this has the right idea of dressing Durbe in this multicolored garb. The story is called the “Legend of the Ancient Hero” and heroes are often associated with the three primary colors: blue is seen his shirt, pants, and helmet; red is seen in his cape; and yellow is seen in his undergarment. Meanwhile, white is a color often associated with purity, peace, and sincerity. All of these colors represent Durbe his legend—as a pure hero. 

Being as he is the first Ruins we visit, using all this imagery to scream to the audience that “the barians are actually fallen heroes! theyre not evil!” is quite a nice, fun touch. 

As well, out of the Seven Emperors, Durbe is the one who tends to be the most pure and heroic. From his deck being based on “holy” objects and his... questionable leadership, Durbe isn’t like Vector. He isn’t cruel or evil; everything he does is “for sake of Barian World” and that’s about it. 

He knows that if Barian World does not attack Astral World, they will die (and vice-versa with Astral World). His motivations are solely to protect his home and his people. Also, I like Durbe I really do, but he is pathetic as a villain. Literally the worst plans and a bad leader who does not know how to use any of his pieces, but I appreciate his noble goals. He’s funny, Durbe is really funny. He just doesn’t have the heart to be the bad guy; but as a character who acts heroic (his duel with Merag for example), he does it pretty well. 

And to rub my grubby little barian-eatin hands all over Durbe’s heroness, I want to talk about his ace monsters—his Mythyrian, his Over-Hundred, and his Chaos Over-Hundred. 

Durbe’s Mythyrian Number also serves as his beloved Guardian of the ruins, Mach. This holds true for most of the Emperors due to the Guardians connection to their Emperors during their past life. 

Now, Durbe isn’t shown with the card like some of the other Emperors, but we likely can infer that he was in posession of the Mythyrian Number, thus being a target of Don Thousand. 

The role of the Mythyrian Number for the Emperors isn’t crystal clear, but what is known is that their being used to seal Don Thousand away. During the original fight between Don Thousand and Astral, Astral won the battle but lost fifty of his Numbers. Among these were the Mythyrian Numbers, which had the power to suppress Don Thousand. I don’t know if it was random chance that the Numbers glided towards the Emperors or it was divine intervention, but what I do know is that anyone who got the Mythyrian original had a good, strong heart and were destined for Astral World. 

My personal theory is that the Barians and Astrals are like Newton’s Third Law, “every action has an equal and opposite reaction”. They complement each other and balance each other out. 

In order to seal Don Thousand’s Chaos away, the Astrals had to counteract with equal forces of Cosmos. In their true life, the Emperors provided the necessary Cosmos to suppress Don Thousand. The Emperors were supposed to be Astrals anyways; the Astrals just harnessing their powers while they were humans to fight Don Thousand.

Since the Mythyrian Numbers are drenched with the power of Cosmos due to their relationship with the human Emperors, they are the antitheisis to the Over-Hundred Numbers whose powers come from Chaos.

Mythyrian Numbers being based more on Astral World could also be seen in how the Pegasus on the coat of arms is often associated with Heaven, or a messenger from God. And as Mach recounted the ending of Durbe’s legend, he does that color thing. That iconic blue, Astral-like glow.

With his Over-Hundred Numbers, I think the most interesting thing about it is that the full Japanese name is “Numbers 102: Holy Lightning - Glorious Halo”. These Number monsters represent the Barian Emperors in some way (despite some of them being weird like the giant handy one). The most direct statement to this is when Vector uses the Over-Hundreds to mock Nasch by summoning Durbe and Merag’s monsters (as in “I ate your sister and best friend and these are mine now”), and the entirety of Nasch’s tragic display during his final duel with Yuma. 

So even in death, even as a Barian, even as one of the villains, Durbe is still sainted as holy and adorned with a halo. None of the other Over-Hundred are dressed in such a positive light (if at all). 

When he turns “Glorious Halo” into a Chaos monster, technically putting extra barian sauce on a plate of fried barian, the name changes into “Number C102: Unholy Lightning - Noble Daemon”. Durbe still has the “Noble Demon” attached to him, even with extra evil on him. 

