Chapter Text
Yuuri sat at a large wooden bar in the dimly lit inn he came across on his journey. He was served a ‘rustic’ piece of grilled meat and roasted potato, complete with a mug of mead. Sighing at his plate he couldn’t help but wish for a Pork Cutlet Bowl. ‘It’s a long way back to Kingdom Hatsetsu.’ He thought, digging into his tough piece of meat as his stomach growled heavily.
“Swine!” A loud, brutish voice came from behind him. Before Yuuri could turn around, he was spitting out his food as a swift kick met with his back. Quickly he turned back to face the offender, his hand on his sword which remained strapped to his side at all times. He paused when he caught a glimpse of a shorter man, decked out in gleaming white armour, blonde hair falling across his face as his piercing stormy eyes stared into Yuuri’s soul.
“What the hell are you doing in my kingdom, pig?!”
“I-I… You’re The Fairy Knight!” Yuuri exclaimed, excited to meet another expert swordfighter like himself. Another swift kick landed on his gut as the other man closed in on him, gritting his teeth as he nearly growled in his face.
“Do. Not. Call me that. My name is Yuri Plisetsky.”
Yuuri pushed him away at that, reaching for his sword and stopping before completely unsheathing it when he noticed the other knight do the same. “What the hell do you want then, Plisetsky?” he demanded as they glared, daring the other to start the fight.
“You don’t belong here, this is my kingdom. If you think you’re gonna get the golden dragon, you can kiss that dream goodbye, piglet. Go back to that filth you call a kingdom and leave the fight to the professionals.” He ended with a sneer, anger still darkening his eyes.
Yuri didn’t respond for a moment, his heart racing as he felt a bead of sweat trail down his forehead. Taking a deep breath, he sheathed his sword, grabbed his piece of meat with bare hands and swiftly left the inn. The Fairy Knight shouted out a list of obscenities at his back as he made his cowardly retreat.
It had been eight long months since he started his journey to slay the golden dragon. This creature roamed various lands and kingdoms, burning crops and wreaking havoc. The dragon had left many kingdoms in ashes, with Kingdom Hatsetsu barely surviving the beast’s savage attack. Yuuri’s home was still ravaged, standing in ruins, but he managed to heroically fight the beast off before there was nothing left. The dragon had flown north and had made Petersburg Kingdom it’s new playground.
Leaving Hatsetsu was one of the most difficult things he had ever done, but he could not bear to stand in the ruins of his home while at the same time be lauded as a hero. He would not accept praise until the golden dragon met his end.
Many hours later, as dusk began to fall around him, Yuuri became weary from his travels. His horse was dragging on down the dusty road, clopping along at a snail’s pace and Yuuri didn’t have it in him to usher the poor thing on. The heat was sweltering in the barren valley he was daring to cross. ‘ Curse that Fairy Knight. I shouldn’t have let him get to me so easily. I could have prepared for this wasteland instead of just running away.’
Just as they crested another dusty hill, Yuuri was about to call it quits and just sleep out on the open ground when a wonderful sight met his eyes.
Off to the right down the slope of the hill was a small cave embedded within the side of a tall, ruddy-colored cliff. It felt as if it was calling to him and if he were being honest, they really was nowhere else to camp for the night.
Riding up to the entrance, he dismounted his horse and brandished his longsword, holding it tentatively in front of him as he crept into the dark cave. Everything around him went black as the daylight left him at the entrance; feeling forward with a hand into the darkness, he could hear running water, a small waterfall perhaps, down the narrow channel. When he emerged into what he assumed was a large opening, he still couldn’t see his own hand in front of his face.
“Woah!” Yuuri's shout echoed through the cavern as he tripped over something clunky and metal. Turning over to sit and rub at his shin, he reached forward into the dark and his hand closed around a large lantern, now knocked over. Righting the large piece of metal, he felt around in the dark as he attempted to light it. Fishing his handy flint stone and steel from his pocket, Yuuri sparked a light at the tip of the lantern, which caught surprisingly easy with an excited spark.
A soft orange glow filled the cavern, casting long navy shadows against the walls from the rocks and the flickering light. Yuuri sighed in relief as he set the lamp down in front of him. Looking around he finally got a view of the waterfall: a short cascade from what looked like a natural spring protruding in the rock. A small pool collected under it as the run off seeped into another crack in the ground a few feet away.
“Oh my god, I can take a real shower!” He exclaimed to himself as his eyes sparkled from the sight. “It’s been months since I’ve had a decent shower, eh, Maka!” He called towards the exit, where his horse was most likely sleeping in the entrance, too spooked to enter the darkness.
Standing up, he unbuckled his leather sword strap and carefully set his weapon aside. Nearly tearing off his own shirts and pants, throwing them all in a pile on his sword, he kicked off his boots as he stumbled into the stream of water. Yuuri sighed deeply as the feeling of the running water relaxed his muscles and set him at ease.
“Mm, looks like you really needed that,” came a smooth, inviting voice, the sound filling the cavern and ringing in Yuuri’s ears as he froze on the spot.
‘Shit, someone’s in here! My sword!’ Yuuri turned quickly back to his sword and cursed himself for leaving it so far away when he stopped in his tracks and gaped wide-eyed, unsure if he was hallucinating or not.
The most beautiful man he had ever laid eyes on was leaning over a flat rock, head in his hands as he played with his hair absentmindedly, his attention wholly focused on Yuuri under the water.
. Yuuri was dumbfounded. His eyes tore away from the ice blue pair holding him frozen on the spot as he trailed down the man’s body, looking for a pair of legs and only finding a stream of white vapor pouring continuously out of the mouth of the lamp. This wasn’t just a regular man, Yuuri could tell from where he stood that this was some sort of magical being. He stuttered, trying to cover himself, “You-you-you’re a g-g-genie?”
