higuchimonwips | A Gift For The Master

Title: A Present For The Master

Characters: Skilled White Magician, Skilled Dark Magician, Shou

Word Count: 1,000||Chapter Count: 1/1

Challenges: Diversity Writing, B13, 1,000 words; Collect The Death Duelists; Christmas Advent 2017, day #2, write a fic with only one scene

Notes: Ailbhe means white; Ciardha means black.

Summary: Haou-sama requires a body slave. That means a shopping trip. Not that hard. But this could lead to something more.

His white cloak pulled down over his head and his steps in perfect time with his brother’s, Ailbhe made his way through the slave market, casting glances here and there at the available wares. He hadn’t yet seen anything that would really be suitable, much to his displeasure. He and Ciardha had been assigned to this task and he had no intentions of failing it.

How difficult could it be to select a proper body servant for Haou-sama anyway? Surely one only needed to select someone with the correct number of body parts and some skill in using them, or at least the ability to learn to do so. Perhaps they could get lucky and find someone who had other skills as well.

“Does Haou-sama enjoy music?” He wondered aloud to his brother. It wasn’t something that he’d ever thought about before. They’d spent the month since Haou-sama chose them as part of his Death Duelists fighting and slaying for Super Fusion. If their new master had hobbies aside from that, he didn’t know anything about them.

Ciardha frowned for a moment, the expression only visible because Ailbhe knew his twin so very well. Then he shook his head.

“Not to my knowledge.”

At least that meant he hadn’t missed anything important while serving their master. All in all, he knew little about the strange armored boy on the verge of becoming a man.

Man or monster. Even he, one of those closest to Haou-sama, couldn’t be certain which it would be. Nor could he be fully certain of what he wanted it to be. A true king would be strong, of course, but men and monsters both could be strong.

It would be their lord’s own decision on what he was in the end. Ailbhe knew where he could speculate and where his ability to make decisions ended. He wielded power in battle and his voice could be heard in advising Haou-sama, nothing more and nothing less. Right now, he and Ciardha had the power to choose a servant for their lord, someone who could be trusted closer than any other to him.

The idea of Haou truly trusting anyone amused Ailbhe in all truth. Haou-sama spoke rarely of his life before he’d stepped into the center of demonic beings and declared himself their leader. Rumor had it that he’d fought Brron, the Mad King, and won but if anyone in Haou-sama’s own army knew the truth of that, then they didn’t speak of it where the inner circle could hear it.

Ailbhe returned his gaze to those offerings on sale, kept in cages and cells of various types and sizes, all meant to restrain whatever abilities they had and keep them under control. He could sense the spells used for all of them, even the smallest and most innocuous. Some he recognized, some he didn’t. Some caught at his curiosity for their rarity alone.

One small human – at least they looked human save for their hair – caught his eye. This one curled up tightly in his cell, peeking out now and then with frightened eyes. He contemplated for a few moments before he moved that way, Ciardha remaining in step, quickly seeing what he did.

“Him?” his brother asked, peering down at the clearly terrified boy. This one looked as if he were close in age to Haou-sama, if smaller. He hadn’t ever known any human well enough to be certain of how they aged, but he thought his guess remained true.

“I think so,” Ailbhe agreed. He gestured to the nearest servant. “What can you tell me about this one?”

The servant paged quickly through the notes they carried. It was part of the service to know what the ones for sale here could do or had shown an aptitude for. Some people enjoyed breaking their own slaves, while others preferred ones who’d already been tamed. Ailbhe suspected Haou would take pleasure in training his own property.

“All we’ve noticed is that he refuses to speak, and he carried a duel disk and a deck. He hasn’t dueled, though. The boss didn’t want to risk losing anything.”

Of course. Win or lose, the slave-master would either lose a valued servant or a potential source of profit. Ailbhe considered, exchanging another glance with his brother. Ciardha’s head tilted in a quick nod.

“We serve Haou-sama,” Ailbhe said. “We seek a body servant for him.”

The servant raised one hand quickly, hints of fear flashing in his eyes, then scurried away, returning in moments with the slave-master himself.

“You wish this one for Haou-sama?” The slave-master asked, attention barely scraping across the boy in the cell.

“Yes.” Ailbhe agreed. “We were told he held a deck and duel disc. Does he have any other skills?”

“None we’ve observed, but we haven’t tested him for anything else. I couldn’t ask a fair price with so little known about him,” the slave-master said. Then he considered for a heartbeat or two. “Would Haou-sama truly wish an untrained slave with little known skills?”

Ailbhe and Ciardha nodded in flawless unison. “He can train this one to his own tastes.” Ailbhe took another look, this time noticing the yellow uniform the slave wore. It resembled the red one that Haou-sama wore when he’d first arrived, save for this one being dirty and torn.

Haou will want this one. Though what his eventual use for him might be, Ailbhe could not yet decide.

“Then, I give him to Haou-sama freely,” the slave-master agreed. “If he should need others, I can seek more once I know what would suit him.” He waved a hand toward the servant, who provided the key right away.

Ailbhe could not have been more satisfied. Haou-sama would be content with a trainable slave and the slave himself would be satisfied with his new position, if he behaved himself and obeyed his new master. It would provide him far more safety and security than anything else.

Such a very successful day.

The End

Notes: I haven’t decided yet if this will connect to anything larger as of yet, though it could. Time will tell. And yes, that is Shou.