Durbe’s nobility as a Barian makes since if you see that he isn't deeply infused with Don Thousand's curse in comparison to someone like Vector. Or his strong affiliation to keep Barian World safe from harm.  

Plus, as a little extra snippet that I noticed in the episode, I wanna focus on this scene in the ruins.

This scene is great. It doesn't have much to do with Durbe, but it's an amazing foreshadow. I think by this point, the audience suspects that Ryouga is a Barian. He acts weird sometimes, his past is unknown, he can summon Chaos monsters, the Emperors are missing two and the Kamishiros slide in like a puzzle piece. BUT, I think the most damning evidence is this specific piece. 

Before entering the ruins, Durbe broke his Baria crystal. He is unable to use his Barian powers nor does he have the ability to fix it. But the moment he saves Ryouga from falling to his death, Ryouga begins to glow that iconic red Barian color. 

Not Durbe, but Ryouga. Ryouga’s energy flows into Durbe, which restores his crystal to full power and allows him to reveal his true form. Since Ryouga is the King of the Barians, Nasch, it makes complete sense that his body has remnants of his Barian life. (why this didnt activate before, idk, maybe shark wasnt in the mood) 

Watching Ryouga heal a fellow Barian is conclusive evidence that Ryouga, as well as Rio probably, must be Barians, or at least connected to the Barians. 

Even parts of the duel includes Nasch’s legend in it.

“Labyrinth of Decisions”, “Unfair Treaty”, and “Shield of Conspiracy” are cards used by Mach that fit into Durbe’s story. The labyrinth could be attributed to him leaving the country to aid Nasch in tracking Vector into the Labyrinth of Screams, and the unfair treaty/ or conspiracy is attributed to his own story, where the three knights betrayed the king. 

In the end, the first of these ruins reveals two major plot points about the Emperors with one being much more obvious than the other. First is that there are more to the Emperors than being “plain evil” for the sake of it. Second, the events seen in the ruins hints that this shark-shaped shadow is Ryouga, and he is likely to be the final and missing Barian Emperor(s).

Of course this isn’t everything. I don’t know why his ruins are in South America (Ecuador, i think, go here if you want to know more about geography) when they say his homeland is somewhere else. 

The Pegasus came from Greek mythology which spawns an interesting connection to the legend of Nasch and Vector. Pegasus was borne from the death of a gorgon (Medusa) and reared by Poseidon (who is attributed to being the god of the seas in most pop culture iterations). Gorgons and oceans is basically the story of Vector and Nasch, and as you know, Durbe and Mach participated in that legend too. 

I’m just so fascination by Emperors and their everything, their monsters, their past lives, their ruins, their planet, their composition. Theyre entertaining to explore bc it feels like the writers put something in them for the audience to discover. They're simply fun, and I'll see you in the next ruins

[higuchimon]

[fanfic] Trust The Stars

Iris leaned against Nasch – well, Ryouga. He’d told her that she should call him that, but she’d never forgotten that he was Nasch, her King, and she would always call him that. Ryouga just didn’t fit. Not to her mind, anyway.

But calling him anything didn’t matter as much as the fact of being with him in the first place. Being here, in this place of life that wasn’t the Barian World, and wasn’t like the time and place they’d lived in long ago, either.

The mansion rose up behind them, full of lights and noise. Iris could hear the other Barian Emperors there. All except Nasch and Sir Durbe – Sir Durbe sat on Nasch’s other side, his head leaning against Nasch’s shoulder.

This reminds me of back then. Back in the quiet time after she’d first met them, when she’d been safe and warm and protected for the first time in what seemed like then to be forever. There were even untold numbers of stars in the sky, just like then.

“Are you going to make a wish?” Nasch asked, watching as a few stars sketched lines of fire across the sky. She blinked, looking up at him.

“Your Majesty?”

He blinked down at her. “Wishing on shooting stars?”

