Post by Bakura on Aug 10, 2006 16:06:35 GMT -5
-Chapter Four-
“Controversy of the Young Lady”
“Summon from the mystic circle of the red rose and the white rose; summon the one capable of harnessing the power which had once existed! Return; Oh ye’ legendary rose duelist!” The elderly advisor threw his arms up before the phenomenon, as if delivering a warm welcome before the physically impossible occurrence. Then, with that said and done, the beautiful aura of light shined radiantly, before it slowly but surely began to disperse, revealing the form of a human being.
As the light died down, Shizuka just stood there, shivering from head to toe, her eyes wide and her lips trembling, her mind working as fast as it could to come to a conclusion as to what had just happened. One moment, she was walking on a city street, the next, she was standing in a god-only-knows-where-or-what-it-is environment, with some elderly old man standing before her. Where was she? In what city? In what country? On what continent even? Where was her brother? Where were his friends? What had happened to them? What happened to her? This situation just didn’t make any logical sense!
The man however, had an irresistible grin on his face, but wasn’t even looking directly at her, or so it seemed. Looking away from her, he suddenly smiled and cringed, as an excited teenager would do. “Oh my god!” he cried, “Oh my god! I… I did it! Lady Margaret, if you only you could see it! I actually did it!”
Shizuka just stared at him, still in her same position, the only difference now being that she was blinking slightly.
Strange… This man looked somewhat familiar. Why heck… If he wasn’t dressed up in such an awkward way, he looked kind of like Yuugi’s—
As this realization hit her, and before she could even utter a word, the man suddenly turned away, and from tearing eyes, spoke through a choked-sounding happiness, “At last! We have the means of defeating the evil forces of Rosenkreuz! Praise the lord! We’re saved!” He then shuffled his feet, looking as though he was dancing in some strange way (out of excitement, of course) but then looked out ahead of him, as something came back to his attention. While closing his eyes in a fond form, he slowly turned around and smiled, while scratching the back of his head, “Oh! Silly me! I am so sorry—I forgot that I was in the presence of the invincible Rose Duelist! Allow me to introduce myself!” Still smiling with closed eyes, he offered his hand out in Shizuka’s direction, Shizuka, who was half there and half not, responded by slowly taking in her hand, while not taking her eyes off of him. Shaking her hand firmly and warmly, yet at the same time, in a completely out of control manner, he continued, “My name is Simon McMooran; High Druid and servant of the Lanchester region! Now,” he said opening his eyes, finally taking the time to look at her, “May I be so bold to ask the name in which the rose duelist would like… to be… … spoken… … … …”
Upon seeing and registering the form of the so stated “Rose Duelist” in his mind, Simon stopped dead in his words, and stared at Shizuka in such a manner that increased both her confusion and her fear tenfold…
… …Wh-What in the world…? he thought to himself, completely bewildered by this turn of events This can’t be! The rose duelist… is… a woman?
The two regarded each other with confused, mystified and inquisitive glances, the only exception being that Shizuka’s was met with the slightest hint of terror. Thoughts were circulating her mind, and they were making her dizzy and extremely perplexed.
What in the world was Sugoroku Mutou doing here? With her? In the pinnacle of the meaning of the phrase “the middle of nowhere.” Why was he calling himself Simon? Why was he dressed like that? Had Kaiba-san actually been correct when he had repetitively stated that the old man was senile? Had he at last snapped? Had she? Sure looked like it, and above all—why the hell was he staring at her like that? He knew her, after all, didn’t he? … … Didn’t he?
As the pair continued to stare intently at one another, (each one not taking his or her eyes off the other) when something suddenly interrupted their little… … “reunion.”
Hearing a small haughtily laugh coming from the sidelines, the Sugoroku look-alike suddenly snapped his gaze towards the sound of the chuckle, and saw the shadow of a human being, which had, up until then, been hidden behind the ancient rock formations. “Who’s there!” he commanded, with a small dose of his courage slipping away from his tone almost in an instant. The chuckling suddenly ceased, and a deep, raspy sounding voice made itself completely known.
“Hmm… So this is the power of the almighty Celtic Rose Cards. Perhaps there is some truth to that infamous rumor after all—“ With that, the owner of the silhouette emerged, making Shizuka turn around to face him, and Simon’s eyes to narrow in absolute rage. He faced the both of the them, and continued, his cobalt eyes flashing dangerously with a glint of hidden malice, “—that the red rose cards are capable of time transformation… Fuh—how very interesting…”
Snapping of his ultimately befuddled phase, Simon glared at the figure through infuriated eyes (as if his very presence was an insult to everything he held dear), while Shizuka slowly turned around to look at the second person who had appeared in this strange and whacky place. But when she actually looked at the man before her, her jaw dropped as far as it could go, and the color vanished form her cheeks.
