To be clear what exactly this is and probably lose half of you that clicked on this thread, the thing I am referring to in question is a fanfiction that crosses over RWBY and the Yugioh Duelists of the Roses video game. I have no idea how this idea originated in my mind nor do I have any idea why it was stuck around in my mind for so long, but it is there. I went about twenty-seven thousand words in on the first version before I looked back and saw that version didn't look too good, so I went back to the beginning to revise. I've had this thing on the Spacebattles creative writing and the Fanfiction site, and I've gotten no one really deciding to criticize it. This disturbs me. I am certain that I have something in here screwed up, but I have no idea what that might be as there is no real feedback, even when I'm asking for it. Figure I might as well try here as a last ditch effort (decision probably partially due to being quite tired as well). Without further ado, I'm going to spend the rest of this post and the next three putting up a direct copy of the Spacebattles version, as it actually has some formatting that will transfer over.
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Stonehenge. Salisbury, England. July 1485. War of the Roses.
A seemingly thirty year old man, armored in plate armor designed reminiscent of the Blue Eyes White Dragon, slowly strode towards the ring of standing stones known as Stonehenge. The ancient structure itself was wreathed in strange energy colored purple and black that was slowly fading, screams of rage echoing out over the surrounding area. The auburn haired, blue eyed individual paused, gazing towards the center of the structure with an incomprehensible look. This man was the one hundred and seven year old Grandmaster of the White Rose Crusaders, Christian Seto Rosenkreuz. His pause was short before he continued approaching another, younger man was heavily leaning against one of the fallen stones of the outer ring of stones.
In contrast to the first’s relatively normal appearance aside from a strange set of armor, this second person had only a simple cuirass and spaulder set of armor with the rest of his appearance being abnormal. Most easily noticed was the slightly wild curtained hair colored a mix of stark white and a near black purple that turned to a rose red at the tips, a color mirrored within the irises of his eyes. The rest of the individual’s appearance seemed normal until it was noticed that his clothing beneath the armor was a white shirt and denim jeans from the late twentieth century rather than the late fifteenth century. This man was the Rose Duelist and the most recent member of the Rose Crusaders, seventeen year old Solomon Roosevelt.
The younger individual had a short coughing fit, covering his mouth with his right hand, as Rosenkreuz entered into a comfortable speaking range. “It is gone, isn’t it?” Solomon asked the leader of the Rose Crusaders in a tired, slightly tense voice as his gaze honed on the specs of blood that newly dotted his hands. “I don’t think I can handle the feedback of another duel.”
“The summoning is undone…” Seto spoke as he glanced towards the center of Stonehenge, with a strange tone to his voice as the earlier look entered his face once more.
The tension within Solomon was erased and he slumped with his back against the fallen stone. ‘
That duel was far too close…’ he thought as he let out the breath he was holding after he asked his question.
‘
Indeed, but we still achieved victory…’ spoke the tired voice of the duel spirit Tactical Warrior within Solomon’s mind. While not currently present upon the physical plane without the usage of a rose card giving the spirit a body at the cost of Solomon’s turning ethereal, the female warrior had been soulbonded with the Rose Duelist and as a result was able to communicate with the duelist mentally. Her original name had long been lost over her many centuries of existence.
‘
That we did…’ Solomon responded, cutting off the beginnings of a small chuckle that may have become uncontrollable. It would be unprofessional to do so in the presence of the leader of the Rose Crusaders. Speaking of, the Rose Duelist noticed the strange expression of Rosenkreuz, and spoke up, “Is something on your mind, Grandmaster?”
Seto kept his gaze silently honed on the center of the structure for a few seconds before speaking, “My family… Legend has it that my family was the only noble line to actually enter into a Pact of Glory with a Card Guardian. But sometime in the past, the pact was broken for reasons that are veiled in the mists of history.”
‘
Pact of Glory?’ Solomon mentally asked, confused as he rose to his feet.