Slowly Iris shook her head, frowning. The time between the first time she’d been alive and now stretched out so far. It sounded vaguely familiar but she couldn’t really remember everything. What she knew for certain from back then was that she’d lost all of her family at the hands of Vector – she still didn’t like him – and she’d been alone and miserable until being found by King Nasch and Sir Durbe. Wishing on stars didn’t exactly click right.

Though perhaps it wasn’t that wrong either. It was a very strange feeling.

“It’s an old – thing,” Nasch said at last. “You wish on the star nad you keep it to yourself and it’s supposed to come true.” He sounded a little embarrassed by it.

Durbe glanced over towards him, a flicker of a smile across his lips. “Have you ever wished on one?”

“… maybe.” Nasch didn’t meet his lover’s eyes. Iris smothered the giggle and stared up at the stars again. It did seem a little silly, but if her king did it, then perhaps it wasn’t. It wouldn’t hurt to do it just once.

She considered. “What should I wish for? I have everything that I want.” She even had htinigs she’d never thought she’d have again. She was alive again, not like a Barian was alive but like a human was alive, and she had King Nasch and Sir Durbe and all of the other Emperors who had mostly been kind to her since everyone revived. Even Vector at least ignored her. She had a friend in Tenjo Haruto and King Nasch told her that soon she’d be able to go to school, like everyone else.

Iris couldn’t think of anything else that she really wanted. Life just seemed far too perfect, almost as if it weren’t real.

That, and thinking for a moment on everything from the distant past, gave her the wish that she wanted. She stared upward until she spied one falling star and thought very, very hard.

I wish that everything stays as good as it is now, forever. And maybe – get better? Iris didn’t know how it could be better but she trusted whoever was in charge of these wishes to manage that.

“So what are you wishing for?” Durbe murmured, the evening wind bringing his words to her. Nasch chuckled.

“That I get to keep what I already have for as long as possible.” Nasch said, leaning closer to him.

Iris knew what they were doing and kept her attention turned firmly away. Then she remembered something.

“Didn’t you say that you shouldn’t tell what your wish is?”

The End

Notes: The Wild Fanon is double: that all the Barians live together in the Kamishiro mansion post-canon and that they adopt and raise Iris (also that Iris & Ryouga’s army become part of modern human life.)

[higuchimon]

[fanfic] My Name On Your Lips

“It hits you like lightning,” Kaito told him. He’d never looked this relaxed before. Since the Numbers War ended, and he’d actually come back to life, he’d been far more relaxed than Chris had ever seen him in all the years they’d known one another.

“You’d know, wouldn’t you?” Chris asked, a tiny smile playing at the corner of his lips. Kaito didn’t even look up at him.

“You’ll know when it happens. Lightning doesn’t even cover it.” He shook his head, then pushed himself to his feet, his cup of tea already finished. “I’ll see you this weekend?”

Chris nodded; they visited at least once every few days. Even with Kaito and Mizael making eyes – and probably more – at each other, he still found time for that.

Frankly, Chris wasn’t that surprised that Kaito and Mizael ended up as soulmates. The two of them had sparked so strongly off one another in the first place.

Finding one’s soulmate happened without warning. It was said all that one needed was to hear them say your name and you knew. No one had ever been able to explain it to him beyond that. They’d tried. Michael tried when he met Yuuma. Thomas tried when he met Ryouga. Kaito had thrown a fit when Mizael actually said his name for the first time.

But there hadn’t been anyone who said his name like that. It couldn’t be because of going by “V” for so long. He’d heard people address him as V and as Chris or Christopher and no matter who it was, it never sounded unusual or made him feel anything at all.

Chris picked up the book he’d set down when Kaito showed up and started to read again. He’d not gotten all that far into it when the doorbell rang. With a bit of a sigh – that was the problem with having befriended Tskumo Yuuma and therefore having plenty of other friends who came along into the bargain, doubly so when Yuuma was dating his younger brother. People came over to visit.

Truly expecting someone looking for Thomas or Michael, Chris headed to the door. Very few people who weren’t Kaito came to visit him. He’d never been bothered by that. At the least, it could be the mailman.