God… Now she knew she was crazy. Crap, she had to have been if she was seeing, not only Yuugi’s grandfather in a perplexing and gaudy costume, but also the last person she would ever expect to see in the exact same situation! Seriously, though, come on—the Seto Kaiba, the icy-eyed, cold-hearted, success intoxicated, constantly hip on the newest fashion-dressed businessman, standing out here in the middle of nowhere, lacking both a computer and a duel disk and (on top of all that) was dressed up like someone out of The Thirteenth Warrior motion picture. It just didn’t sound right! Sure he had issues (she had seen the so-called Blue Eyes White Jet after-all) but this… Sweet Merciful Christ! Why was this happening? (A/N 1)
Then… It hit her; The reason as to why this all of this was going on. Heh, it was so simple! How could she have not thought of it before?
It’s finally happened, she thought to herself. After everything bad that has occurred in my life, after watching my mother suffer constant abuse from my father, after a few years of going progressively blind, after being chased relentlessly by the Rare Hunters, after seeing my brother getting pummeled by Malik’s darker half—I finally suffer a complete psychotic nervous “break-down” and hereby enter American McGee’s version of “Wonderland!”
As Shizuka continued to stare at the man (paling, trembling, and looking as though she would loose her lunch at any moment), Simon McMooran looked up at the Kaiba look alike and tensed up almost instantly. “You!” he snapped, holding his fist out before him as if it were a weapon, “What brings you here!”
Making a move over towards the party, the strange man stated, in a dead-pan tone, “It’s been quite some time since the Battle of Barret—old one…”
Hearing the insult directed at him, as well as having heard the man say it in a sort of condescending tone, Simon trembled violently (whether it was out of fear, or anger—no one would have been able to tell) and growled, “Seto, how dare you—“
He was unable to complete his words, because “Seto” suddenly grabbed him by his neck cuff, and held him above the ground. Staring at him through violent eyes, the Kaiba look alike snapped, “My name… is Rosenkreuz you senile old- git!” Without wasting a single second, Rosenkreuz suddenly launched his foot upward, hurling the poor old man forward as if he were a kick-ball of sorts. Simon cried out as his back collided against one of the vertically-challenged stones, a loud unpleasant cracking sound being heard throughout the area. (A/N 2)
Watching as Simon shivered on the ground, Rosenkreuz beamed proudly, as if he was pleased with the effect of his actions. Then, almost instantly putting the result of his recent actions aside (Simon moaning helplessly on the ground) Rosenkreuz cleared his throat and began, “Anyway, I presume I am standing before the dreaded rose duelist.” Turning around to face the now trembling Shizuka, he continued, “I must admit, that was quite a spectacular show you put on for us when you—”
However, the moment the image of Shizuka reflected through his retinas and was just as quickly processed to his mind, Rosenkreuz stopped in his words, his expression faltering within seconds as he stared at the young woman with a look of uncertainty and then, (having following it rather closely) horror.
That… it… what… how… … … why? The uncertainty of the young woman had brought him lasted for a moment or two, but then, after having regaining his original level of sophistication and principles, he finally reclaimed his original train of thought. Impossible, he thought contemptuously. The wretched warrior…the “chosen” one… the invincible solider chosen by god himself… is a mere “maiden?” Nevertheless, as much as he tried to deny it, despite it all—there she was; Standing there, on holy ground, at this time, holding the rose card… That was solid proof that she was who she was, and whether he liked it or not—the Rose duelist… was a girl.
Even so, however, from where he came from, there were laws that everyone had to abide to, noble, serf and aristocrat alike, and with god as his witness, he would follow them—even in the gravest of circumstances. He had treated everyone else (preferably woman and children, after all, they weren’t real people) like vermin, so why the hell should the Rose Duelist be any different?
Taking this as both his notion and cue, he reached forward and grabbed the girl by the wrist, (Shizuka jumping in response) and began dragging her over towards where he had come from. “Come with me, now,” he demanded, Shizuka being dragged effortlessly from behind.
Finally regaining touch with his physical self, Simon slowly looked up from his crumpled position, just in time to see the evil young man attempt to make off with their trump-card. Jumping up from his original position (after having gradually brought himself up from the nasty blow Rosenkreuz had delivered) he elderly advisor stepped forward, and cried out, “Rosenkreuz—what do you think you are doing!”
