Chapter Text
The Supreme King
Hey
Does anyone want to go to a wedding with me?
Bonus, it’s an alien wedding.
Several people are typing….
-
“Question I probably should have asked before I accepted,” Yugi asks as he fastens his cuffs. “How exactly did you get invited to an alien wedding?” These cuff links, though he loves them, are always so fiddly. If he were being purely aesthetics minded, he should wear one of his silver pairs, to match the rest of the jewelry, but sadly all of his protective charms were gifts from Atem and, as such, are all gold.
And he trusts Jaden a whole lot, but he has a feeling that this could be a situation where he needs the Eye of Horus.
The supreme king in question, sitting sprawled on the floor of Yugi’s bedroom, blows his bangs out of his face with a huff. “Short answer? Work stuff.”
“And the long answer?” Yugi prompts. And then settles in, because Jaden doesn’t kid about long stories.
“Okay, so before I was king, the king before me, Brron, had two knights, Goldd and Sillva, that he sent to capture my friends so he could use them as leverage-slash-summon-material for his upcoming confrontation with me. And he told them to kidnap five of them, but one of them, my buddy Cyrus, escaped by falling off a cliff and they didn’t want to face Brron’s wrath if they returned with fewer than the required hostages, so they agreed to work together to fake their deaths. But then there was a whole uprising, Axel led a rebellion to march on my castle and try to break me out of my, uh- let’s call it A Really Bad Time- and Goldd and Sillva were mistaken for enemy forces or something, I’m not super clear on the details? Point is, they actually died for real, and their souls moved on, but we couldn’t find them for the longest time because we were looking in the wrong place, and using the wrong star charts and all that junk. And Goldd and Sillva couldn’t reach out because their spirits chose to reconstitute on Barian and Astral world, who were at war with each other, so they were caught up in trying to get back to each other, and then the war ended by the two worlds merging into one via the power Yuma’s friend has over the code of reality that he used to mess with gravity that one time? And then they finally were 1) reunited and 2) heard that the guy they were afraid of killing them because they messed up a job was dead, and 3) there's a totally new and cool king who’s been trying to find them because staffing is hard and they were some of the best knights in the dark army. But they want to get married before coming back to the dark world because we don’t exactly have marriage licenses, and because this is the first wedding between a Barian and an Astral in living memory because of the whole war, it’s kind of a big deal politically? So I have to show face because all the emperors and priests and other important people are going to be there, sort of throw my hat in the ring on this whole alliance thing, which for the record I totally support, I’m just really bad at parties and I got a plus one so I thought, hey, I can bring a friend along and hopefully actually have a good time!”
Yugi pauses while he puts in his earrings to send Jaden a bewildered stare. Then, he has to return all his attention to making sure the delicate silver chains don’t tangle.
He likes to think he kind of has his life together. Not all the way. But he’s got good friends, he’s got his hobbies, he’s even got a fairly lucrative career out of said hobbies. He’s the weird patron of a group of international dueling prodigies. He laid his best friend’s soul to rest before he even graduated high school.
And then every once in a while Jaden says something that has him feeling like he’s sixteen all over again and suddenly learning that ghosts exist.
“I remember when basic time travel threw me for a loop,” he grumbles.
Yugi does one last once-over in the mirror. It’s not anything special, just one of his suits he saves for higher brow events, though he’s had it altered to appeal more to his personal style. “Is that what you’re wearing?” he asks, casting a judging eye over Jaden’s ensemble. Jaden’s great, but one of his flaws is that Yugi’s not sure he’s ever seen him wear anything other than torn up jeans and t-shirts haunted by the ghost of a faded logo. Sometimes, on really fancy occasions, even a hoodie.
“I’ll change in the dark world,” Jaden brushes him off. “We’ve got to pop back there for the rest of the delegation.”
“At least let me do your makeup,” Yugi argues. Jaden’s response does not fill him with confidence that he knows anything about formalwear. Maybe it’s a good thing that Yusei was too busy with his work trip to make it as Jaden’s plus one. Gods know Yusei would have let him turn up to this event in pajama pants.
Again, he loves them dearly. But for the love of Ra, they test him sometimes. Digging in his bag for a minute, fishing around for the gold eyeshadow he bought a few months ago, he vaguely gestures to Jaden to sit up.
“I don’t know, I’m not really a makeup person.”
“Jaden.”
Jaden sits up.
In the end, Yugi doesn’t even do anything more than basic concealer, blending, and eye makeup, because getting Jaden to hold still enough for a proper cat eye is strangely similar to trying to trim the nails of an actual cat. Yugi still wants to futz with his brows, but he knows when to concede and save his energy. The one thing he insists on is the eyeshadow, because he isn’t planning on using it anytime soon, and it’s just the perfect color for Jaden.
“Alright,” he concludes, sitting back. “Now, just don’t touch your face.” Then, because he knows Jaden, he uses his extra strength setting spray, just for good measure. There. Now, he can get dunked in the Domino City Harbor and his eyeliner won’t so much as budge.
“You do this every day?” Jaden wrinkles his nose as the spray mists over him. Obligingly, he hasn’t opened his eyes yet. His hands are clenched in his lap, probably to keep himself from immediately caving to the impulse to pick at his face.
“I find it relaxing. You can open your eyes now.”
Jaden does so, though he doesn’t so much as glance in the mirror. Instead he just asks aloud, “How do I look?”
Yugi knows the question isn’t meant for him. He starts putting everything back in his bag, half listening as Jaden gets in a one sided conversation with, seemingly, himself. It makes him feel a little pang, half nostalgia, and half tempered grief.
It’s been years. But still, some things just remind him, and it doesn’t hurt, per se, but he can feel the absence of Atem anew. He almost cherishes it: it’s been years, and still, he traces his fingers over the flash of mourning, comforted that he hasn’t forgotten. That he still carries the fingerprints of his partner.
“Do I pass Yubel’s inspection?”
“More than pass,” Jaden chuckles. He stands up, shaking his head. “They’re trying to convince me we need to start wearing makeup regularly.”
“I’m honored.”
“So, you ready to go?”
“When you are.”
“Great!” And then Jaden claps his hands together, and Yugi feels a split second of freefall as the floor seems to vanish under him, and his apartment disappears, swallowed by shadow. There's a tug in his gut, maybe from the magic or maybe it’s just vertigo, and before he can properly decide which one, he’s standing upright again. There’s no force of impact, no hitting the ground. He simply goes from solid ground to void to solid ground again, with no transition between. Vaguely, he feels the urge to throw up.
