Title: Five Times Haou Was Reminded Of His Friends
Characters: Juudai
Chapters: 1-1||Words: 2,645
Genre: Angst||Rated: PG-13
Summary: Try as he might, Haou cannot escape being reminded of those who fell before he rose.

Broken ruins and scattered ashes spread out before them. Haou's eyes narrowed behind his helmet's visor. This should not be here. His scouts had marked this village for destruction, but none of his warriors had yet come near it. It shouldn't look like this.

If someone else wished to attempt to encroach on his territory, he wanted to know about it. Or if villagers were now in the habit of burning their own homes down to avoid losing them to him.

No. Something else was going on here. Something that stirred in the back of his thoughts, in the part of himself only recently awake. This was not right.

"Who lived in this village?" His attention shifted from the destruction ahead of him to Guardian Baou, who stood at his right hand. Dark Familiar chittered into his master's ear in response.

"Mostly spellcasters, Haou-sama," Baou replied, passing along what his little spy told him. "Ancient Elf, a few Dryads, Fire Sorcerer, that sort of type." Dark Familiar whispered to him once again and Baou nodded. "The strongest one seen was a Black Magician Girl."

Ah. That explained much. Haou turned his full attention back to where the village should have been. Perhaps where it still was.

Power stirred around him, dark and terrible, power brought firmly under his command over the last two months. I will create Super Fusion from all of those who stand in my way. Twin ribbons of shadow shot forward, cracking hard against a barrier that no sight could've shown him. He didn't need to see to know. Not anymore.

Murmurs from his warriors rose behind him, whispers of shock and awe at this open display of his power. He didn't normally need to do this, since few tried to hide from him. It never did them any good when they did. He would not be stopped.

On the third strike, the barrier shattered, falling in sharp-edged fragments all around them. The village stood before them now, a small group of would-be warriors gathered in a tight defensive line, Black Magician Girl at the head.

Haou only spared her a moment's worth of a glance. His army surged around him, each selecting an opponent in a heartbeat, and the battle began. He fought only when he had to; when there was an opponent actually worthy of his effort. That hadn't happened nearly as often as he wished.

Guardian Baou cornered Black Magician Girl and it was there Haou's attention rested for the most part. A stray thought wandered through his mind. I wonder if she's the one I dueled that day. He seldom thought of his days in Duel Academia, but he recalled fighting Black Magician Girl. Or a Black Magician Girl.

I wonder if Shou's around anywhere. His heart squeezed for the briefest of moments, recalling the cheerful face of his friend. He wasn't surprised when the memory was overridden by something more recent: Shou telling him that all he'd cared about was becoming king.

He was right. Haou set his jaw and watched the duel impassively. Being king meant he could forge Super Fusion. Forging Super Fusion meant no one else would die because of his failures. Including Shou.

If anyone asked, Haou might well have agreed that there were those in this world, or any other world, who did indeed love one another. Not that it actually mattered on any level, given that what genuinely counted was power and the strength to wield it, but it happened, nevertheless.

Even now, with his armies marching relentlessly everywhere, bringing every person and every village under his control, there were still those who found moments to care about one another. Even if those moments were the last ones of their lives.

Total Defense Shogun. Spirit of the Harp. He understood that some of the spirits gave themselves individual names, but he scarcely cared about that. Though he had thought once or twice about naming his various Goblin Elite Forces something unique. He could hardly tell them apart. Not that he needed to most of the time, but he could envision moments when it might be useful.

"Burgundy!" Spirit of the Harp cried out as she fell beneath Chaos Sorcerer's assault, her harp shattered, one hand reaching out toward Total Defense Shogun. He brushed aside Haou's warrior and scooped up the lady into his arms.

"Claret." His voice throbbed with passion Haou hadn't heard since the last time he'd heard Fubuki waxing nostalgic about love and romance. "No."

But there was no denying it, no matter how much either of them might wish to. Spirit of the Harp, Claret, reached up to brush her fingers across Total Defense Shogun's features, and even as she did so, her hand faded away into a spray of light.

Total Defense Shogun threw his head back, a howl the likes of which Haou didn't think he'd ever heard echoing from his throat. A heartbeat later, the muscled warrior turned his fury upon the dark king.

