Chapter Text
"I am very glad to see you here, Mr. Katsuki. Thank you for accepting my invitation."
Yuuri stepped into a grand hall. Looking up, the raven-haired man found chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, all made of ice and intricately decorated. The hall was lined with icy blue columns and as far as he could see, there were only a few guards present in the hall. At the far end of the spacious hall, a lady with a golden crown sat on a grand throne. Yuuri bowed respectfully as he approached her, who invited him here.
"I am honoured to be invited, Your Majesty. What may I help you with?"
He raised his head, and what he saw was a beautiful creature. Her silver hair shone like ice crystals under the lights, and with her gentle azure blue eyes, she looked like an elegant fairy that only existed in fairytales. This was his Queen, Queen Piacy, the Queen of Zeronitea. Yuuri was born in the country, but this was his first time to meet the queen in person. He was awestruck and did not know what to speak.
Fortunately, she spoke up again with a soft but commanding voice. "As I have mentioned in the letter, demons are invading our land and I will need your help in our fight against them."
Yuuri’s breath hitched at the mention of the battle. "O-Of course, your Majesty, it is my pleasure to do so; however, I am not sure if I will be of help..." He stammered.
"You are the famous Ice Warrior, Yuuri Katsuki. I have faith in your abilities."
She gave him a reassuring smile, though he was far from being reassured. Despite the fact that the name ‘Yuuri Katsuki’ was well-known, not only within the borders of Zeronitea but around the world as well, he had quite a low self-confidence. Since the age of eighteen, Yuuri had been travelling around the world as a warrior. He had joined various chivalric orders to fight against the demons that appeared all around the world, earning a reputation for performing difficult ice magic and sword fight at the same time; yet in spite of all these, he was never satisfied with it.
It was not enough, Yuuri always told himself. This was hardly anything. His abilities were absolutely nothing when compared to his idol.
“What the hell is this, Piacy?” A harsh voice cut in out of the blue, effectively snapping Yuuri out of his thoughts.
“Yurio, didn’t I tell you to use appropriate words while speaking?” Piacy lightly chastised the newcomer, as if speaking to a close friend. “And didn’t I ask you to come through the front door?”
“I don’t care……wait, what did you call me just now?! What the hell is Yurio?”
“I don’t want to get confused, as there are two Yuri-s here now. It's your new nickname!” Piacy explained calmly. It seemed like she was quite used to dealing with Yuri’s outbursts as she did not appear to be remotely fazed. “Yuuri, let me introduce you to Yuri - Yuri Plisetsky, one of my old friends.”
Yuuri turned around and couldn't help but stare at Yuri Plisetsky as the queen introduced him to the man. His golden blonde locks shone like the sun that lit up the frozen ground, and even though he was shorter, the aggressive aura surrounding him was so intense that Yuuri couldn't help but take a step backwards in fear.
So, he belonged to the race of God then, Yuuri thought as his gaze fell on the pair of black wings sprouting from Yuri’s back. This little angel was flawless, except for one thing -
Why was an angel wearing leopard print clothes?
Yuuri showed confusion and kept staring at Yuri’s clothes, which had caught the angel’s attention.
“Who the hell are you? And what are you doing here?” Yuri demanded angrily, staring at Yuuri as if he had done something wrong.
“…I am Yuuri, Yuuri Katsuki. Nice to meet you-“
“Huh?! We don’t need two Yuri-s here. Go back to your home, wherever the hell it is.”
Yuuri was about to reach out his hand to shake hands with Yuri, but the blond-haired boy huffed and crossed his arms, rejected his genuine greeting right away. Regardless of Yuri’s angelic appearance, Yuuri thought he behaved more like a hedgehog or a furious cat.
“Yurio! You can’t do that to my precious guest!” Piacy scolded, finally getting Yuri to fall silent, but only for a second.
“My name isn’t Yurio! Don’t call me that again!” He exploded, and Yuuri thought he looked like a cat whose tail was stepped on.
“Let’s deal with this later. Anyway, Yuuri and Yurio, I would like you two to fight against the devils that invade the country together, as a team.” Piacy ignored Yuri’s protests and smiled.
“Ha? Are you sure? I can beat them all by myself. I don’t need THIS,” - he jabbed a finger in Yuuri’s direction - “useless human to help me.”
Yuri was practically oozing self-confidence, but Piacy apparently disapproved of his pride. “We are fighting against a powerful enemy, Yurio. No matter how powerful you are, there are limits and you will need help.”
“……” The angry angel fell silent as Piacy got her point across. “But still!” He scowled, yet did not say anything more.
“Umm, may I ask a question, Your Majesty?” Yuuri asked quietly after a moment of awkward silence.
The Queen smiled. “Of course.”
“As you can see, your Majesty, I am a warrior, and Yuri is an angel. We may be able to fight against a large enemy, but there must be a person in the team to take up the defensive or supportive role, like a wizard...”
He trailed off as the image of a wizard who could join their team came to his mind - or rather, the wizard who he wished would be willing to join them, even though the possibility was close to zero.
Almost immediately, he mentally berated himself for being silly, being unrealistic. It was just an imagination, a fantasy, an unreachable dream; there was no way he would be here...
“Ah, please don’t worry! I have invited a very reliable wizard to join you two. He should be arriving soon!” Piacy exclaimed with a radiant smile. Whoever she had invited, it wasn't difficult to see that she must have been quite confident in his abilities.
Yuuri held his breath. “Wait, Piacy, don’t tell me he is-“
“Ah, Yuri! What a surprise it is to see you here as well!”
Before Yuuri could finish his sentence, another voice interrupted him. Turning around, he saw a figure stepping into the hall from the back door - and he could not believe his own eyes.
He wished somebody could tell him that he was just daydreaming, or having hallucination from the lack of sleep he had yesterday.
A tall man in a pink velvet coat walked towards the throne, a genuine smile on his face. His short silver hair shone like the moonlight, his sapphire eyes twinkling with mirth. Yuuri felt as if time has stopped. He did not know what to say, or how to react - he simply stood there, feet rooted to the ground, watching the man becoming closer and closer with each step he took, and remained speechless.
The man he had admired in all these years, the man whom he had always longed to meet, the man who had inspired him to be what he was today, stood in front of him at this precise moment -
It was the legendary ice wizard.
Viktor Nikiforov.