“A little-” he coughs, pressing the heel of his hand against his forehead to ground himself. “A little warning next time.” Then, he remembers that, technically, Jaden did announce they were leaving, and probably doesn’t view falling between dimensions as anything out of the ordinary. He clarifies: “I thought you were going to make a portal I could step through, or something.”
Shaking his head one last time to clear the dizziness, he finally starts absorbing the surroundings of the place Jaden has deposited them. Vaulted stone ceilings rise above them. Despite all the torches on the walls, the entire room is dim, so much so that it takes him a second to find the outline of Jaden. As his eyes adjust, he realizes Jaden’s actually speaking to a group of people further in the shadows. Or, maybe “people” is a bit of a misnomer.
He’s seen plenty of monsters before. Quite a few of the ones he’s met are capable of communicating. But there’s just something darkly comic about Jaden, still in his atrocious jeans and t-shirt, conversing with a group of creatures that look like demons out of a particularly lonely middle schooler’s notebook margins. What’s even more absurd, they appear to be listening to Jaden, gravely attentive.
Trying not to feel like the odd one out, Yugi goes to stand beside Jaden. Every single one of the beings is at least six feet tall, not counting horns, wings, or the strange, tendril-like appendages protruding from the head of one of the fiends. Everyone is wearing partial armor, further festooned with capes and jewels. The only one who lacks any sort of ornamentation is the being currently speaking, whose only accessories are a blindfold, a spear, and a chestplate that seems to be made out of their own ribs.
“I take it this human is the final member of our entourage?” it hisses. Yugi can’t help but stare at its mouth, which looks vaguely like if you took a normal human jaw, and then removed all the skin. He’s a little glad Jaden answers for him, because he’s still stuck on the way the tendons in this creature's face move. It’s simultaneously horrifying and really really cool.
“This is him. Yugi Muto, King of Games.”
That seems to set off another wave of chatter. All the creatures stand up a little bit straighter, some of them look over Yugi with new approval in their eyes. In the back, a hulking silhouette with a dragon's head gives him a single, deeply formal, nod. The being with the tendrils on their head goes so far as to step forward. In one hand, they hold a massive staff made up of several different metals, and they plant it on the cobbles like a flag, then incline their head slightly.
“On behalf of The Pale Undertakers, keepers of the dead, allow me to welcome you to The Dark World. Our king has made a wise choice in inviting you.” Yugi might be imagining it, but in their eyes he thinks he sees… respect? It’s a very grave kind of regard, as if he’s actually a king, and that wasn’t just a title made up by an esoteric billionaire in a bid to sell more booster packs.
The solemnity of the moment is a little bit broken by Jaden letting loose an aborted chuckle. The creature, unblinking, lifts their head and stares at him. Their voice is so dry Yugi can almost feel moisture evaporating in the air around them.
“I am serious, Your Majesty. You have made many bad decisions.”
“You know, Lady Snoww, you always keep me humble.”
“Someone has to.” Her mouth is covered by a mask of silver, but it certainly sounds like she’s smirking. If she has a mouth to smirk with at all. With a swish of her cape, she retreats, falling back into the loose formation of the royal convoy.
“Snoww is the most talented death diviner in any dimension,” Jaden whispers to him, like that makes any kind of sense to Yugi. “She’s old fashioned. Puts a lot of importance on the ways of properly putting a soul to rest. Don’t mind her, she’s just fangirling. In her own way.”
“She seems really fond of you,” Yugi mutters, halfway between confusion and sarcasm. Snoww’s words had sounded biting, but Jaden seems to not have minded. If anything, his response to her veiled insult had sounded sincere.
“Yeah, she’s great.” No, there’s no mistaking it. Jaden means that.
The demon with the skinless mouth steps forwards. “Are we ready to depart?”
“We’re waiting for Yubel,” Jaden answers. As if on cue, the mismatched click of claws on stone enters the room, followed shortly after by Yubel. In the flesh. Yugi’s only seen them once before, and that was during the fight with Paradox, so he might have missed a few details. But he is fairly certain that the last time he saw them, they were not wearing a bowtie.
When Yugi glances at Jaden, he sees they’re not the only one with a costume change. Jaden has, between blinks, changed his clothes. Now, he’s wearing a fine silk shirt and pants that seem woven from threads of midnight, over which he has a chestplate of equal ebony, decorated with gold filigree. Short gauntlets in the same style grace his hands, and on his feet he has polished leather boots laced in gold that end just below the knee. The only spot of color that isn’t gold is the crimson half-cape that spills off his back.
“You’re getting better at modifying your armor,” Yubel comments approvingly. They take their place at Jaden’s side, leaning down to rest their forearm on his shoulder. “Couldn’t do this before. Too many spikes.”
Jaden rolls his eyes. “Yeah yeah, let’s get this show on the road.”
“Is that my warning?” Yugi asks. He grabs onto Jaden’s free arm, trying to prepare himself for a repeat of the sensation of falling without falling. But Jaden shakes his head.
“Ceruli is going to be making the actual gateway to…” He trails off. Idly, he snaps his fingers, like he’s trying to remember something. “Shit, what was the name?”
“Your Majesty,” Another member of the court speaks up, their voice strained, like they are trying very hard not to throw a chair through a window. “We are trying to present a united front. That is why Ceruli is handling the transportation, so we can all appear as a group, and not have some of us get lost trying to find a simple afterlife.”
“Okay, but what's it called?” Jaden fires back.
All the demons go quiet.
Clearly, no one wants to admit that to their king that they don’t know either.
Eventually, the demon that seems to be in charge, the one with the cool mouth, clears its throat. “They haven't decided yet.”
“Some have taken to calling it Asto-Barian,” the one with the dragon head grumbles. This is met with a murmur of concurrence, though Yugi thinks he distinctly hears someone give a huff of disagreement. It might have been Yubel.
The shortest fiend, a hunched blue figure, begins pacing a wide circle around the chamber, scratching at the floor with the tip of his staff. Occasionally, he mutters to himself, in a language Yugi can’t understand but sounds like knives being sharpened in the dark. With every rune he carves in the ground, Yugi’s ears pop. Everyone crowds in a tighter grouping, so Yugi lets go of Jaden’s arm and focuses on not getting beaned by a stray wing or tail. He ends up squashed next to Yubel, taking advantage of the bubble of space everyone seems to give them.
