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With a leap, Asuka cuts through another of the dragon's summoned vines and lands hard on her feet, gritting her teeth.
They've been at this for fifteen minutes now, and she's barely made any progress. The dragon hasn't defeated her like it has scores of others trying to rescue the prince, but neither has she advanced far into the overgrown jungle surrounding the tower he's kept in. It's a mere hundred meters more between her and the tower entrance, but dense growth blocks her way - as does the massive two-headed dragon waiting at the tower's foot.
The dragon roars, and more of the thick vines surrounding the castle lift up and whip toward her—
"Stop! Stooooop!"
That's Judai's voice.
The vines freeze in midair, an arm's length away from Asuka's face.
Just beyond her, massive stalks and leaves shift to clear space, like a sorcerer parting the sea. But instead of a wizened old man strolling through the opening, Prince Judai jogs through and skids to a stop next to her before leaning over to catch his breath, hands on his quite healthy knees.
"Leave her alone, Yubel," he calls out to the air, much too casually for the situation they're in. "This one is my friend!"
Friend is a bit stronger of a word than Asuka would use when the last time they'd seen each other was a ball in Chroma three years ago. But yes, she and the bright young prince of Carmon had encountered each other a fair number of times at diplomatic functions. She remembers him well enough, though back then his hair had been longer.
"Judai…?" she says hesitantly. "I thought you were…"
"Kidnapped?" Prince Judai crosses his arms behind his head with a sigh, glancing up at the sky before looking back to her. "Nope. Well, I kind of was at first, but—it's not like what you've heard. You heard the story from my father, didn't you?"
Asuka nods. "The word's spread across the continent. He said you'd been kidnapped by a terrible dragon with powerful magic. That it had plans to destroy the world, using you as a sacrifice."
"Is that what he said…" Prince Judai says it mildly, like he's commenting on an upcoming rainstorm. "Well, the first part was true. Yubel did kidnap me. But the rest is all a big lie."
It's a weighty accusation, and Asuka momentarily finds herself at a loss for words. She starts with the more easily addressed of the two statements. "If you've been kidnapped, don't you want your freedom?"
"Aha…" Judai laughs nervously and - in a gesture that does little to convince Asuka of his sincerity - glances back at the dragon at the tower's entrance. Yubel, Asuka surmises. "Not really? I'm pretty good here, actually."
Blatant lies, for someone who's casually accused his father of the same.
"Come on in, let me explain," Judai says, and without waiting for a response he hollers into the distance. "Yubeeeeeel! I'm inviting Asuka in!"
There's a familiar whine underlying his tone, the kind Asuka recognizes from eighteen years of being Fubuki's sister. It's the call of someone cheerfully annoying someone familiar to them - in this case, the massive two-headed dragon guarding the tower at the other side of the thick field of sharp vegetation.
The dragon lets out another roar, and suddenly in a flash of light it's morphed into a smaller, more humanoid dragon that effortlessly soars over to hover above them. Yubel folds their arms in disapproval, two eyes observing Asuka with aloof disapproval while the third remains fixed on Judai.
"Judai," they say with long-suffering patience, "I remind you, this is Princess Asuka of the Blizzard Kingdom on a mission from your father. It would be unwise to consider her a friend just because you've met in the past."
"Asuka's cool," Judai insists. Then he turns to her. "You'll hear me out, right Asuka? I promise you, you've only heard half the story from my father."
Asuka hesitates for a moment, and feels Yubel's gaze drilling into her. She tries not to let the dragon's attention get to her and takes a moment to evaluate the situation.
First: King Hagen of Carmon had claimed his son the crown prince had been abducted by a terrible dragon. Prince and dragon both are before her now, seemingly comfortable with each other. Judai acknowledges he's been kidnapped, but claims he's satisfied in his current position and that his father the king had been untruthful about the situation.
She doesn't trust Yubel, and she has doubts about Judai's judgement in this situation. But it would be hasty to make full judgements herself at this point, it seems, and for the moment at least she and the dragon are no longer engaged in combat. Not anything to drop her guard over, but Asuka is willing to accept that at this time rushing back in to fight would be far too hasty.
"All right," she says. "Explain the situation to me."
And the situation is thus, according to the prince and the dragon:
King Hagen had indeed told the truth about the situation. The dragon had, in fact, kidnapped the prince. What he'd left out was that the dragon is the prince's longtime playmate turned bodyguard, hatched scarcely a few weeks before Judai's birth and living by his side for the full length of their lives.
"My responsibility is Judai's safety," Yubel says, words terse and brow furrowed as Asuka studies them over her mug of tea. "Judai is safer here."
"Why is he safer here?" Asuka asks.
"Judai is safer here," Yubel does not explain.
Judai opens his mouth, but looks away and does not elaborate.
"Yubel's right," he says instead. "If we go back…well, it's hard for anyone to hurt Yubel. But I don't want to go back, either."
"And I will not allow it," Yubel says firmly.