Stopping in his tracks and rolling his eyes briefly, Rosenkreuz sucked up his pride and snapped his deadly gaze back towards the Sugoroku-look-alike, making him quarrel in fear. “Mind your manners old man,” he spat viciously, “Why else would I have come here in the first place?”
Hearing this, Simon paled and stiffened. No, he thought, he couldn’t mean— Stammering slightly, Simon croaked out through a clotted sounding voice, “Y-You fiend! What do you think you are suggesting exactly?”
Not believing the stupidity of the elderly old geezer, Rosenkreuz roughly released his hold on Shizuka (who stared out into open space, shaking rather violently) and turned to face Simon. Staring at him with flashing eyes, he sneered relentlessly, “For someone whom dear Prince Henry puts a lot of trust in, you’re most certainly not wise at all, none the less dependable!” (Simon recoiled slightly from those words) “In any case,” he continued, “I have been ordered by King Richard to recruit the Rose Duelist to our forces!”
Hearing this sudden exclamation, Simon (unable to contain himself) suddenly cried out, “Preposterous! What makes you think that the honorable Rose Duelist would even lend an ear to your ridiculous invitation!” Turning around to face Shizuka (who hadn’t even shifted from her previous position in the slightest) he looked at her briefly, then looked back at Rosenkreuz and while pointing at her, exclaimed, happily, “Hah! See! She’s not even listening to you!”
Narrowing his eyes to a seemingly-lethal level, Rosenkreuz bit his lip and thought, Why, son of a bit—
Finding himself loosing the hold of his temper once again, he growled slightly, stepped forward and once again grabbed Shizuka by the arm, having her squeak slightly in response. Regarding her bitterly, he calculated the previous turn of events over in his mind and what he had gained from them so far.
d**nit, at this rate, he would never get the Rose Duelist back to the base, even if she was a woman. For so far, as much as he hated to admit it (power was important in every case and to be without it in any given situation was an absolute dishonor), she was obviously moving over towards the side of Prince Henry, and he could not allow that.
So… That left only one other option for him.
He would refer to the outline of his original plan; He would treat her like an equal. He would get her to listen to him. And how was he to do this? It was really very simple. He would have to show respect. Real respect, for he was sure that even she would know when his ploys were fabricated. After all, she was the Rose Duelist. But… (his eyes narrowed) that didn’t mean he had to be one-hundred percent completely discreet.
Pulling her up against him, he began to explain with his eyes boring deep into her own, “Look, my dear, it doesn’t matter which side you choose. Each side has an even number of cards.” He motioned over towards Simon and explained, “They have eight,” (he motioned back at himself) “—we have eight. There is no advantage of any kind, save for those who happen to be winning this battle…” Shizuka just continued to stare at him, not taking her eyes off him, regarding him with an expression he couldn’t quite register. However, not seemingly to care about it even in the slightest, Rosenkreuz looked back at Simon, and while taunting the old man, stated through an evil-toned yet all the while gleeful sounding voice, “Your poor, sorry, band of fools must have really hit the gutter by resorting to summon her, dear Simon…”
Hearing this, and at that, finally registering the fact that these people were actually referring to her, Shizuka’s eyes suddenly widened. … … … Whaa…? she thought, bluntly to herself.
In the meanwhile, having seen Shizuka’s reaction to Rosenkreuz’s words, Simon cried out, in a desperate attempt, “M-my good si—I mean! My lady; Do not heed the words of this power hungry lunatic!”
In response to the old man’s words, Rosenkreuz’s eyes flashed wickedly, as if something devious was churning in the bowels of his cranium. Finding this to be all to precious, and deciding to toy with the old man for a bit longer, Rosenkreuz put on a pouting expression and began, “Oh, Simon—must you resort to petty name-calling. I’m hurt.” Simon just stood there trembling, knowing very well that Rosenkreuz was playing with him. Slowly licking his upper lip, Rosenkreuz continued shortly afterwards, “In any case,” his eyes narrowed deviously. “If you have “so” much faith in your ally,” (he roughly let go of Shizuka and pushed her forward slightly), “How about you let her decide… Hmmm?”
Simon opened his mouth to protest, but then stopped in the words, registering what Rosenkreuz was telling him.
Darn it all… As much as he hated to admit it, Rosenkreuz was right. He didn’t have the authority, nor the heart to force someone to comply to his wishes. It just wasn’t right. Besides, (he let out a small sigh) the Rose Duelist was a righteous being! He—no, she- would surely pick their side! Then again, the reassured look on Rosenkreuz’s face made him feel somewhat nervous. Glancing nervously at both Shizuka and Rosenkreuz, he began to sweat beneath the velvet of his robes.