“What did they mean about Jaden getting lost trying to find afterlives?” he asks, trying to sound innocent.
Yubel, clearly not buying it, sniffs disapprovingly. “We are strongly linked with the dark world, our seat of power. You have nothing to worry about when travelling here with us.”
“But for other dark worlds-” Jaden chimes in. He seems unbothered by the press of demons, leaning past his retainer with the spear to insert himself in the conversation. He wobbles his hand back and forth in a ‘so-so’ gesture. “I’ve got like a 50-50 track record.”
“I thought this was the dark world.”
Jaden shrugs. “It’s The Dark World.” Jaden has a bemusing (and confusing) ability to make it clear when he is pronouncing a capital. “Other dimensions that are closer to us than they are farther, are just called dark worlds.”
Yugi’s head is spinning, though that could just be the effects of the magic circle nearing its completion. “Wait, so all the dark worlds are afterlives?”
“It’s kinda complicated. There’s a couple light-aligned afterlives, Astral being one of them, before its convergence.” Jaden frowns. “Which is kinda weird. I’m usually okay at portalling to those-”
“Ready,” the blue robed fiend calls.
“Commence,” the one with the spear responds. And Jaden’s words are cut off by the feeling of vertigo as Yugi once again falls in place.
This time, it’s a little less jarring. Yugi’s able to keep ahold of his senses, and doesn’t stumble as he gets his bearings. The dim stone of Jaden's castle has blinked away, replaced by a large balcony, almost like a helicopter pad. Jagged pillars of red crystal twist up into nothing, framing a sky of multicolored stars. Stretching out into the horizon, an ocean churns, bright blue shot through with purple and red like it’s being painted by sunset, except Yugi can’t see a sun, only an ominous vortex of light hanging in the sky.
On the balcony, dozens of humanoid creatures stand or float. Some of them look no different than humans, some of them are so inorganic as to be mistaken for another part of the architecture. The mix of fashion is most incredible of all. He sees everything from simple unornamented robes to full suits of lavishly decorated armor. Some people are just wearing jewels and nothing else, others are dressed in things that aren’t even clothes, like clouds of mist or schools of fish or beams of light. Quite a few are in modern designer clothes. He sees at least one Chanel handbag and he thinks he even spots someone wearing the newest pair of Air Muscles. No one even looks twice at their group of armored demons appearing out of nowhere.
Yugi’s attended a lot of press events, and Duel Monsters tournaments attract particularly interesting crowds, but even he feels overwhelmed looking at the amount and breadth of people gathered. He instantly sees why Jaden wanted to invite a friend.
“Come on, we’ve gotta clear the circle,” Jaden cheerfully says, linking his arm with Yugi and tugging him along. Everyone gathered is slowly meandering in the direction of a large amphitheater, again open to the sky. The building looks less like it was built and more like it was formed, weathered by waves and carved by lightning. Following the flow of foot traffic, their group starts making its way in. Yugi tightens his grip on Jaden. Partly to avoid getting separated, partly because he knows if he stops to stare, he’s going to hold up the line.
He leans over to his friend. “Should I have brought a gift?”
“Don’t think so. I’m giving them the recordings of the true crime podcast I started making about their disappearance. I can put your name on the card.”
The inside of the amphitheater is not as cavernous as Yugi thought it would be. The whole thing is constructed of shallow tiers, like enormous steps, which lead down to a small stage, nestled in the center of the crescent floorplan. Sporadic fountains and sculptures, all made of crystal, dot the space. As Yugi lifts his gaze up, he realizes the crowd extends into the sky, with several people flying in and out of the open roof, perched on the lip like gargoyles, or gathering in small knots of midair conversation.
“Heads up,” Jaden whispers to him. Yugi’s not sure why he’s whispering; already, half their party seems to have vanished into the crowd. He thinks he sees a few of them in a knot of conversation halfway across the floor, talking to a group of people that glow like fireflies. “There’s probably not going to be any food.”
Yugi wasn’t really thinking about canapés. “Cultural thing?”
“Kinda.” Jaden shrugs. “Astrals and Barians don’t really eat.” His disappointment with this fact is obvious. He opens his mouth like he is going to say more, but then he catches sight of something over Yugi’s shoulder, and his eyes widen. “Holy shit, is that-” Yubel, ever at his side, follows his gaze.
“It can’t be,” they mutter. Strangely, their face holds the exact same childish excitement as Jaden’s. Then, they snap back to attention, all the militaristic command that usually was absent from the soldier’s voice as they speak, no, order: “We must get an autograph.”
Jaden nods.
And then he leaps, pouncing forward like a hunting animal. Yugi instinctively brings his hands up to cover his face, but somehow he sails clear over his head. When he looks, Jaden is dangling from Yubel’s arms, the two of them making haphazard flaps across the room to… whatever they’ve spotted.
Well, alright then.
Yugi scans the crowd, trying to carefully calculate the safest place to stay put until Jaden returns. It’s not like he knows anyone else here. Going to prereleases and premieres is one thing, but he’s not that confident in his ability to socialize. He has to duck under a group of low flying attendees, hop to avoid stepping on someone’s tail, and scooch out of the way of a pair of stone constructs who he doesn’t think even notice he’s there, but eventually, he makes his way to the edge of the amphitheater and begins creeping along the perimeter.
“Hey.”
He’d been so distracted dodging the horde of guests, he’d failed to notice another figure already occupying this part of the sidelines.
They’re leaning against the wall, seemingly trying to, without actually having any, give the impression of someone with their hands buried in their pockets. A bright red cape spills over their shoulders, and they seem to be half lounging in it, half trying to hide in its fabric. A mostly futile task, as they also happen to be wearing a small fortune of gold and gemstone accessories. And are bright purple. A set of what might be antlers, also purple, twists around their head in elaborate geometry, acting as a perfect frame for the crown that rests upon their brow.
Jaden did not coach him in what he was supposed to do when he was introduced to royalty. To be fair, it’s probably because he himself didn’t know.
Yugi does the first greeting that comes to his mind first, which is a short bow. Maybe too short. It’s more like the kind of bow that one would give their traditionalist grandmother than a possible ruler of an entire kingdom. Technically, people call him a king, right? Snoww had certainly seemed to be impressed. Maybe it’s better to seem friendly than overly stuffy. Before he can overthink the gesture further, the being quirks a brow.