But on the other side of the door stood a young-looking man with silver-gray hair and gray eyes. Young-looking because no one even now knew exactly how old the Barians, or ex-Barians, really were.

“Hello?” Chris greeted a trifle uncertainly. “To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?”

“I wanted to speak to you,” Durbe answered, with a polite tilt of his head. “I believe there might be something that we can do to restore your father to his proper form.”

The world seemed to fall out from under Chris at that. He quickly gathered himself and gestured for Durbe to enter.

“What do you mean something?” Chris wanted to know as they settled in the living room. He had more tea poured; it would be rude not to offer something to one’s guest, after all, and he had a strong capacity for caffeine.

Durbe picked up the cup and regarded it between his hands. “We can’t do as much as we once did, but there are some things.” In between one breath and the next, he assumed his Barian form. In a few seconds it faded away, but the point was clear. “As it was the power of the Barians that changed him, then changing him back should also be within our power. But exactly how I don’t know yet.” He raised his head and stared at Chris. “I think we can work towards figuring that out together, Christopher Arclight.”

In the moment that the name passed his lips, Chris understood everything that his brothers and Kaito said about knowing when one’s soulmate spoke their name. His throat dried and he swallowed, heart beating faster.

“Yes,” he managed to say, thoughts scattering to the winds as he struggled and failed to come to grips with having not merely met his soulmate but having a chance to restore his father. “I think that we could.” Did he dared? Could he bring himself to do it?

Durbe nodded. Chris tried to catch hold of a single thought and managed to scrape one question out of his chaotic thoughts. “What made you think of that today, Durbe?”

Would he feel it? Would it be the same for him? Thomas said it had been for Ryouga.

Durbe almost dropped his tea. His head jerked up to stare right at Chris, his pale skin turning the deepest of reds, before he set it back on the table between them.

“Mizael said – so did Alit – and Nasch – but ” Durbe swallowed and clenched his fingers together. “I never dreamed it would feel like that.”

“Neither did I.” He didn’t have to ask if Durbe felt it. “I do want to restore my father.” He’d wanted that for many long years. “But after that, could we -” Words failed him. He really wasn’t certain of what he wanted to ask in the first place. Being soulmates didn’t always mean romance. It meant someone who understood you and who you understood. It could often mean romance but he’d heard about people who were soulmates to one person and loved other people without hesitation.

Durbe’s hand twitched as if he wanted to reach out. But he didn’t. “After that, we will decide what we do. Helping your father is more important, Christopher.”

It wasn’t the same as the first time. But he could feel it all the same. No one mentioned that before.

Chris thought that he could get very used to this feeling.

The End

Notes: One day I may do a sequel. There’s so much fun I could do with this!

[higuchimon]

@ravenfal sent the request in for these. So, here they are :)

Yubel

Why I like them/why I don't: I love Yubel. Yubel is in my top favorite of GX characters. Why? Because Yubel is awesome. Yubel is either bigender or agender or nonbinary in general. Yubel laughs at the concept of a gender binary and I love that. I love how determined they are and how much they love Juudai - and how they mirror Johan. That mirroring is at the core of why Yubel hates Johan so much. The two of them did almost the same things but Johan sacrificed nothing for Juudai and has the nerve to claim him as a friend, let alone the fact Juudai might love him! Johan's lucky that Yubel didn't hang his guts on a fence.

What I like about their appearance: Everything. But especially the wings. I love wings!

Do I prefer their dub names or original names?: Same thing.

OTP: Yubel x Juudai. And it's canon which adds an extra flavor of glee.

NOTP: Anyone who isn't Juudai unless it's a threesome with him. Yubel would never, ever love anyone who isn't Juudai. Figuring out Yubel's role in Reversal AU was murder, since Yubel exists in canon so much in relation to loving Juudai and I'm shutting up here because otherwise, spoilers!

OT3: Yubel x Juudai x Johan. I think it works the absolute best, once Yubel and Johan work through their issues.

Favorite card they use: Yubel. All flavors thereof.