Smirking at the effect that his proposal had caused, Rosenkreuz grinned slightly, before he looked back at Shizuka and stated, in what was supposed to be an honest tone, “How about it, my dear? Why should this fool make your decisions for you? Take my advice; think on your feet, and you shall be heavily rewarded!”
Staring at the Kaiba-look alike with wide eyes, and with her knees buckling completely out of control, Shizuka slowly began to open her mouth, looking ready to say something, but Rosenkreuz (ignoring her) abruptly moved away from her, moving towards the area beyond the hill.
Motioning towards the world before them, Rosenkreuz continued on, “King Richard rules over this land and we are his faithful henchmen. We ride under the banner of Crawford, which conveniently enough displays the pattern of a delicate white rose—most suiting for our symbol…” Stopping in his tracks, he glanced back over at Shizuka, he began suavely, “Think if over it you will; join with us and sending you back home will be so much easier—”
Unable to hold his emotions back (not at this point), Simon suddenly shrieked, his hair standing on end, “Don’t do it! I beg of you! For the sake of justice and for all that is sacred in the world—join the Red Rose!”
Rosenkreuz smirked and while leaning against a rock, drawled, “Stand by our side, join the White Rose!”
“Join the Red Rose!”
“The White Rose!”
“No, please! Join the—“
As the two men continued to argue and at that exact moment, Shizuka could not hold her anxiety in any longer. Having opened her mouth about half a minute ago, she finally let out a shrill sounding scream (which had been begging to happen within the past fifteen minutes) which caught both men’s attention. In spite of themselves, both men suddenly grabbed their ears, hearing the effect of the young woman’s built up tension. The cry continued on for a good, full, forty seconds before Shizuka ran completely out of air, causing her to halt in her high-pitched bellow. After which, she just stood there, in her position, not moving a single muscle, the two men directly at her, intently. She blinked. Once… Twice… Three times. No, once more.
And then…
As the two men stared at her oddly (having regarded the girl as if she were insane, just a moment ago), Shizuka’s eyes then rolled into the back of her head, and she fell to the ground in a muddled heap, having fallen out completely cold.
For the longest time, the two men just stared, standing in their spots, not moving and not believing what had taken place had actually just occurred. After a moment or two had passed, the two men slowly looked at each other, watched the other for about a half of a moment, and then looked right back at the girl, trying to think of the most plausible reason of why she just did that.
Still regarding her with total confusion, Simon asked aloud, quietly and unsure of himself, “What… just happened… …?”
Rosenkreuz did not answer, nor did he need too. For while Simon relied on others for enlightenment, he, the honorable general of King Richard’s army, would do no such thing. His mind was working as fast as it could, trying to come to the explanation for all of this. There had to have been some reason as to why this girl had—
Then, as quick as a flash, it came to him.
Slowly narrowing his eyes in a deadly demeanor, he inhaled sharply, and stood his ground for a moment. Then spinning completely around, his cape whirling out behind him, he made his way over towards the area he had come from, yelling out in a harsh-sounding tone, “Come out here this instant, Burst Stream!” His words echoed for a moment, but after the rebound of his cry vanished, the sound of the hooves of horses became evident. Emerging from behind the stone walls, a beautiful dapple-gray silver stallion appeared and obediently came to the side of Rosenkreuz. Grabbing the creature by the withers, murmuring something quietly yet bitterly to himself, he began to mount the beast—
—however…
Seeing the antagonist of his superior’s wishes mount the seemingly glamorous brute, Simon suddenly found himself again and stepped forward towards the eighteen year old warrior. Staring at him, not understanding the intentions of the man before him, he held his hands out before him and asked, “Rosenkreuz! Where do you think you are going?”
Shaking his head slightly, Rosenkreuz muttered in a bitter tone, “I knew you people couldn’t do it right…” Then, snapping his gaze back out toward Simon, he growled through clenched teeth, “You use all that magic—all that energy—all that power to summon the ultimate being—and for what? A worthless little peasant girl who doesn’t know anything about either of our agendas. You blundering fool! How could you have been so d**n dense! I should have known and—” (he suddenly paused in his words, as something came to him) “—why the hell did I waste my time on this?”
Then, not even giving a time to repent (not even in the slightest) his jammed his spurs into the belly of the horse, and bolted off down the hill, leaving Simon alone with the unconscious girl.
Watching as the sin against nature sped away on his mount, the old man just stood there for a moment (not believing the face of his luck) before he suddenly remembered why he was there. He glanced over at the young woman, who hadn’t the faintest idea or comprehension of what was going to happen to her.