“Uh, hi?” Almost like he’s confused them into mirroring, they bow back.
As they straighten, Yugi is delighted to discover that, sans the horns, they’re roughly the same height as he is.
“I can do human form too, if that’d make you more comfortable,” they offer. In a flash of light, the alien form is replaced by a young boy, maybe fourteen, with purple hair, and just the most awful oversized polyester button-up. Nervously, he plucks at the large, spiky, pendant hanging from a chain around his neck. It’s the only thing that has stayed consistent through the transformation. “Must kinda suck to be the only normal guy at the party.”
Yugi chuckles. “I lived for three years with a vengeful ghost inside my head who sometimes manifested as an angry cloud of darkness edged in technicolor. Do whatever makes you feel comfortable.”
The being is so shocked he seems to lose whatever concentration it takes to maintain the illusion. He fumbles the necklace, jolting back to his previous form.
“Wa- What? Really?”
“I came with Jaden.” Yugi points. Jaden’s fairly easy to pick out. He and Yubel are halfway across the floor, and seem to be rambling enthusiastically to a brightly colored demon wearing an iron facemask.
“Who-?” Yugi’s new friend asks, but he follows the direction of Yugi’s finger. “Oh.” His face darkens. “The Supreme King.”
“I promise, he grows on you,” Yugi offers. He knows Jaden’s less-than-stellar reputation probably precedes him. It’s a reputation he’s sure Jaden’s general conduct does nothing to rectify.
“Hmph.” Shaking his head, the being tears his eyes away from watching the contained chaos across the room. He offers his hand. “Shark. Former leader of the Barians.” Yugi takes it.
“Former?” he asks. Shark’s grip is cold, and his skin feels like it’s made of sandpaper. The handshake is brief and unpleasant.
“We’re trying to be a bit of a republic at the moment.” Shark tries once again to disappear into his cape. Now that Yugi’s seen his human form, he can’t help but be reminded of a surly teenager, forced to sit in the living room through some family obligation. “And Eliphas says I’m not allowed to sit on the council until I'm over the age of majority.”
“The age of-?”
“I'm three hundred and ninety six.” He pulls a face. “Or fifteen. Technically, I might be younger.” Shark seems to verbally stumble, searching for his words. Eventually, he concludes, “I’m older than I look.”
Yugi can sympathize. He still gets charged child's admission at the Domino City museum.
For a second, he ponders if he’s allowed to share that Jaden didn’t really want to come either. That he and Shark might have something in common, both just figures obligated to put in an appearance, even if they would rather be holed up in their respective rooms, doing anything else but being forced to be kings. But he’s not sure if that’s his secret to tell.
Before he can figure it out, Shark straightens up, and yells out into the crowd.
“Yuma!”
A head turns, and sure enough, that’s Yuma. Yugi wouldn’t have recognized him without his trademark vest, lost in the crowd of unfamiliar colors and shapes. He’s dressed sharply, in a red suit with a long tailcoat, his braids a slightly fancier style than when Yugi had last seen him. Yuma spins with almost pinpoint precision, locking in on the source of the shout and catching sight of Shark. Then, he beams.
“Shark!”
Since Yuma is several levels below them, Shark strides into the crowd, Yugi trailing after him like a confused ghost. He doesn’t even get very far. Shark just stalks to the railing, gripping it while he barks over the heads of the party. “What is Alito going on about with the Supreme King?”
To his surprise, Yuma bounds over, like Shark had given a friendly greeting instead of a sharp command. Maybe this guy's voice just sounds like that. The pink in his hair makes him easy to track through the crowd as he jogs up two tiers, until he’s situated just below them. “How should I know? I-” He catches Yugi’s eye, and his face lights up. In a maneuver that looks more like it belongs in the olympics than a fancy party, Yuma jumps up to grab the railing, twisting himself up until he’s practically doing a handstand on the balustrade, then swinging over. His dress shoes hit the floor next to them with a harsh clack! “Yugi!” He beams. “What are you doing here?”
“I came with Jaden. I was just telling Shark.” Without thinking, he reaches out and tugs Yuma’s lapels back into place from the rumpling his impromptu acrobatics gave them. “I assume you know him?”
“Who, Shark? We’re best friends.”
“Allegedly,” Shark grumbles, without any real heat behind it. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“Alito’s getting mobbed for signatures. I think Jaden knows him.”
“And how does that make sense? Alito’s ancient. And dead.”
“Ehhhhh, it’s Jaden.” Which is both a very succinct explanation, and clearly, not the one Shark was looking for. He scowls in Jaden’s direction. Jaden, oblivious as ever, just catches the vitriolic gaze aimed at him and responds with a grin and a cheery wave. He gives another one when he catches sight of Yuma standing next to him. Then, he looks to start wrapping up his conversation with the masked demon.
“I should get going,” Shark announces, stepping back from the railing. Idly, Yugi notices he’s been gripping it hard enough to turn his knuckles a pale pink. As he turns to stride away, Yuma grabs a handful of his cape.
“Why?” he whines. Yugi has to bite back a chuckle at the way Shark stumbles to avoid falling over. And the way he glowers at Yuma, before his eyes begrudgingly soften.
“I don’t wanna play politics right now.”
“And what’s that mean?”
“It means-” says a crisp voice behind Yugi’s shoulder. “That if the two of them were to meet, they would be expected to behave as the Supreme King and Barian Emperor Nasch. And the current agreement between our courts hinges on acknowledging the new ascension of a dark king as little as possible.”
Yugi whirls in place. Behind him, floating a good few inches above the floor, is a softly luminous being with pale blue skin, drifting in place as if borne on an invisible current. The effect is tripled by the garment they’re wearing, a diaphanous robe so delicate it’s translucent in places, gathered in ruffles that billow and sway in the unseen water: the collar, sleeves, and hem decorated in something that looks like pure seafoam. Along every limb, geometric lines run, occasionally studded with round gems. Something about the patterns tickles something in Yugi’s memory.
“Exactly,” Shark nods, agreeing with the figure. He reaches over and pulls his cape out of Yuma’s grip, throwing it back behind him with a huff. Yuma, not one to be escaped easily, makes a grab for his arm, which Shark neatly sidesteps. “I’ll catch you later. Promise.”