Favorite moment they were in: The soul-fusion is far too beautiful and I tear up every time.

Least favorite moment: ...I guess the Amon vs Yubel duel? Mostly because the duel itself bores the blazes out of me. Nothing against Yubel.

Would I fuck, marry, or kill them: None of the above. Nasch/Shark

Why I like them/why I don't: I love all of his character growth so very much, and even his turn to the Barians was caused by his growth and experiences with Yuuma, by having him start to care about other people. If he didn't care, like he didn't in the beginning, then he wouldn't have bothered.

What I like about their appearance: His hair. I like hair! ... that sounded strange.

Do I prefer their dub names or original names?: Ryouga. Definitely.

OTP: Ryouga/Nasch x Durbe. I didn't start off liking it, but then one day I turned around and it was an OTP. Who knew?

NOTP: Nothing I run screaming from. I try hard not to read things I don't expect I'll like.

OT3: Ryouga x Kaito x Yuuma. One of my first OT3s, really. Also, maybe Ryouga x Thomas/IV x Durbe. I keep meaning to write one of those.

Favorite card they use: I like all of them, really. A serious fish user!

Favorite moment they were in: Every single moment once he accepts that he's Nasch. Every. Single. One.

Least favorite moment: Nothing jumps to mind right away. Some of the early season 1 stuff is a bit irritating but other than that...

Would I fuck, marry, or kill them: Marry to Durbe.

[higuchimon]

[fanfic] Rewards of Losing:  Chapter 21

Durbe bent over the duel disk – or what had been a duel disk. He’d taken it apart and now stared at each individual piece, trying to figure out what they were. He knew how most duel disks worked. This one had a few extra abilities. The first thing he’d identified was the self-destruct mechanism. That one was taken away to be dealt with. They didn’t need it.

But now he looked for the way they could cross dimensions and how to make their monsters solid. He worried at his lip, then glanced at Chris, who stared at some of the software he’d managed to extract.

They didn’t have as many computers as they really needed for this, let alone ones of high enough power, but they did what they could. It wasn’t as if they had many other options.

It wasn’t just the two of them there. Rio and her Healer, Kotori, had also managed to bring in a couple of duel disks – thankfully ones that weren’t frosted over – and those rested to one side, having also been deprived of their self-destruct capabilities. One of their duel disks rested next to it, also taken apart, ready for a point by point comparison.

Rio played with a string of ice between her fingers. “Are you going to need us for anything else or can I go find out what my idiot brother has been doing? I got a message from him – something about having found some defectors or something.” Her nose wrinkled. “Which I sort of doubt. He wouldn't know a defector if one walked up and defected at him.”

Durbe managed not to smile, but it was an effort. He’d known the twins for as long as he could remember and while they sniped at each other constantly, the moment someone dared to snipe at them, he had to deal with the wrath of a Frostflame and the fury of the First Healer of Heartland City. Most people didn’t want to do that.

He’d wondered at some point if he and Ryouga would bond. He wouldn’t have objected, but Ryouga ended up bonding with Thomas Arclight. Durbe certainly wasn’t going to complain – it led to him meeting Chris and finding not just his own Healer but the love of his life.

“Go ahead if you want to,” Chris said with a quick wave of one hand. “Bring them back here if there are any real defectors. Maybe we can get some help working this out.”

Durbe didn’t know if that were possible – any defectors being able to help or any defectors existing in the first place. But he nodded his agreement and focused on the work at hand. His lips pressed together as he stared at what he knew was the part of the duel disk that created the holograms. He couldn't figure out how they made the holograms real though.

“They did something to add mass to them,” Chris said, still staring at the software. “But I can’t figure out how. I don’t understand this code.”

Durbe took a look at it. He didn’t expect to understand it at first glance and he wasn’t surprised when he didn’t. But he regarded it thoughtfully, checking for anything that might make a smidge of sense.

“Do we have anyone else who might be able to decipher this?” Durbe wondered. He didn’t have an accurate list on everyone who’d survived so far. Someone should probably make one of those.