Okay… the old man thought to himself. What do I do now?
“Controversy of the Young Lady”
“Summon from the mystic circle of the red rose and the white rose; summon the one capable of harnessing the power which had once existed! Return; Oh ye’ legendary rose duelist!” The elderly advisor threw his arms up before the phenomenon, as if delivering a warm welcome before the physically impossible occurrence. Then, with that said and done, the beautiful aura of light shined radiantly, before it slowly but surely began to disperse, revealing the form of a human being.
As the light died down, Shizuka just stood there, shivering from head to toe, her eyes wide and her lips trembling, her mind working as fast as it could to come to a conclusion as to what had just happened. One moment, she was walking on a city street, the next, she was standing in a god-only-knows-where-or-what-it-is environment, with some elderly old man standing before her. Where was she? In what city? In what country? On what continent even? Where was her brother? Where were his friends? What had happened to them? What happened to her? This situation just didn’t make any logical sense!
The man however, had an irresistible grin on his face, but wasn’t even looking directly at her, or so it seemed. Looking away from her, he suddenly smiled and cringed, as an excited teenager would do. “Oh my god!” he cried, “Oh my god! I… I did it! Lady Margaret, if you only you could see it! I actually did it!”
Shizuka just stared at him, still in her same position, the only difference now being that she was blinking slightly.
Strange… This man looked somewhat familiar. Why heck… If he wasn’t dressed up in such an awkward way, he looked kind of like Yuugi’s—
As this realization hit her, and before she could even utter a word, the man suddenly turned away, and from tearing eyes, spoke through a choked-sounding happiness, “At last! We have the means of defeating the evil forces of Rosenkreuz! Praise the lord! We’re saved!” He then shuffled his feet, looking as though he was dancing in some strange way (out of excitement, of course) but then looked out ahead of him, as something came back to his attention. While closing his eyes in a fond form, he slowly turned around and smiled, while scratching the back of his head, “Oh! Silly me! I am so sorry—I forgot that I was in the presence of the invincible Rose Duelist! Allow me to introduce myself!” Still smiling with closed eyes, he offered his hand out in Shizuka’s direction, Shizuka, who was half there and half not, responded by slowly taking in her hand, while not taking her eyes off of him. Shaking her hand firmly and warmly, yet at the same time, in a completely out of control manner, he continued, “My name is Simon McMooran; High Druid and servant of the Lanchester region! Now,” he said opening his eyes, finally taking the time to look at her, “May I be so bold to ask the name in which the rose duelist would like… to be… … spoken… … … …”
Upon seeing and registering the form of the so stated “Rose Duelist” in his mind, Simon stopped dead in his words, and stared at Shizuka in such a manner that increased both her confusion and her fear tenfold…
… …Wh-What in the world…? he thought to himself, completely bewildered by this turn of events This can’t be! The rose duelist… is… a woman?
The two regarded each other with confused, mystified and inquisitive glances, the only exception being that Shizuka’s was met with the slightest hint of terror. Thoughts were circulating her mind, and they were making her dizzy and extremely perplexed.
What in the world was Sugoroku Mutou doing here? With her? In the pinnacle of the meaning of the phrase “the middle of nowhere.” Why was he calling himself Simon? Why was he dressed like that? Had Kaiba-san actually been correct when he had repetitively stated that the old man was senile? Had he at last snapped? Had she? Sure looked like it, and above all—why the hell was he staring at her like that? He knew her, after all, didn’t he? … … Didn’t he?
As the pair continued to stare intently at one another, (each one not taking his or her eyes off the other) when something suddenly interrupted their little… … “reunion.”
Hearing a small haughtily laugh coming from the sidelines, the Sugoroku look-alike suddenly snapped his gaze towards the sound of the chuckle, and saw the shadow of a human being, which had, up until then, been hidden behind the ancient rock formations. “Who’s there!” he commanded, with a small dose of his courage slipping away from his tone almost in an instant. The chuckling suddenly ceased, and a deep, raspy sounding voice made itself completely known.
“Hmm… So this is the power of the almighty Celtic Rose Cards. Perhaps there is some truth to that infamous rumor after all—“ With that, the owner of the silhouette emerged, making Shizuka turn around to face him, and Simon’s eyes to narrow in absolute rage. He faced the both of the them, and continued, his cobalt eyes flashing dangerously with a glint of hidden malice, “—that the red rose cards are capable of time transformation… Fuh—how very interesting…”
Snapping of his ultimately befuddled phase, Simon glared at the figure through infuriated eyes (as if his very presence was an insult to everything he held dear), while Shizuka slowly turned around to look at the second person who had appeared in this strange and whacky place. But when she actually looked at the man before her, her jaw dropped as far as it could go, and the color vanished form her cheeks.