“I’ll hold you to that!” Yuma shouts after him. Then, like a rubber ball, his attention bounces back. He glances up at the new person, wrinkling his nose in thought. “What did you mean, you guys aren’t allowed to acknowledge Jaden?”
“First of all,” they respond dryly, their gaze flicking meaningfully to Yugi. With a jolt, he realizes their eyes are mismatched: one gold, one silver. For a moment, he’s reminded uncomfortably of Dartz. “Aren’t you going to introduce us?”
“Oh! Right!” Yuma turns to Yugi. “You guys have technically already met! Yugi, this is Astral.”
Oh.
They have technically already met. Even though they’ve never spoken, Astral is the reason he and Yuma are friends in the first place. He’d been touring the pro circuit on championship title matches. Yuma was a good duelist, and put up a good fight, but the thing that had really caught Yugi’s attention was the way he talked to himself, like he was holding one half of a conversation the entire duel, occasionally surprising Yugi with traps and strategies that just felt a little. More. That was the only word for it. When you duelled someone, you got to know your opponent. And Yugi had been confident there was more to his opponent than just one person.
So he’d talked to the kid after the match, and he’d been a little shocked at first, but eager to talk about it, had filled Yugi’s brain with more of a story than he’d been prepared for, occasionally tossing in commentary from his partner, who Yugi could neither see nor hear. It wasn’t the most elegant way to hold a conversation, but as someone who had been in Yuma’s position before, he thought he did a good job, playing middle man to Astral’s words.
From those words, Yugi had felt that familiar ache he gets listening to Jaden and Yubel, the flutter of recognition in his long healed scar at the way they spoke. The way Yuma waited a beat too long before he started talking, listening to a voice only he could hear. The way he finished sentences for his other half, then launched into his own without pausing for breath, leaving the person he was talking to unable to parse where one ended and the other began. The way Yuma kept mixing up his pronouns, “I” slipping to “we” and back again, like they were interchangeable terms.
As a consequence, he’d been picturing…
Well, much more of a traditional ghost, to be honest. Someone a little more Atem shaped.
Astral seems to have lost his interest in standing upright. He shifts in air, rearranging until he’s reclining, kicking his feet up. He blinks owlishly, with his too-large eyes.
“A pleasure to finally be able to talk face-to-face.”
Finally, Yugi places why the geometric markings on his skin had seemed familiar. Just barely visible above the collar of his suit, the same lines trace their way faintly up Yuma’s throat. Right. This is Yuma’s partner. Shaking the last dregs of surprise from his head, he says, “You’ve become a lot more visible since I last saw you.”
“Thank you.” Astral nods, like he’s internally crossing something off a checklist, and directs his attention back to Yuma. “As for your question, both Astral and Barian have been unofficially pretending the dark world doesn’t exist for several centuries now. Neither of us was-” He pulls a face. “Particularly fond of the Mad King Brron.”
“That was the guy before Jaden?” Yuma surmises.
“Correct.” Astral agrees. “The dark world is an important one. But for us Astrals, we also thought the entire dimension was very beneath us. I cannot speak to the Barians. Perhaps they simply despised its ruler. But I believe their policy even extended to when Reign-beaux was in power.” Seemingly lost in thought, he twists in air once more, this time leaning back until he almost turns upside down. The motion sets him floating in another direction.
Yuma reaches out and grabs him by the ankle, tugging him back like a wayward balloon. “But that shouldn’t matter now, right?”
“Well, there’s the small matter that Jaden came into the position by killing the previous king.”
Because Astral is still drifting in place, it throws into sharp contrast how much Yuma freezes. His whole body stills like a statue, his face twisting into a brief horror. Astral, oblivious, keeps swaying. Yugi kind of wants to smack him.
Jaden plays a very careful game of keeping his cards practically glued to his chest. Yugi knows more of the story than most, and even then, Jaden only alludes to a lot, and admits to a little less, his trust showing in carefully parceled out outlines of a story. It’s one that can be pieced together, if you don’t mind the puzzle.
Yugi loves puzzles.
But he doesn’t think Yuma’s to that point yet, and Jaden deserves better than the story he guards so carefully being summarized so bluntly.
“It’s dreadful politics,” Astral continues. “We should be trying him in the highest courts, but we can’t sentence him without potentially making an enemy of the dark world. We’re too fragile at the moment to go making enemies, especially for the removal of a tyrant of that caliber.” Yuma’s grip on Astral’s ankle loosens, like he’s finally noticed he’s still holding on. His fingers flit around for a second, forming half baked taps, before he frowns and purposefully tucks his hands at his sides.
“It was self-defense,” Yugi quickly adds, desperate to shake that doubt from Yuma’s expression. It’s an important detail, he thinks. Yuma’s expression softens considerably, and his shoulders unclench.
“Right.” He nods, almost to himself. “Right,” he repeats, and, just like that, his restless motion is back. Yuma rocks in place, bouncing on his feet, and a grin overtakes his face, as he leans conspiratorily to Astral. “And when did that happen?”
He’s doing his best to appear casual, shoving his hands in his pockets. The effect is a little ruined by the fact that he can’t keep still that long, and they’re quickly out of his pockets, drumming on the top of his thighs. That, and his expression betrays him entirely. Astral, picking up on the undercurrent in his partner’s voice, merely raises an eyebrow.
“Why are you interested?”
“He and Yuya have a bet going,” Yugi explains. “On their Jaden theories. Yuma thinks he’s immortal, and Yuya claims he’s a time traveller.” He’ll admit, he’s curious how much longer Jaden can dance around giving the real answer. It’s very entertaining to watch.
“Think about it!” Yuma waves his arms around. Astral dodges his flailing without any effort, merely shifting a millimeter to avoid each gesticulation. “If he knows Alito, he’s probably, like, late roman republic! Or something! I don’t know, I’ll have to ask Trey about it!”
“This is my first time meeting him, actually.” Jaden inserts himself into the conversation with his usual informality, Yubel glued to his side. Yugi startles. He hadn’t even heard them approach. Guiltily, he hopes they haven’t been standing there too long and overheard the previous discussion. “Speaking of,” Jaden continues. “Yuma.” He reaches over and grips the kid by the front of his coat. Then, he starts shaking him by the lapels. “You did not tell me you knew Alito the Barefist.”
“How was I supposed to know you’d care?”
Yubel scoffs. “One of the greatest heroes of our age, and you don’t think we’d care. The only fighter in the history of the colosseum to secure consecutive years of victory without using any weapons. Who took down The Gravedigger in a five minute bout without losing a single limb. Whose epics were recited in eight kingdoms.”