"Believe me, Asuka." In his seat, Judai leans against Yubel standing by his side with the boneless grace of a cat. "I'm happy here, the way things are now. Yubel isn't just my protector. They're…"
The prince of Carmon has made an impression on Asuka during their sporadic encounters over the years, but the strange look in his eyes as he smiles up at Yubel makes her wonder just how much she understands him.
"They're the person I love most," he finishes.
"Dear," Yubel warns.
"It's important, Yubel!" Judai pulls away from their side, straightening to look at Asuka imploringly. "Even when they kidnapped me, I knew that Yubel would never hurt me. And they never have. They took me here because it was important. And even though it sounds strange to you, being here with them protecting me is what's best."
The conversation continues like that.
In the end, the dragon will not permit the prince to stray far from the tower. The prince has no intention of straying. Although the prince professes to be a willing participant to his own abduction, he is a captive nonetheless.
Asuka considers the facts as laid out while on her second mug of tea.
Then she shakes her head at the two of them.
"There's something you're not telling me," she says. It's not a particularly dramatic leap of logic. "Neither of you have actually explained anything." Knowing the two of them are childhood friends doesn't explain or excuse a kidnapping, after all, especially one that the kidnappee freely admits to.
Feelings change. Love can sour.
Yubel snarls, low and dangerous. "That is all that is important."
Asuka reaches for her sword.
"Hang on!" Judai calls out, voice tinged with panic. "Come on, guys, calm down!"
Asuka deliberates for a moment before moving her hand away from her waist. Yubel does not move.
"Judai," Asuka says. "Could I talk to you alone?"
"There's nowhere we can go that Yubel won't see or hear us," Judai says matter-of-factly.
"I could go elsewhere if it pleases you," Yubel drawls. "But Judai is correct. Remember, Princess Asuka of the Blizzard Kingdom: if you try to take Judai away in some misguided attempt to 'save' him, there is nowhere you can go that I will not find you."
And without waiting for a response, Yubel flies out the window.
Judai watches them until they're out of sight, then sighs with a shake of his head and a wry smile. "Don't worry too much about them," he says to Asuka. "They've been…extra protective of me, since we came here."
Asuka studies him. "And that doesn't concern you?"
"It's Yubel, you know?" A beat. "Actually, I guess you don't. But you know, Yubel's a dragon. Being protective of things they consider theirs is in their nature, they've always been like that. And it's nice sometimes, to be fussed over. After…"
And there it is, she thinks. "After what?"
He laughs, obviously false. "Ah, never mind. But knowing they're always looking after me is part of why I love them."
He says it like loving a dragon is the most natural thing in the world. Asuka doesn't understand.
"Saying you love them doesn't make this better, Judai. It makes this worse. You've been captive here for months, haven't you?" Asuka gestures to the tower around them, comfortable but isolated. "What's to say you haven't come to believe you love them because they're the only—"
"Asuka." There's a new weight to Judai's words now, something grave that makes her pause. Despite the hard gaze Judai levels at her, his eyes are bright.
No, not bright. They're an entirely different color entirely from what they were a few minutes ago, burnt gold in place of warm brown.
Asuka gasps. She knows the legends. She knows what it means to see those eyes on Judai.
"Judai, you're…"
"Yeah." There's none of Judai's previous hedging now, as he nods decisively. "I'm the Supreme King. Or, well - I will be, someday."
"Someday the Light of Destruction will appear again to threaten this world." When had Yubel come back? "Ensuring Judai lives to fight it is my duty."
"My father understood the first part," Judai says. "But not the last. The training he put me through…"
"Judai," Yubel interrupts, putting a clawed hand on their shoulder. They have that same warning tone, but they speak more softly now. Tenderly. "You don't have to talk about this if you don't wish to."
Judai puts a hand over theirs and looks up, a faint smile softening the harsh gold of his eyes. "It's okay, Yubel. Asuka's smart enough that I trust her with the truth." And to Asuka: "That's why Yubel kidnapped me. Father ran me ragged, so badly that I fell sick. That's when I got this."
Judai turns his head and parts his hair, and with a jolt Asuka sees the long, ugly scar peeking through the short-cropped hair on the back of his head.
"My greatest failure," Yubel mutters darkly. One hand at their side flexes sharp talons.
"That was when Yubel decided it was safer to take me away from there," Judai concludes, and spreads his hands out. "So here we are. With Yubel I can prepare to fight the Light of Destruction…a way I can manage."
Oh.
Yes, that rather puts things into perspective - even the two's reluctance to explain. Asuka relents, bowing to the two of them in apology. "I apologize for the misunderstanding."
Judai shrugs, whether he means it or not. "You've always been a good guy, Asuka. You really did deserve the truth, and I knew you'd understand if we talked. But believe me - I'm here by choice. And I'm not going back home until we're strong enough to fight it."
He looks straight at Asuka, eyes still blazing gold. "So are you with us, or against us?"