Chris leaned back and closed his eyes, rubbing at the side of his face. “I can ask Kaito. But he’s been very busy lately.”

Durbe nodded. Kaito hadn’t had a single moment of happiness since this began. His father and brother – no one had ever heard a word about his mother – hadn’t survived the first wave of attacks. Kaito hadn’t lost any time ambushing a Fusion soldier and stealing his Duel Disk. Exactly how many people he’d carded by now Durbe didn’t have any idea. Only that Kaito didn’t care about sharing the tech, just about exacting revenge.

“Let’s take a break,” Durbe suggested. “Where did Mizael go?” Almost as soon as they’d made it back to camp, Mizael vanished. Probably going back to bed, since he’d never been much of a tech person. As long as they remembered him once they had the code cracked – and preferably some way worked out to undo carding – he wasn’t going to get in the way.

Chris stifled a yawn. “You might be right. We won’t make any progress if we don’t.”

Durbe stood up and stretched before heading over to where he kept the tea supplies. He’d managed to save some of those during the invasion’s chaos. One of the smaller gardens had been turned into a tea preserve, with at least three Healers taking the duty in tern to watch over it, along with their Firestarters. Durbe approved.

I wonder if there really are defectors. He held himself back from the temptation to try and contact Ryouga or Thomas. Communications had been very thin since the invasion and he didn’t want to distract them if they had four possibly fractious people to take care.

Michael helped the young Healer along – well, perhaps not that young. He thought they weren’t too far apart in age, though he wasn’t going to ask for an identification card right now. They had too much else to do, mostly involving getting back to camp and making sure that these four could be trusted.

And if they can’t be? What then? Truth to tell, Thomas would probably strip them of their duel disks and render them to ash. Or try – it might be a little difficult when one of them was a Frostflame. Even if he didn’t look as if he were capable of fighting back. The two young women carried him along, though clearly they weren’t having the easiest time of it.

He glanced over to his own companion. “Why did you defect?” He asked quietly. They did need to get some information, after all.

“Because the Professor let Yuuri hurt my brother,” Shou said quietly, his eyes shifting over to the taller young man. “And I found out about what’s really going on from Kei.”

Kei, the Healer Cat. Michael had heard of him; Chris had passed the first warnings of the invasion on to him and mentioned he’d learned of it from a Cat. He wondered if it was the same one.

“And – if I’d stayed behind ” Shou glanced away for a moment. “If my big brother left and I didn’t, I probably would have been carded. Or worse.”

Michael’s free hand clenched. “Why would they do that? You didn’t do anything wrong!”

Shou blinked up at him. “What’s that got to do with it? I’m his brother. They would have either sent me to get him – and risk that I’d never come back – or card me – or turn me over to Yuuri to be turned into mulch.”

Michael’s throat closed. Just the simple way he said it, as if Michael should have known that, as if anyone would have known it – it sickened him. He shook his head.

“We don’t do things like that here. If you want to help us, we can always use help in the Gardens. Or you could duel – my brother will probably want to take a look at your duel disk. We’re trying to figure out how those work.” He knew that Chris and Durbe had gone searching for stray Fusion soldiers earlier that day. They’d probably found some by now; it was getting closer and closer to the afternoon so they’d had lots of time.

Shou blinked. “It’s not that hard. We have classes on it.”

Michael didn’t hold back his grin. “You and my brother are going to want to talk. A lot.”

The Night Garden’s guards allowed them through – mostly because they were in the company of Michael, Ryouga, and Thomas – and they made their way through the lanes to where the tents had been set up. The Garden looked a lot different from before the invasion; it could hardly be recognized as the same place.

“What are you going to do with my brother?” Shou asked, nervous. Ryouga turned towards him.

“He’ll be fine. My sister’s a Frostflame. She can help him.”

“Whoa. You really did find some defectors.” A female voice spoke up without warning and the new arrival turned towards them. She stood there, one hand on her hip, her hair a long cascade of blue-white, and a very curious expression on her face as she strolled towards them.