God… Now she knew she was crazy. Crap, she had to have been if she was seeing, not only Yuugi’s grandfather in a perplexing and gaudy costume, but also the last person she would ever expect to see in the exact same situation! Seriously, though, come on—the Seto Kaiba, the icy-eyed, cold-hearted, success intoxicated, constantly hip on the newest fashion-dressed businessman, standing out here in the middle of nowhere, lacking both a computer and a duel disk and (on top of all that) was dressed up like someone out of The Thirteenth Warrior motion picture. It just didn’t sound right! Sure he had issues (she had seen the so-called Blue Eyes White Jet after-all) but this… Sweet Merciful Christ! Why was this happening? (A/N 1)
Then… It hit her; The reason as to why this all of this was going on. Heh, it was so simple! How could she have not thought of it before?
It’s finally happened, she thought to herself. After everything bad that has occurred in my life, after watching my mother suffer constant abuse from my father, after a few years of going progressively blind, after being chased relentlessly by the Rare Hunters, after seeing my brother getting pummeled by Malik’s darker half—I finally suffer a complete psychotic nervous “break-down” and hereby enter American McGee’s version of “Wonderland!”
As Shizuka continued to stare at the man (paling, trembling, and looking as though she would loose her lunch at any moment), Simon McMooran looked up at the Kaiba look alike and tensed up almost instantly. “You!” he snapped, holding his fist out before him as if it were a weapon, “What brings you here!”
Making a move over towards the party, the strange man stated, in a dead-pan tone, “It’s been quite some time since the Battle of Barret—old one…”
Hearing the insult directed at him, as well as having heard the man say it in a sort of condescending tone, Simon trembled violently (whether it was out of fear, or anger—no one would have been able to tell) and growled, “Seto, how dare you—“
He was unable to complete his words, because “Seto” suddenly grabbed him by his neck cuff, and held him above the ground. Staring at him through violent eyes, the Kaiba look alike snapped, “My name… is Rosenkreuz you senile old- git!” Without wasting a single second, Rosenkreuz suddenly launched his foot upward, hurling the poor old man forward as if he were a kick-ball of sorts. Simon cried out as his back collided against one of the vertically-challenged stones, a loud unpleasant cracking sound being heard throughout the area. (A/N 2)
Watching as Simon shivered on the ground, Rosenkreuz beamed proudly, as if he was pleased with the effect of his actions. Then, almost instantly putting the result of his recent actions aside (Simon moaning helplessly on the ground) Rosenkreuz cleared his throat and began, “Anyway, I presume I am standing before the dreaded rose duelist.” Turning around to face the now trembling Shizuka, he continued, “I must admit, that was quite a spectacular show you put on for us when you—”
However, the moment the image of Shizuka reflected through his retinas and was just as quickly processed to his mind, Rosenkreuz stopped in his words, his expression faltering within seconds as he stared at the young woman with a look of uncertainty and then, (having following it rather closely) horror.
That… it… what… how… … … why? The uncertainty of the young woman had brought him lasted for a moment or two, but then, after having regaining his original level of sophistication and principles, he finally reclaimed his original train of thought. Impossible, he thought contemptuously. The wretched warrior…the “chosen” one… the invincible solider chosen by god himself… is a mere “maiden?” Nevertheless, as much as he tried to deny it, despite it all—there she was; Standing there, on holy ground, at this time, holding the rose card… That was solid proof that she was who she was, and whether he liked it or not—the Rose duelist… was a girl.
Even so, however, from where he came from, there were laws that everyone had to abide to, noble, serf and aristocrat alike, and with god as his witness, he would follow them—even in the gravest of circumstances. He had treated everyone else (preferably woman and children, after all, they weren’t real people) like vermin, so why the hell should the Rose Duelist be any different?
Taking this as both his notion and cue, he reached forward and grabbed the girl by the wrist, (Shizuka jumping in response) and began dragging her over towards where he had come from. “Come with me, now,” he demanded, Shizuka being dragged effortlessly from behind.
Finally regaining touch with his physical self, Simon slowly looked up from his crumpled position, just in time to see the evil young man attempt to make off with their trump-card. Jumping up from his original position (after having gradually brought himself up from the nasty blow Rosenkreuz had delivered) he elderly advisor stepped forward, and cried out, “Rosenkreuz—what do you think you are doing!”