He didn’t know Yubel was fluent in sarcasm.
“Yuma, let me put this in perspective. This is like if you secretly knew Superman and you didn’t mention it.”
Astral’s face suddenly lights up in recognition. “Ah! I know this ‘Superman’. He is a man who fights to protect Earth from galactic threats, similar to The Sparrow.” He rounds on Yuma, levelling a disappointed stare his way. “For shame, Yuma. If you knew The Sparrow, I would expect you to tell me.”
“But you already know The Sparrow!” Yuma protests.
“Oh man, I haven’t thought about The Sparrow in a hot minute,” Jaden muses, temporarily distracted. “I think I read some of that run when I was a kid. Never finished it though. Maybe I should see if I can track down the last couple issues.”
Astral tilts his head. It’s identical to the confused little gesture Yuma makes when he doesn’t understand something, Yugi notes. “Read? ‘The Sparrow’ is a tv show. Quite a good one, if you were inquiring.”
“Oh yeah, I remember hearing it got an adaptation. But it was originally a comic series.” Seeing this doesn’t alleviate the head tilt, Jaden further explains. “The comic run got really popular, so they took the stories and characters and made them into a tv show. Though I hear they made some pretty major changes to the plot, like changing The Sparrow’s backstory, which I feel like kinda defeats the whole premise, like, the point is he’s just a regular kid who only thinks he’s from outer space, the whole tension of the story centers around what’s going to happen when he finally confronts Galaxy Queen and how she’ll react to her nemesis claiming to be her son-”
“On the contrary. I think The Sparrow’s identity as the prince of the cosmos is a driving force of the series, I cannot fathom what could be gained in a narrative where that is not the case. The struggles between the role he was born into and what he feels is just. The conflicting ideals he was raised with versus his time spent on earth and beginning to question the invasion. The renunciation of his ceremonial title and all the resources that go with it even though he has never known a world without the support of his people. What, he is just a normal child in the original? What is the appeal in that?”
“He’s meant to be an everyman! Someone kids are supposed to be able to relate to. Okay, let me see if I can find my old issues, I’ll lend em to you and you let me know how it compares to the tv show-”
“Did you get his signature?” Yugi asks Yubel conversationally, turning away from Jaden and Astral as the two descend into superhero nerd madness. They bare their fangs, grinning like a shark in a dentist’s advert.
“See for yourself.” They show off a slim object he hadn’t even realized they were holding. Leaning closer, he sees it’s a stylus, like the kind for writing on clay or wax. Unlike the ones Yugi is used to, this one is made of bronze. Along the side he can make out carved characters, though it’s in an alphabet he can’t read.
“Cool. Do you do much writing?”
“No.”
They sound very pleased with themself.
“Speaking of costumes,” Jaden’s voice filters back into Yugi’s perception. The Great Sparrow Debate seems to have mostly died down by now, ending in some sort of blood pact for a comic book swap. “Can I ask about it now?”
“Ask about what?”
“What are you wearing?” He pokes an accusing finger. “I thought you didn’t do clothes!”
“Well, for one thing, I am usually intangible.”
“I’ve seen plenty of intangible things wear clothes!”
Astral hums in response. It’s an odd sort of sound, more musical note than utterance. Once again, he shifts midair, this time grabbing one knee and bringing it to his chest as he drifts. “I believed this celebration might be a good chance to experiment. Thus far, the results have been inconclusive.”
“I think it looks very nice,” Yugi says truthfully. The strange garment suits Astral: ephemeral and elegant. It’s hard to tell, but he thinks Astral gives a small smile.
“It does,” Yuma enthusiastically agrees. “I never understood why you didn’t wear clothes anyways.” Rolling his eyes, he dramatically informs the rest of them, “I thought it was just an alien thing. For MONTHS.”
“You never inquired.” Astral shrugs.
“And then! I get here to look for him, and everyone’s wearing robes!”
“It is a part of my role as an emissary.” This doesn’t clarify anything. Yuma keeps giving him the stink eye, so Astral relents and adds on. “It is symbolic. There is no one uniform that summarizes our people accurately, so I do not wear anything. I am meant to be a representative of every Astral, regardless of culture or style.”
Yugi nods. To him, clothing has always been one of the first ways individuality surfaces. It had been one of his first signs of Atem’s presence: shirts showing up in his closet that he didn’t remember buying, waking up with earrings in that he hadn’t fallen asleep wearing. The ways Atem showed up, right at the beginning, had all been quiet murmurs through their wardrobe. Murmurs that only got louder as Atem gained a more defined grip on who he was. Eventually, his friends could tell who was piloting the body just by looking at his shoes.
The thought that Astral had been denied that up until now makes his stomach churn. But Astral clearly doesn’t want to dive into that right now, so Yugi smiles politely, and moves on.
“Everyone here looks fantastic,” he comments, changing the subject. It’s maybe not his most subtle redirect, but considering his friends, they probably won’t notice. With Jaden and Yuma, you could probably drop the conversational equivalent of a nuclear bomb and they’d barely blink. “I can’t even tell who the grooms are, everyone’s so dressed up.”
As expected, Yuma takes to the new topic like a duck in a waterpark. He gestures to the center of the amphitheater, near the stage, where a small cluster of conversation is centered around two looming figures: one gold, one silver. It seems a little obvious, in retrospect.
“The gold one is Sillva, the silver one is Goldd,” Yubel explains. Like Yugi, they seem annoyed by the lack of color coordination.
Jaden seems unbothered by it, but seeing his confusion, he chimes in, “It used to be the other way around. But when they died, Sillva went to Barian, while Goldd went to Astral.”
“During the ceremony," Astral explains. “They will be exchanging rings that go around each other’s left horn, in their original metal and color.”
“Kind of like a human wedding,” Yuma says. Then he thinks about it a bit more, and tacks on, “Well, except for the horn part.”
“Oh? Humans also have these sorts of ceremonies?”
“Astral, you knew that!”
“And yet,” He props his elbow on the top of Yuma’s head and rests his chin in his hand, gazing out over the crowd. “I continue to be amazed by it. In many ways, humans are foolish and strange, but usually in new, exciting ways. It seems bizarre that our species would share this particular frivolous tradition.”
“Not a romantic, huh?” Yugi asks.
Astral sniffs. “Certainly not.”