“How were things with Durbe and Chris?” Michael asked. Rio glanced over.

“They’re over there,” she said with a nod towards a larger area. “They’ve got a few of those duel disks and are working on them now.”

Michael tugged at Shou’s sleeve. “Let me introduce you to my brother Chris. You said that you knew about who those duel disks work, right?”

“Well, sort of,” Shou murmured, a faint tinge to his cheeks. “But my brother-” He cast his attention back towards Ryou, being taken elsewhere by four young women now.

“You can see him later,” Rio said, raising her head and favoring him with a tiny smile. “But he’ll be fine. He’s coming through the change very well.”

Kei nudged Shou for a second. “I’ll stay with him. Go ahead. Help where you can.”

Shou nodded, and Michael guided him through the lines of tents to where Durbe and Chris would be. The farther they went, the more he could see Shou staring at everything around him. He shuddered a few times.

“The plants – they’re so angry,” Shou murmured. “They don’t like people from Fusion.”

Micheal patted him. “Don’t worry about it. They’ll get to know you and they’ll like you too.”

Shou didn’t say anything, just kept on going. When they got to the right tent, Michael poked his head between the flaps. “Hi, guys!”

Durbe and Chris looked up from their cups of tea. Michael could see duel disks and parts spread out on the table before them. He waved, then stepped inside with Shou.

“Ryouga, Thomas, and I found some defectors from Fusion,” he told them, gesturing to Shou. “This is Marufuji Shou.” Now that he thought about it, hadn’t they mentioned Mizael knowing Shou’s brother? He hadn’t really remembered before.

Both of them came to their feet. “Marufuji?” Chris asked. “I presume that you have a brother?”

“Yeah. He’s – over there.” Shou waved one hand a little vaguely.

“He’s a Frostflame now,” Michael reported. “Rio’s taking care of him. Has anyone told Mizael yet?”

“Considering you just told us, probably not.” Chris pointed out with a hint of amusement. “You’d better have someone do that. But I’m sure that you didn’t bring your new friend here just to say hi.”

Michael hated blushing. He didn’t do it often but with the way Chris eyed them and with Shou there – he couldn’t help but feel a little flushed.

“No. He knows about those things.” Michael nodded towards the duel disks. “He can help.”

Both of them turned to look at Shou, whose shoulders tensed briefly before he swallowed and stepped forward. “I don’t know how they work,” he said. “But we were given basic classes in what the parts are and how to repair them if they were damaged and we couldn’t bring it in. That wasn’t supposed to happen a lot, but we were taught anyway.”

“So you know how they put the mass into the holograms?” Durbe asked. Shou nodded and moved closer, looking over the stretch of parts on the table. Michael watched as the three of them fell into some sort of technical talk. Shou didn’t seem as versed in it as they were but they still understood each other.

Michael settled down, made himself a cup of tea, and enjoyed what was left of the afternoon. Perhaps things might just be getting a little better.

Rio, Kotori, Asuka, and Akane settled Ryou down on a cot. Kotori and another Healer started to look him over, while Rio and Asuka stepped back, Akane with them.

“How did he frost over?” Rio wanted to know. Asuka shook her head.

“I’m not entirely sure. It had already started before I got there. But I’m very sure that Yuuri was involved. He’s a Healer – a very twisted one. I’ve heard more stories than I ever care to about him.”

Rio nodded slowly. “Is he likely to come looking for revenge?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised. But not nearly any time soon.” Asuka’s grin was a quick flash of fire across her lips. “Ryou frosted over inside of his garden. And he wasn’t very happy when he did it.”

Rio didn’t even try to muffle a snicker at that. “So let me guess – it’s covered in ice?”

“Covered in ice,” Asuka agreed. “It probably won’t melt for days. Maybe even longer. It is a tropical island, but Frostflame ice doesn’t melt easily.”

“No one knows that better than me.” Rio nodded before she looked back to the other Frostflame. “All we can do right now is let him rest. How is he doing, Kotori?”