"This is all your fault!" He said no more than that before he charged forward, sword raised and ready. Chaos Sorcerer made to stop him, but Haou needed no assistance. Dark energy shot from his fingertips and knocked the warrior backward.

"Should we take him, Haou?" Chaos Sorcerer asked, not even favoring the fallen with a glance. Haou considered, watching as the other pushed himself back to his feet. He saw no duel disk on him, just raw strength and the intense desire to kill whatever got in his way before he himself fell.

He loved her. Haou seldom indulged himself in kindness. But he decided just this once to make an exception. "No." Another strike of shadows sealed Total Defense Shogun's fate, sending him head over heels once again. He wouldn't last much longer and then they would be together in whatever this world had for an afterlife.

Haou gathered his army and started on the road back to his castle without a backward glance. Fubuki would've thought that romantic. Dying in the arms of the one you love. He had better ways to spend his own time. There would be no world safe for those who wanted to love if he didn't rule this world with an iron fist.

"Haou!" He'd forgotten how many times he'd heard his title echoing back from his warriors. There were times when he wanted to tell them to shut up and go do something constructive, like conquer more people in his name. But even they couldn't conquer endlessly and in their off time, they chanted for him.

Today, however, the word fell not from the lips of the adoring masses ready to shed blood for him, but from a warrior who stood on a hilltop some distance away as his army rode through the forest.

"Haou, do you hear me?"

He gestured for the caravan to stop and turned toward the speaker, his whole attitude indicating a willingness to listen. He might not listen long, but he could spare at least thirty seconds at the moment.

Tactical Warrior. He hadn't seen one of her kind before. She was even more impressive in reality than in a holograph.

She leaped down from the hilltop and stalked toward him, ignoring everyone who got in her way until she stood a short distance from Haou himself. "I challenge you to a duel."

He tilted his head just a fraction, even as the Death Duelists and everyone else who stood in earshot broke out into derisive laughter.

"What makes you think Haou-sama would accept a challenge from you?" Skull Bishop demanded. "You have no army. You don't even have someone to defend. What do you have that makes this worth his time?"

Haou studied the defiant warrior before him, paying no attention to his subordinate for the moment. Tactical Warrior did indeed have something that caught his attention. It wasn't just the way she looked, but her attitude. Not only did she have the nerve to face him head on, right in the middle of his army, but she reminded him of someone.

Blonde hair. Defiant to the end. Fierce and strong.

Unseen behind his helmet's visor, Haou's lips thinned into something that on someone else might well have been a smile.

Asuka.

He gestured abruptly, sending all of those who served him scattering to one side of the other. They had no place in this except as spectators. He turned his full attention upon Tactical Warrior.

"I accept." He didn't need to tell her not to waste his time. Anyone who dared to face him knew what would happen if they failed. He didn't anticipate her being very difficult to deal with.

Something else granted her a resemblance to Asuka, however: Tactical Warrior was an extremely powerful duelist. She wasn't perfect by any means, but of all those he'd dueled in this world, she came the closest to giving him a genuine challenge, at least since Brron.

The duel ended the same way, of course, and he stared down at her as she faded away. She stared back at him, fire burning in her eyes, and one last word escaped her lips.

"Bastard."

Once again everyone around him laughed, and Haou turned his back. All he regretted now was not taking the chance to convert her to his side. She could've been a valuable warrior. No matter. He dismissed the thought and continued on home.

Haou stared at the rushing river before him with much the same look he gave those who stood in his way. Unlike opposing duelists and warriors, rivers stood immune to his power. Instead, just like anyone else, he would have to find another way to cross it or go around it.

If he weren't on his way to battle, he might well have found the place pretty enough. Far too deep for anyone to think about wading across, with a current far too swift for swimming for anyone less than a fish, the river chattered and burst across a bed of stones polished to a mirror shine by what must have been centuries of water flowing. Trees and bushes of types he'd never seen before grew thickly on both sides, and one or two of his warriors stole a chance to have a snack from one of the berry-bearing bushes.

Somewhere in the center of the river, the comet's blue glow reflected off the water, adding a somewhat spooky air to the whole scene.