Stopping in his tracks and rolling his eyes briefly, Rosenkreuz sucked up his pride and snapped his deadly gaze back towards the Sugoroku-look-alike, making him quarrel in fear. “Mind your manners old man,” he spat viciously, “Why else would I have come here in the first place?”
Hearing this, Simon paled and stiffened. No, he thought, he couldn’t mean— Stammering slightly, Simon croaked out through a clotted sounding voice, “Y-You fiend! What do you think you are suggesting exactly?”
Not believing the stupidity of the elderly old geezer, Rosenkreuz roughly released his hold on Shizuka (who stared out into open space, shaking rather violently) and turned to face Simon. Staring at him with flashing eyes, he sneered relentlessly, “For someone whom dear Prince Henry puts a lot of trust in, you’re most certainly not wise at all, none the less dependable!” (Simon recoiled slightly from those words) “In any case,” he continued, “I have been ordered by King Richard to recruit the Rose Duelist to our forces!”
Hearing this sudden exclamation, Simon (unable to contain himself) suddenly cried out, “Preposterous! What makes you think that the honorable Rose Duelist would even lend an ear to your ridiculous invitation!” Turning around to face Shizuka (who hadn’t even shifted from her previous position in the slightest) he looked at her briefly, then looked back at Rosenkreuz and while pointing at her, exclaimed, happily, “Hah! See! She’s not even listening to you!”
Narrowing his eyes to a seemingly-lethal level, Rosenkreuz bit his lip and thought, Why, son of a bit—
Finding himself loosing the hold of his temper once again, he growled slightly, stepped forward and once again grabbed Shizuka by the arm, having her squeak slightly in response. Regarding her bitterly, he calculated the previous turn of events over in his mind and what he had gained from them so far.
d**nit, at this rate, he would never get the Rose Duelist back to the base, even if she was a woman. For so far, as much as he hated to admit it (power was important in every case and to be without it in any given situation was an absolute dishonor), she was obviously moving over towards the side of Prince Henry, and he could not allow that.
So… That left only one other option for him.
He would refer to the outline of his original plan; He would treat her like an equal. He would get her to listen to him. And how was he to do this? It was really very simple. He would have to show respect. Real respect, for he was sure that even she would know when his ploys were fabricated. After all, she was the Rose Duelist. But… (his eyes narrowed) that didn’t mean he had to be one-hundred percent completely discreet.
Pulling her up against him, he began to explain with his eyes boring deep into her own, “Look, my dear, it doesn’t matter which side you choose. Each side has an even number of cards.” He motioned over towards Simon and explained, “They have eight,” (he motioned back at himself) “—we have eight. There is no advantage of any kind, save for those who happen to be winning this battle…” Shizuka just continued to stare at him, not taking her eyes off him, regarding him with an expression he couldn’t quite register. However, not seemingly to care about it even in the slightest, Rosenkreuz looked back at Simon, and while taunting the old man, stated through an evil-toned yet all the while gleeful sounding voice, “Your poor, sorry, band of fools must have really hit the gutter by resorting to summon her, dear Simon…”
Hearing this, and at that, finally registering the fact that these people were actually referring to her, Shizuka’s eyes suddenly widened. … … … Whaa…? she thought, bluntly to herself.
In the meanwhile, having seen Shizuka’s reaction to Rosenkreuz’s words, Simon cried out, in a desperate attempt, “M-my good si—I mean! My lady; Do not heed the words of this power hungry lunatic!”
In response to the old man’s words, Rosenkreuz’s eyes flashed wickedly, as if something devious was churning in the bowels of his cranium. Finding this to be all to precious, and deciding to toy with the old man for a bit longer, Rosenkreuz put on a pouting expression and began, “Oh, Simon—must you resort to petty name-calling. I’m hurt.” Simon just stood there trembling, knowing very well that Rosenkreuz was playing with him. Slowly licking his upper lip, Rosenkreuz continued shortly afterwards, “In any case,” his eyes narrowed deviously. “If you have “so” much faith in your ally,” (he roughly let go of Shizuka and pushed her forward slightly), “How about you let her decide… Hmmm?”
Simon opened his mouth to protest, but then stopped in the words, registering what Rosenkreuz was telling him.
Darn it all… As much as he hated to admit it, Rosenkreuz was right. He didn’t have the authority, nor the heart to force someone to comply to his wishes. It just wasn’t right. Besides, (he let out a small sigh) the Rose Duelist was a righteous being! He—no, she- would surely pick their side! Then again, the reassured look on Rosenkreuz’s face made him feel somewhat nervous. Glancing nervously at both Shizuka and Rosenkreuz, he began to sweat beneath the velvet of his robes.