Yuma rolls his eyes, swatting his partner off his head like he’s a troublesome gnat. “Well I think it’s sweet. Hm? Anyone care about my opinion over here?”
“Of course I care about your opinion.” The fondness in Astral’s tone is unmistakable. Especially as he adds: “Even if it’s wrong.”
“Imagine you love someone so much that you want to announce it to the whole world. Like you love someone so much it makes you want to yell. And then you have a big party about it with little snacks and a big cake.”
“There’s CAKE?” Jaden practically shouts.
“Genuine question, Jaden,” Yugi turns to his friend. “Have you ever been to a single human wedding before?”
“Dude, until I was seventeen, I thought a bachelor was a kind of cheese and ‘fiancee’ was just another word for ‘really good friend’.”
“And no weddings in the dark world?”
“Zilch. Zip. Hence,” Jaden waves a hand, gesturing vaguely to the assembled partygoers, “Why my henchmen had to be married before they could resume work. Though it’s like, twenty eight, on my list of Things To Get Around To Making Legislature For.” His eyes light up. “You guys should help me make the dark world wedding ceremony. I have the power. I could make it something stupid. Like ‘pass a rubber chicken back and forth five times, then turn in a circle’.”
Astral, gods forbid, seems intrigued.
“Or perhaps have the relevant parties play marbles to see who takes the other’s last name.”
“Ooh, I like that. Make it stupid and productive.”
“Absolutely not.” Yugi cuts them off before either one of them can offer another suggestion. Jaden pouts exaggeratedly.
“Why not?”
To him, it’s probably a perfectly valid question. Jaden, when given half the opportunity, always obliviously spits in the eye of convention. He remembers Jaden’s words at the beginning of the evening, the tone of polite bafflement in his voice when he explained Snoww’s appreciation for the “proper way” of doing things.
It’s not like Yugi’s big on upholding tradition. But he does know the power of a ritual. Of marking a moment with something meaningful and profound to sear it into your memory. Sure, it may seem a little silly to others when he scribbles on the back of his hand with permanent marker, or when he refuses to take off the dinky necklace that Téa bought from a museum gift shop and is dented in three places. But he knows the meaning, and the meaning isn't only his to carry alone. That’s what matters.
“Because a ceremony should be important to the people partaking in it,” he eventually settles on, trying to condense his thoughts.
“Are you saying I’m not taking this seriously?”
Yugi doesn’t even answer that. He just stares at him.
“Alright, fine,” Jeden admits. He elbows Astral in the side. “Though I think we should investigate that marble idea. You and me.” Astral hums thoughtfully.
“I have always wanted a second name.”
“Speaking of ceremonies,” Yubel interrupts. “When will this one begin?” They jerk their head in the direction of Jaden’s entourage, which Yugi just now realizes is standing a polite distance away, clearly waiting for their King to notice them. “Because I believe they are trying to usher us to our seats.”
“We should be going as well,” Atral says, already slightly drifting away. “It would not do for me to be late.”
“Wait, Astral, are you actually in the ceremony?”
Astral blinks, staring quizzically at Yuma. “I believe we were just discussing my role as emissary.”
“You didn’t tell me you were going to be doing something!”
“We shall reconvene with you after,” he breezily informs Jaden over his partner’s head. With a flick of his hand, he waves goodbye, and the two of them scamper off towards the stage. Well. Yuma scampers. Astral continues floating along like an austere parade balloon.
“Marbles! Last names! You and me!” Jaden shouts after him, which makes several guests turn their heads. Jaden’s primary henchman practically sprints over, his lipless mouth twisted in a polite grimace as he herds them all back into the main dark world delegation, and then into a section of cordoned off seats. It’s probably best they get settled early, because it takes a minimum of fifteen minutes to get everyone arranged and sat down. Yugi winds up crammed between Jaden and the wizened old demon who drew the teleportation circle. He ends up striking up conversation, and learns the demon’s name is Ceruli, he’s the religious head of the dark world, and talking to him feels a lot like talking to his grandfather.
Then everyone falls into a hush, and light music begins playing from somewhere. A tall figure dressed in gold armour takes the stage, and the silence goes from polite to palpable. Whoever this person is, Yugi’s willing to bet he’s the one in charge of the proceeding. He has the same pearlescent skin and facial markings as Astral, so Yugi’s fairly confident he’s from the same court.
The master of ceremonies clears his throat, and launches into a speech that sounds half government address, half sermon. Yugi manages to catch the broad strokes: a lot of talk about the importance of union, newfound peace between worlds, building connections and breaking down boundaries. It’s not a bad speech.
Jaden, in an amazing show of strength, makes it a whole five minutes in before he starts fidgeting, taking out his deck and running through shuffles as the guy talks. It’s not distracting, just something to keep his hands busy, but even that seems to be testing his restlessness. Yugi feels half tempted to copy him. Especially as the speech drags on, and it becomes clear that other speakers are lining up on the stage.
Shark’s is blessedly shorter. Yugi’s a little surprised how good of a public speaker the kid is. He doesn’t recognize any of the other people who take the stage, and they quickly all dissolve into a single, droning blur.
The actual ceremony itself is interesting. Both grooms appear simultaneously on stage in a burst of light, and the master of ceremonies guides them through rituals that are completely foreign to Yugi. Then, the two exchange the bands Astral was talking about, as well as swapping a card from each other's decks, two traditions Yugi can actually grasp the enormity of. The ceremony ends when both grooms crash towards each other, locking their horns for a moment with huge grins on their faces. The rings make a dull clink! as they meet. The air turns just a little bit thicker, like the feeling right as the teleportation circle was completed. Yugi can feel it in the air: the quiet ozone-crackle acknowledgement of a binding agreement. Then the audience erupts in applause. He thinks he sees Yubel wipe a few tears from their eyes. Even the one on their forehead.
He’s pretty sure Jaden notices too, because he waits a few moments before he pops to his feet, stretching like he’s just escaped a too-cramped box. Even then, he stares at Yubel for a few moments, biting his tongue until they collect themself. The expression on his face is hard to read.
“Don’t just stand there,” Yubel growls. With a claw, they flick away the last drop of moisture from their face. Then they smile, baring their fangs like a punk with a split lip. “Let’s go congratulate the happy couple.”
“More appearances. Hooray.” But Yugi does miss the way Jaden links his arm through theirs, silently offering the shoulder Yubel had teasingly leaned on earlier in the evening. Nor the way Yubel accepts the invitation and lays their head against his.