‘
A deal with a Card Guardian to gift immense power to a family line,’ Tactical Warrior responded, surprise evident in her mental voice. ‘
There were rumors of one that had been made, but it has been millennia. Everything known about the line has been forgotten. It seems even the line itself cannot remember why it ended.’
“For generations, our family has searched the world in the hopes of finding the same Card Guardian to revive the Pact and the glory that was once ours,” Rosenkreuz continued. “Since the day I inherited the “Book of M” at Dumkul, I’ve searched far and wide…”
Seto’s gaze became distant, becoming slightly lost in his memories. “Many are the Guardians I’ve awakened, only to return them to their resting place. To date, search for the one true Guardian goes unrewarded. You can’t imagine how excited I was when I’d come to England and learned of the Rose Duelist Legend…”
‘
Guardians
? Plural
?’ Solomon thought alarmed.
‘
Most do not have the same level of power as Manawyddan and his brother,’ the Duel Spirit reassured after seeing where the Rose Duelists line of thought was heading. ‘
None have the same ability to threaten the world as those two brothers with raw power alone without a long buildup.’
Upon hearing this, Solomon relaxed until Tactical Warrior made a slight addendum with the word, ‘
At least, out of the Card Guardians.’
Alarm returned to the Rose Duelist’s mind, but before he could ask the Deck Leader what she meant by that, before he had to refocus his attention upon Rosenkreuz as the grandmaster began to speak once more. “Needless to say, the result was anticlimactic at best…”
‘
He cannot be serious,’ Tactical Warrior spoke within Solomon’s mind, her initial tone incredulous and slowly turning to anger as she continued speaking. ‘
Is that
what he calls the battle that we just fought on because he asked us to
and would have us to die
if we lost?’
Solomon originally felt a minor spike of annoyance, partially amplified by the anger of Tactical Warrior, at Rosenkreuz’s comment, but upon hearing her tirade, his own emotions ebbed. ‘
He was expecting far more than a battle,’ the Rose Duelist responded, attempting to understand the perspective of the Grandmaster.
‘
He still could have chosen his words better,’ Tactical Warrior grumbled, a sentiment Solomon agreed with.
Seto was silent for a few moments, continuing his gaze towards the center of Stonehenge. Shaking himself from his thoughts, he turned to face the Rose Duelist and said, in a slightly heavy tone, “I apologize for dragging you into all of this.”
“I believe you are mistaken in that, Grandmaster. It was not you who had forcibly dragged me back into the past, but instead the Lancastrians. I, in truth, thank you for at least giving me a choice rather than being stuck with fighting for them,” Solomon responded carefully in a respectful tone until ire entered his voice at the thought of having to been forced to side with the Lancastrians. His tone returned to respectful as he continued, “You even promised to return me to my own time after our business was completed, something they never did even after your arrival and offer.”
“I will honor my promise of returning you to your own age,” Rosenkreuz responded in a slightly lighter tone that still betrayed that was slightly off. This became more evident as he continued with, “However, I fear that that is not enough to repay you for your help…”
Rosenkreuz paused as his eyes got a distant look and head unconsciously slightly tilted. ‘
It seems Kisara has something to say to him,’ Tactical Warrior said to Solomon’s confusion.
However, before the Rose Duelist could ask who she was talking about, Seto seemed to be struck by an idea and exclaimed, “Wait!”
‘
I believe you meant to keep that in your mind, Rosenkreuz,’ Solomon commented, careful to make sure the comment was made mentally, to the amusement of Tactical Warrior.
While Solomon was making that mental comment, the Grandmaster of the Rose Crusaders had retrieved a pendant with a violet silk cord from between the layers of his armor. “Here! Take this back with you,” he said, extending the arm holding the pendent.
Receiving it, the Rose Duelist noted that one face of the circular pendant held the sigil of the Yorkists and image upon eight of the Rose Cards, a white rose upon an azure field with a golden center and two crossed single edge swords. A cursory glance at the back led him and his Deck Leader to see an inscription. “Man is born to die, but the Pledge of Roses is born to live throughout all eternity.” A surge of power ran through the Rose Duelist, and a new card, Earthshaker, manifested itself in his mind. ‘
Quite a powerful card…’ Solomon commented.