"Haou-sama!" Skilled White Mage and Skilled Black Magician dropped down next to him, appearing from thin air. He tilted his head in acknowledgment of their arrival and awaited their report.

"There is a bridge less than an hour's march from here, Haou-sama." Skilled Black Magician informed him. "There was a guard on it, but we took care of him."

A guard on a bridge. I wonder if he was as skilled as Kenzan. I doubt it. Kenzan wouldn't have lost against these two.

He didn't let himself be distracted for more than a breath, however. Both Kenzan and the bridge-guard were dead and the guard's death meant more now. He nodded acknowledgment and followed their lead, the rest of the army following him.

Haou couldn't quite shake the thoughts of Kenzan that easily, though. I'll hate you even after I become a fossil! The last words he'd heard the dinosaur duelist speak to him. He'd died hating him. Like they all had.

And they should have. It was my fault. I couldn't save them. He wouldn't let it happen again. No one whom he protected would die like they had, no matter how much blood soaked his hands in the process.

Really, he knew there was some kind of a flaw in that logic, but logic hadn't ever been his strong suit in the first place, so he paid no attention to it. This was what he had to do. What else could he do?

"Stop right there!" Haou's attention flicked outward at once. They'd drawn near enough to the bridge for him to see it, and standing in the very center stood, of all people, Heavy Clothed Warrior-Ben Kei.

Who else would guard a bridge here? Haou fastened his attention on the warrior for a heartbeat before he looked at Skilled White Mage and Skilled Black Magician. Both squirmed under that glance.

"There must have been more than one, Haou-sama." Skilled White Mage offered. He was probably right. Haou looked back at Ben Kei.

"Kill this one too." His people needed to cross this bridge and he doubted this Ben Kei would be half the obstacle to them that Kenzan had been to him on their first meeting.

Thunder rolled over the castle, clouds thick, dark, and foreboding blotting out the faint stars and the comet as well. Lightning flashed within the clouds, clawed fingers reaching downward from the heavens to walk across the land for the space of only a few heartbeats.

Haou stood at his window and watched it all. For once, there wasn't the endless cry of 'Haou' from his warriors down below. At least they had the sense to come in out of the rain. Drops splashed down, just a few at first, then more and more, faster and faster, until the air was so thick with them he couldn't see more than an inch or so ahead of him.

No one would come up here now. He'd already given orders to that effect. It was late enough that he doubted anyone would've come anyway. He'd had dinner early already, disposing of the last minor interruption that could've been. Now it was just him and the storm.

It hasn't rained like this in three months. He didn't think it meant anything, other than the fact Dark World's weather was stranger than he'd ever thought, but it still intrigued him all the same.

In mere moments water pooled up in small holes on the bridge outside of the castle, some of it falling over the side into the lava moat, faint strings of steam rising up. Haou supposed they hissed as well, but he was too far away to hear it when it happened.

Again thunder crashed and the sky whitened with a sheet of pure lightning. Haou wondered if it would be possible to harness the lightning itself as a weapon one day. Electricity could work wonders; he knew that already. But this could be something else entirely.

Manjoume would appreciate that. He wasn't surprised at all to find his thoughts drifting toward his old friend, not with this kind of storm. Manjoume Black Thunder.

He'd seen Manjoume walking in the rain a few times. If anyone noticed him doing it, Manjoume always hunched his shoulders and muttered to himself as if disliking being out in it. But once...once he'd seen him without Manjoume knowing he was being seen.

Off came the black coat, draped over a convenient rock. Manjoume tilted his head back and let the water fall all over him, soaking from head to toe in it, face lit up by the flickering lightning. He'd thoroughly soaked himself in it, peace written all over his features that no one had ever seen before.

Moments later, the Ojama Trio popped into existence around him, chattering and teasing one another and him at the same time, and Manjoume brushed himself off, knocked them aside, and grabbed his coat before trudging his way back to Osiris Red, acting for all the world as if none of it had ever happened.

Haou slipped off his helmet and let a few traces of rain splash against his features, his eyes closed. He didn't remember what peace was like anymore. Peace was for other people.

Peace was for the dead.

Tomorrow he would bring peace to more people. Tonight, he just let the rain fall.

The End