They make an odd pair. Yugi trails them through the crowd, once again taking advantage of the bubble of space that forms around Yubel thanks to their habit of glaring murder at anyone who so much as breathes near their partner. Now that he’s finally seen Astral, watched the casual way he invades Yuma’s space and fits against his perpetual motion, he can hold it up and compare it to the way Jaden and Yubel stumble against each other like two birds joined at the wing. There’s something wonderfully… mismatched about them. Even as they walk through the guests; two uneven strides made more inelegant by the fact that they are trying to move in tandem. Meanwhile, Yuma and Astral orbit each other as if they were made for nothing else.
Of course, by the time they make it to the grooms, Yubel has shaken most of their messy incoordination, straightening up and falling back into a military stance, all sharp edges and protective glowers as Jaden flounders his way through a congratulations that sounds like he comes up with every single word on the spot.
“By his reputation,” Astral’s voice suddenly speaks behind him. Yugi suppresses the urge to jump. “I assumed The Supreme King would be someone more… Intimidating.”
When he turns, Yugi finds that- Yup. Astral is floating right behind him, his face scant inches from Yugi’s ear. He’s also upside down. Yugi fights to keep his voice quiet as he whispers back.
“His one weakness is any social interaction more formal than a LAN party.”
“More incomprehensible human rituals. Yuma, what is a land party?”
“How should I know?” Yuma shoots back, slipping between the shoulders of guests like a clownfish among sea anemones. The three of them are forced back as more people join the throng surrounding the grooms. Yugi guides them over to one of the crystal sculptures, out of the way of the crowd.
“I’m not that old, am I?” he asks, to no one in particular.
Blessedly, neither Astral or Yuma answer his question.
It takes Jaden some time to extract himself from the conversation and work his way back over to their group. It looks like every demon in his entourage makes some sort of exchange with the newlyweds, which ranges from brief congratulations to one of the lords fully picking both Goldd and Sillva up and shaking them like a dog with a toy. Before Jaden can make his overtures and escape, another wave of colorful, important looking fiends descends, led by Shark, and Jaden is trapped squarely in the middle. He seems to be trying to keep a minimum of three people between himself and the former king, sending repeated looks of “please help me” in their direction. All Yugi can offer him in return is a shrug.
Some socialization will be good for him. Probably.
If not, he has Yubel.
“Let me guess, that’s the court of–” Yugi bites his tongue as he realizes they never answered the mystery of what this place is called. “–This world.” If Astral hears the stumble, he doesn’t acknowledge it.
“Some. While the leader of Astral world made it onto the new council, not every Barian emperor can claim the same. Granted, everyone here pretends to be unaware that even though the twins do not hold a seat, they still hold the popular favor. There.” He points to the figure next to Shark, an icy and severe looking being wearing a similar crown. “The ex-empress Marin. Shark’s sister. Then there is Vector, who was not allowed to run either.”
Yugi squints at the next demon Astral points out, trying to read the same youth in their features that he saw in Shark’s. It’s hard, because they’re a ghost alien that more resembles a gargoyle than a preteen. “He was also too young?”
“Oh, it was not Eliphas’ age restriction that stopped him.”
“He tried to summon an ancient god and destroy the world,” Yuma cheerfully clarifies.
For gods’ sake. It’s a downright epidemic at this point.
“Besides, I don’t think Eliphas can actually tell Shark what to do,” Yuma continues. “He’s just going along with it so he can spend more time on earth. Hey! Jaden!! Over here!” He jumps onto the pedestal of the statue, waving their friend over. Jaden has managed to finally claw his way out of the throng. Not literally, of course, but Yubel looks like they were about thirty seconds out from trying it.
Jaden trudges up, and levels a flat glare at all of them. “I can’t help but notice none of you came to bail me out.”
“Did you have fun?” Yugi asks innocently.
“I had to stop my dragonlord from agreeing to a duel to the death with their dragonlord. What is it with dragon people?”
“They’re a stubborn lot,” Yugi sympathizes. He makes a mental note to do everything in his power to keep Kaiba from learning that “Dragonlord” is a real title one can have.
“How would that even work? A duel to the death?” Yuma asks. “Aren’t they both already dead? Or, you know… all duel spirity?”
Astal sighs. “How do you think Goldd and Sillva ended up here, Yuma? There is a push, there is a pull.” He says that last part like an afterthought, tacking it on the end as if he barely feels it needs to be said, like a rote turn of phrase turned muscle memory. Before Yugi can ask about it though, Jaden butts in with his own curiosity.
“You mentioned there was cake?” he asks, scanning the room once more like he expects a hidden buffet to jump out of hiding. Yuma pats him on the arm in sympathy.
“At human weddings. Sorry to disappoint.”
“You were the one who told me there wouldn’t be any food,” Yugi points out.
“A guy can hope, okay? I mean, what’s the point of life after death if you can’t even eat?”
“It is one of our shortcomings,” Astral concedes. “Some Barians have immigrated to earth partially just because they can consume food while in human form.” He puts a hand to lips, tapping them in thought, and Yugi realizes with a jolt that all of the people that have been pointed out to him as Barians lacked mouths. “And yet, it seems Astrals are still working on embracing that lost art.”
“So do your people photosynthesize?” Yubel asks.
“In a way. Both Astrals and Barians subsist off the cosmic radiation of our galaxy's home stars.”
“I’m almost jealous.”
“Yubel, don’t listen to him. He’s probably never even eaten real food.”
Astral uncurls at Jaden’s comment, drawing himself to his full height in offense. “For your information, I have eaten food before.” He sounds deeply proud of the fact.
“So just to summarize–” Jaden starts counting each item off on his fingers. “–No food, we already did the officially required smalltalk, and I’m pretty sure if you guys try to introduce me to any of your friends it might start an interdimensional incident.”
“That is an adequate list of our current circumstances, yes.”
“I mean, you already met Alito, and that didn’t go too badly–”
“Yuma, I believe I know what the Supreme King is driving at.” Astral crosses his arms, and his voice drops a register or two, authoritative and official, reminding everyone in earshot that he is the emissary of the very world they’re standing on. The very air seems to freeze a little as he speaks. “Jaden Yuki, Supreme King of the Dark World, Wielder Of The Gentle Dark. I challenge you to a game of marbles.”