‘
It is a shame we won’t ever be able to use it,’ Tactical Warrior responded, a slight hint of melancholy lacing her voice. Solomon froze when he heard how the Deck Leader had responded, recalling that being returned to his time would wind up breaking the soulbond between them. Tactical Warrior would return to the spirit world as the transfer back to his time broke the soulbond and both would have their minds become their own once more, but…
“I will continue in my quest to find the one true Guardian,” Seto continued, not noticing Solomon was only partially listening to what he was saying. “Perhaps it is my destiny to fail. But my descendants shall carry on the search. Should you meet such a descendant of mine, show this Rose Pendant. For from this day onward, my family is ever in your debt and will lend whatever support it is within their powers to provide. This I promise as an eternal pledge… a ‘Pledge of Roses’.”
Refocusing around what the Grandmaster was saying, Solomon responded, still mostly distracted, “Thank you. I shall not waste the trust you place in me.”
While Rosenkreuz began preparations for the ritual, Solomon tied the Pledge of Roses pendant around his neck and placed it beneath his armor to prevent damage. ‘
We don’t have much time left,’ Solomon thought, a storm of emotions crossing through his mind, as he walked towards the drawstring burlap bag he stored his belongings since he arrived in the fifteenth century.
‘
No…we don’t,’ Tactical Warrior responded with a similar storm apparent in her tone.
Solomon kneeled down next to where he had left the bag when he arrived, but refrained from performing any other action. ‘
I…really don’t know what to say. I…’ the Rose Duelist thought, trailing off as words refused to come to him.
‘…
knew this would sometime come…but you didn’t prepare for when it would?’ the Duel Spirit completed his thought for him. Solomon gave a simple nod of assent, not trusting himself to speak at the moment. ‘…
I guess that makes two of us…’ Tactical Warrior finished melancholically.
Both were silent for several seconds before Solomon mentally said, ‘…
Can’t really say we will see each other later…’
‘
…even though Duel Spirits are immortal…’the Deck Leader continued.
‘
…we will still be in separate dimensions…’ the Rose Duelist finished, leaving the two in silence once more.
‘
…Thank you...’ Tactical Warrior said, breaking the silence.
‘
I don’t understand…’ Solomon responded, slightly confused.
‘
I know you were in turmoil at the time, but…you still selected me to be your deck leader,’ the Duel Spirit said. ‘
If not for that…I wouldn’t have been a part of this journey.’
‘
Uh, you’re…um, welcome...’ the Rose Duelist responded embarrassed. ‘
But…you really deserve more of the thanks… You were the one who kept me alive…and yelled at me to keep me fighting…’
‘
I prefer to think of them as motivational speeches,’ Tactical Warrior said with a sad bit of laughter.
‘
You and I both know what those really were,’ Solomon responded with a similar mental laugh. ‘
In fact, if we both had simultaneous physical forms, I’m pretty sure you would have slapped me to force me to pull myself together during the duel against Manawyddan.’
‘
May have gone a bit further than a simple slap with how you were acting…’ Tactical Warrior admitted as stoically as she could before both she and Solomon broke down in laughter. The latter focused to keep the outloud vocalizations low to prevent from drawing attention to himself, but had a bit of a difficult time doing so and occasionally his control slipped.
After the laughter finally died down, the two were once more slipped into melancholic silence. Several seconds passed by before Solomon slung his bag over his left shoulder and solemnly thought, ‘
The longer we drag this out, the more it is going to hurt…’
‘…
Indeed…’ Tactical Warrior responded slowly. After a few moments of silence, she continued, ‘
I’m going to miss you, Solomon.’