Smirking at the effect that his proposal had caused, Rosenkreuz grinned slightly, before he looked back at Shizuka and stated, in what was supposed to be an honest tone, “How about it, my dear? Why should this fool make your decisions for you? Take my advice; think on your feet, and you shall be heavily rewarded!”
Staring at the Kaiba-look alike with wide eyes, and with her knees buckling completely out of control, Shizuka slowly began to open her mouth, looking ready to say something, but Rosenkreuz (ignoring her) abruptly moved away from her, moving towards the area beyond the hill.
Motioning towards the world before them, Rosenkreuz continued on, “King Richard rules over this land and we are his faithful henchmen. We ride under the banner of Crawford, which conveniently enough displays the pattern of a delicate white rose—most suiting for our symbol…” Stopping in his tracks, he glanced back over at Shizuka, he began suavely, “Think if over it you will; join with us and sending you back home will be so much easier—”
Unable to hold his emotions back (not at this point), Simon suddenly shrieked, his hair standing on end, “Don’t do it! I beg of you! For the sake of justice and for all that is sacred in the world—join the Red Rose!”
Rosenkreuz smirked and while leaning against a rock, drawled, “Stand by our side, join the White Rose!”
“Join the Red Rose!”
“The White Rose!”
“No, please! Join the—“
As the two men continued to argue and at that exact moment, Shizuka could not hold her anxiety in any longer. Having opened her mouth about half a minute ago, she finally let out a shrill sounding scream (which had been begging to happen within the past fifteen minutes) which caught both men’s attention. In spite of themselves, both men suddenly grabbed their ears, hearing the effect of the young woman’s built up tension. The cry continued on for a good, full, forty seconds before Shizuka ran completely out of air, causing her to halt in her high-pitched bellow. After which, she just stood there, in her position, not moving a single muscle, the two men directly at her, intently. She blinked. Once… Twice… Three times. No, once more.
And then…
As the two men stared at her oddly (having regarded the girl as if she were insane, just a moment ago), Shizuka’s eyes then rolled into the back of her head, and she fell to the ground in a muddled heap, having fallen out completely cold.
For the longest time, the two men just stared, standing in their spots, not moving and not believing what had taken place had actually just occurred. After a moment or two had passed, the two men slowly looked at each other, watched the other for about a half of a moment, and then looked right back at the girl, trying to think of the most plausible reason of why she just did that.
Still regarding her with total confusion, Simon asked aloud, quietly and unsure of himself, “What… just happened… …?”
Rosenkreuz did not answer, nor did he need too. For while Simon relied on others for enlightenment, he, the honorable general of King Richard’s army, would do no such thing. His mind was working as fast as it could, trying to come to the explanation for all of this. There had to have been some reason as to why this girl had—
Then, as quick as a flash, it came to him.
Slowly narrowing his eyes in a deadly demeanor, he inhaled sharply, and stood his ground for a moment. Then spinning completely around, his cape whirling out behind him, he made his way over towards the area he had come from, yelling out in a harsh-sounding tone, “Come out here this instant, Burst Stream!” His words echoed for a moment, but after the rebound of his cry vanished, the sound of the hooves of horses became evident. Emerging from behind the stone walls, a beautiful dapple-gray silver stallion appeared and obediently came to the side of Rosenkreuz. Grabbing the creature by the withers, murmuring something quietly yet bitterly to himself, he began to mount the beast—
—however…
Seeing the antagonist of his superior’s wishes mount the seemingly glamorous brute, Simon suddenly found himself again and stepped forward towards the eighteen year old warrior. Staring at him, not understanding the intentions of the man before him, he held his hands out before him and asked, “Rosenkreuz! Where do you think you are going?”
Shaking his head slightly, Rosenkreuz muttered in a bitter tone, “I knew you people couldn’t do it right…” Then, snapping his gaze back out toward Simon, he growled through clenched teeth, “You use all that magic—all that energy—all that power to summon the ultimate being—and for what? A worthless little peasant girl who doesn’t know anything about either of our agendas. You blundering fool! How could you have been so d**n dense! I should have known and—” (he suddenly paused in his words, as something came to him) “—why the hell did I waste my time on this?”
Then, not even giving a time to repent (not even in the slightest) his jammed his spurs into the belly of the horse, and bolted off down the hill, leaving Simon alone with the unconscious girl.
Watching as the sin against nature sped away on his mount, the old man just stood there for a moment (not believing the face of his luck) before he suddenly remembered why he was there. He glanced over at the young woman, who hadn’t the faintest idea or comprehension of what was going to happen to her.
Okay… the old man thought to himself. What do I do now?