Her Healer looked up, pushing hair out of her eyes. “He’s going to be all right as far as I can tell. I can sense the presence of two proto-bonds, though.” She nodded towards Kei, who sat there with his tail neatly coiled around his paws watching. “One for you, Kei.”

“Of course. It’s begun to sit in since we cleared the drugs out of his system.” Kei replied with the typical smugness of a Cat. “The other would possibly be to Mizael. Who should know that we’re here as soon as possible. They have a lot to deal with.”

Rio nodded thoughtfully. “Are you all going to need some bonding time?”

“I know that he and I will.” Kei flicked his tail slowly back and forth. “But you’re going to have to ask him and Mizael about them.”

Rio nodded again before she gestured for them to leave. “We can find you two a place to rest and wait for him to wake up.” She cast a quick glance to Asuka. “Are you – looking for a Healer? I know a few who aren’t bonded right now.”

“Not right now,” Asuka said with a shake of her head. “I’ll let you know if that changes, though.

Rio let out a laugh. “I should introduce you to Kurosaki Ruri. She’s a Firestarter too and she hasn’t met her Healer yet. Just don't burn down things if you two do meet.”

“I haven’t burned down anything since I was seven years old,” Asuka told her. “At least not without meaning to.”

Rio tilted her head. “That sounds interesting. What happened?”

“You could say it was all my brother’s fault.” Asuka began to tell the tale as they headed out of the tent, leaving Kei to guard Ryou, who slept on and on.

Mizael thought when they got back that he would just return to his tent and finish up that nap. But halfway there, he realized that he was far too restless now. He wouldn’t be able to close his eyes at all.

So he took a walk through some of the lesser Gardens, offering them his energy, and chatting with a couple of the other Healers he crossed paths with there. One point came up fairly fast – no one had seen Vector in a while.

I should probably not care about that. Vector had asked him out once or twice while they were in high school but Mizael hadn’t been interested. He’d been too busy dueling and developing his talent, and then he’d gotten interested in Kaito.

But he always remained aware of Vector’s presence in the city. It was hard to avoid knowing when he did something, since his antics were the talk of the Gardens for weeks. To have him vanish without warning – Mizael couldn’t help but wonder if he’d somehow ended up carded. He wasn’t sure of how likely it was – Vector was an amazing duelist as well as a powerful Healer. But if someone struck him down from behind, it wasn’t impossible.

Mizael settled himself on a pile of rubble that hadn’t been cleaned up yet and probably wouldn’t be – it was becoming home to a very attractive species of vine – and watched the Night Garden. Something felt off and he had no idea of what it was. He didn’t even know if ‘off’ was the right word. Something made him antsy and aware.

Is he ever going to come back? Could I trust him if he did? There were too many answers that he didn’t have and he wasn’t sure of where to get them except from Marufuji Ryou himself. The question of trust hung there no matter what.

A thin thread of cold ran up his back and Mizael shivered. It wasn’t winter – if anything it was late summer. So why was getting cold? Was Rio in the area? Frostflames brought down the temperature wherever they were as a matter of courses.

He could see the main entrance to the Night Garden from where he sat. Coming through it just then was a small group. He peered closer; was that Kei with them? It was a Cat at the least, and two members of the group carried a third. He didn’t recognize some of the others, though the longer he stared, the more he recognized Michael and Chris Arclight. Their hair colors were rather distinctive, after all. But the others…

Mizael frowned. He couldn’t see who they were very clearly. They were too far away. But – but – he wanted to believe. There was something about the shape of the carried one that told him – he – it could be -

Only one way to find out. He leaped down from his perch and headed for the Night Garden. It might not be Marufuji – but if it was, then Mizael had a lot of questions.

To Be Continued

Notes: I can’t believe we’re so close to the end. Ryou and Mizael need a long talk. And I’m sure you want to know what’s going on with Vector and Yuuri. (I would have made Vector a Firestarter but him and Yuuri bonded would do nothing for Yuuri’s sanity. I know who will help with that but that won’t be for a while to come. Definitely not in this story.)