‘
I’m going to miss you as well, Tac,’ Solomon replied sadly, beginning to walk towards the center of Stonehenge. ‘
The last few months have been… quite an amazing journey…especially with you,’ the Rose Duelist continued, ending on a slightly embarrassed note.
Though however great his embarrassment was, the Duel Spirit’s own embarrassment was far greater and she was barely able to respond with, ‘
S…same…’
The two walked on in embarrassed silence towards the center of the inner ring of standing stones. Passing by Rosenkreuz, Solomon swore he saw a small smirk cross the grandmaster’s face when he looked at the Rose Duelist. However, if Seto had seen anything, he did not mention it. He only said, “Farewell, Rose Duelist.”
“Farewell, Rosenkreuz,” Solomon replied. Nothing more needed to be said between them as Solomon walked to the very center of Stonehenge. In truth, only one more thing needed to be said at all. ‘
Goodbye, Tac…’ Solomon said solemnly.
‘
Goodbye, Solomon…’ Tactical Warrior replied melancholically.
The ritual began. The air was saturated with magic as the power of the Rose Cards flooded the ancient structure. Storm clouds rapidly blanketed the skies over Stonehenge from horizon to horizon, with a massive vortex forming directly above the ring of stones. Inside the structure, a storm of red and white energy formed unaligned rings around the Rose Duelist spinning wildly. Within seconds, the rings shot him up into the center of the vortex, the clouds blocking any view of the structure below soon after entering them. Solomon and Tactical Warrior both relaxed, sorrowfully awaiting for the breaking of the soulbond between them as the ascent continued.
It was then they experienced a sudden stop within the swirling gray of the clouds, nearly causing Solomon’s left hand to let go of the drawstrings of his bag and having it fall into the surrounding void. Both jolted to high alert, with Solomon rehefting the bag over his shoulder, as the same thought simultaneously passing through both their minds. ‘
What is going on?’
A great pressure slowly began to weigh upon them both, growing in strength from second to second. As it grew, Solomon clutched his chest with his empty right hand as he began to have some trouble breathing as he was prevented from getting a full breath from the weight upon his chest. A layered voice echoed in from all directions through the surrounding clouds. “
You both have become...significant annoyances.”
A figure manifested within sight, but attempting to gaze upon it caused severe mental pain that tried to tear at the minds of Solomon and Tactical Warrior and only left only temporary impressions of skeletal body parts interlaced with exposed musculature, golden armor, and an enveloping aura shrouding its surroundings in a consuming darkness. ‘
Nitemare…’ Tactical Warrior mentally whispered, answering Solomon’s barely focused thoughts on the identity of the entity before them.
“
Indeed, monster card,” the Dark God spoke in the same layered voice with greater force that started tearing into the Rose Duelist’s and Duel Spirit’s minds as well. “
Hmph. I should tear out both yours and your duelist’s soul for summoning then instantly sealing my brother. Shredding and recombine them with a few others may result in a...somewhat decent new card to add to my deck as well as serve as proper punishment,” Nitemare commented offhanded as it seemed to reach out with what may have been its hand that seemed to be reaching for the Rose Duelist’s body. Solomon tried to back away in fear, but was completely unable to move. However instead of going for him, what may have been an extended claw slowly stroked along one of the sixteen rings of energy surrounding the duelist, letting forth the sound of reality scraping past its antithesis. “
It would only take a few measly seconds to do so if not for this barrier,” the Card Guardian spoke. “
However, the card is not worth the minute of my time it would take to dismantle the barrier before I could make it.”
Any chance of a speck of hope forming after that last statement was dashed by the Dark God’s next words. “
So...I will instead do this,” Nitemare spoke, facing what may have been a palm towards Solomon and speaking in an incomprehensible language. The sphere formed by the rings of energy hurtled back, dragging the Rose Duelist and the soulbonded Tactical Warrior with it. Solomon only held onto the bag he held due to the sudden acceleration coming with a wave of mental assault that forced his hands into a death grip and caused both the Rose Duelist and Duel Spirit to yell out in pain.