The pale, white man grinned, his piercing blue eyes still pinning Yuuri on the spot. He gave a flirtatious shrug, flipping his silver hair a little as he answered, “Do you even have to ask?”
“H-how?” was all he could manage to say, pointing an unbelieving finger at how the man’s obviously strong and sleek body drifted from his abs to iridescent vapor.
The genie slowly made his way to the young knight; his body floating forward as a pair of legs became present from the vapor, clad in billowing white pants. “Do you have a few hundred years? There’s quite a bit of history to our kind, you know?”
That flirtatious tone would have been bearable had the man not reached out to grab Yuuri’s chin between his thumb and forefinger. The swordsman gasped from the instant feeling of ice over his skin. “Oh! Apologies! I always forget you mortals like being warm all the time.” He backed away only slightly, still crowding in on Yuuri’s space. “You can call me Victor, if you like.” He offered, giving a pointed look back at Yuuri.
“Y-Yuuri… Katsuki.” He suddenly remembered himself and ran to his clothes, slipping on his pants and ruffling his soaked hair with a shirt. Looking back at the iridescent being before him, he simply sat on the ground and held his head in between his hands in disbelief. “How is this real? What even is this?”
Appearing at his side, legs crossed and looking amused, Victor smiled brightly, “You're simply adorable when you're flustered! This is going to be fun!” He cheered, clapping his hands delightedly.
Yuuri jumped in shock from the sudden appearance of Victor at hi side, unable to look away from the breathtaking genie. “What's going to be fun?” He asked, a tinge of fear and excitement in his tone.
“The journey you're going on!”
“How do you know I'm on a journey?”
Victor gave Yuuri a sidelong look, smirking knowingly, “What lone swordsman travels across a barren valley with no goal in mind? Of course you're going on a journey and I am here to aid you on that quest. So, Yuuri, tell me,” the genie reached forward and grabbed Yuuri's hand in his own and cupped his face with the other, immediately sending a chilled tingle all over Yuuri's body, “what is your quest?”
Yuuri stammered, unmoving and in disbelief. This gorgeous magical being had his heart thumping wildly, the cool tingle of his touch set Yuuri on edge, but in an exhilarating way. His pale blue eyes shone brightly, swallowing Yuuri whole with his intense gaze. The only color left on Yuuri were his blushing pink cheeks. Finally he was able to get out, “A g-golden dragon.”
Victor sat upright and beamed a huge smile, clapping happily to himself, “Golden dragons are my favorite! I've slain quite a few in my long existence. This will be great fun!”
Yuuri, now able to think a bit straighter without the touch of the genie, pulled his shirt on and stood up, “This isn't fun . That dragon is killing people. I won't rest until it is vanquished.”
“Oh, suddenly we’re serious.” Victor teased, standing up and crossing his arms, “Very well, down to business. You get three wishes; rules are you can't ask for more wishes, can't bring people back from the dead, can't change someone's free will, and can't make someone fall in love with you,” Victor finished with a raised eyebrow, “with magic, at least.” He grinned.
Yuuri's blush was back in full force. He distracted himself by pulling on his boots, “who says I want you to join me anyway?” Letting his unfounded hubris speak for himself, he instantly regretted the words.
For the first time since he emerged the genie wasn't smiling and the loss of that grin was painful to Yuuri for some reason. “Well, if you don't want me as your genie I'll just go back in the lamp and…wait…some more.” He said morosely, slowly floating back towards his lamp.
Yuuri mentally berated himself. You idiot! A powerful genie offers his help and you act like this! You're better than that! He’s experienced and magical and- and…gorgeous. “Wait!” He called as Victor was already turning back into mist. “Please…join me on my quest to defeat the golden dragon. Be my genie, Victor.”
Victor reappeared in physical form instantly and jumped into Yuuri’s arms, hugging him tightly. “I thought you'd never ask! This is going to be so fun!”
Yuuri's skin tingled with the chill of Victor’s touch but his chest filled with warmth as his heart beat madly. “Now, if we're doing this we're doing it right.” Victor announced, turning to face the cavern and cracking his knuckles. His lower half turned to vapor again as he glided around the dark cave, touching various corners and crevices lightly as he danced from one corner to the next.
Yuuri was entranced by his swift movements more so than the magic. Victor was fit and glowing with an energy Yuuri couldn't comprehend nor tear his eyes away from. When he was done and returned to Yuuri's side the cave was completely transformed. The walls were hung with long thick golden drapes, the floors carpeted in maroon, the waterfall was now cascading into a large bath lined with many soaps, and the flat rock near him was now a lush bed piled high with pillows. Yuuri blinked away a few tears at the extravagance around him. Even Hatsetsu in its prime was never like this.
“Is it not enough?” Victor asked, biting a nail and looking worried at the stunned swordsman.
“No…no, this is absolutely amazing.” He turned towards the genie and bowed deeply, “Thank you, thank you so much. I'll use my other two wishes wisely.”
“Two?” Victor asked, placing a hand on Yuuri's shoulder so he would stand up straight again. “My darling, you still have three. You think I would want to stay the night in a dreary place like that?” He laughed brightly, the sound was music to Yuuri's ears.
Overwhelmed by his luck, his excitement, and his fatigue Yuuri began to cry as he pulled Victor close for a tight hug. The genie smiled softly down at him and hugged him back.
Wordlessly he helped Yuuri bathe and prepare for bed, climbing in with him with the excuse that his lamp would be too cramped after his last hundred years in there. Yuuri didn't deny him, not after all that he had done for him so far.
It took awhile for Yuuri to fall asleep; his heart and thoughts were racing. Why do I feel like this? What's wrong with me? Suddenly, it occurred to him as he clutched his heart, a wide smile on his face. I'm... happy.