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Title: Soshite Mou Hitori no Boku To Maoh
(Translation: And Also My Other Self and Satan King)
Author: Soshite a.k.a. Keily Shinra
Summary: Postgame. Ari is your average teenage boy stuck in your average love triangle. Well, almost-considering the ones vying for his affections are both Evil Kings. He's also trapped with said Evil Kings in an alternate version of their world with just one tiny difference…
Disclaimer: I do not own 'Boku To Maoh'/'Okage: Shadow King', any of his characters or whatever. I do own the sparse OCs roaming about, however.
WARNING: This fic contains (or will contain) shounen-ai. Don't like it? Then go away! This is also my first Okage fanfic…I'm sorry if everything is weird and twisted and really stupid, so please do not hurt me…
Chapter 1 – The Boy Meets His Other Self
"La la la…I'm a spectacular mother…" sang a beautiful and rather youthful woman, while she cooked dinner for her entire family in the quaint little kitchen of their non-descript home. "I'm a super wife. A great cook…la la di di…" She smiled sweetly to herself as she concealed the simmering meal. At the exact same time, a girl, barely a teenager, skipped in merrily, her strawberry gold pigtails bouncing just as cheerfully as she did.
"Hi, mom!" the girl greeted pleasantly, trying to take a peek at the dinner. Quietly, someone else entered the kitchen, mostly unnoticed by the two women with him. "What's for dinner?" she then inquired, still trying to see the food behind her mother's back.
"Oh, well, that's a secret, Annie." The mother replied, giggling softly.
…As you will see this story starts with an ordinary conversation of an ordinary family. And with the inconspicuous boy who appeared behind his little sister. Unexpected as it may be this unassuming boy is a hero of this peculiar story.
The mother suddenly remembered something as she turned back to lift the lid of one of the pots. She turned to her two children, an expectant and pleading look on her face. "Oh! I forgot the bread." She declared. "Can one of you please get some from the bakery for me? I'd go myself, but I have to watch the pots." She looked at her daughter, Annie.
"Oh, um…I got homework…yeah…homework!" the girl said, hastily. She then turned her gaze onto her elder sibling, making puppy dog eyes at him. He just sighed and nodded ascent, while mumbling something about needing to visit the village. Annie squealed with delight. "That's my responsible older sibling. Well, gotta go. Ch—Uh, I mean…can't keep my homework waiting. See ya!" And she sped off without another word. The boy just shook his head and went about his business, but something on the table caught his eye.
A purple bottle. Where had it come from? He asked his mother why there was a purple bottle on their kitchen table, but the fair woman was too busy in her singing and cooking to lend an ear. The boy sighed and leaned in to have a closer look at it. He gently picked it up and looked at it carefully through the ceiling lights and blinked in slight confusion. There was something inside! He tried to uncork it, but it remained perfectly sealed. He gave the bottle a very perplexed look, frowning a little. Letting out another sigh, he replaced the strange bottle back on the kitchen table and began to leave to pick up the bread, giving the thing a few glances over his shoulder.
And the boy went to the village, passing by his slacker sister who gave mentions of her feminine wiles before running off to meet a boy from the village for a twilight stroll. He talked to his childhood friend Julia for a bit and picked up the bread as he received a lecture about speaking up for himself and how girls loved assertive men. The boy said nothing as he often did and went on his quiet way.
"…You're the type to blend into someone else's shadow." His sister told him as they walked home together, side by side. The cheeky girl grinned insolently at her older brother. "But at least someone sees some good in you. Like Julia. Hee hee hee…"
And so, being teased by his sister Annie, the boy walked home.
"….? Hey…who in the world is that at our door at this time of day?" Annie asked as she pushed the gates open and seeing ahead. She squinted her green eyes slightly. "Two of them look really weird and the other one…" She gasped, a hand coming up near her mouth in a gesture of shock. She ran up the steps, leaving her elder sibling behind with the loaf for pick-up as he went at a more sedated pace.
But he did keep an eye out, because he himself was just as curious as his sister was. The first two that he saw were indeed quite strange. One was a tall man, very muscular and well tanned that had a very peculiar hairstyle that stuck up as if he had been electrocuted. And his pointed ears! And nose! And that square chin! Not to mention that strange suit…
The other man—if he could be called a man for he looked rather feminine—was slender, had much curlier hair that defied gravity just as much as he did. Was he really floating? How did he do it? The stranger was very pale in contrast to his companion, he noticed. And the floating man liked his stripes he saw as he neared. He noticed that the tall man was now wearing a rather disgruntled expression as he talked to Annie about something, which probably involved her shadow as he kept pointing to it.
He finally reached the top and gasped as Annie had. The third member of the little group that stood outside his house—who had been concealed by his comrades—was…He didn't know the word or couldn't remember it. And this other person took notice of him, smiling at first before mirroring his horror. He reached out with his free hand to touch the other's face to see if he were real and vice versa. They pulled their hands back, as if burnt. The other was flesh and blood.
They stared at each other, bright green eyes wide, their mouths set open in shock and surprise. Braving the strangeness again they poked each other in the chest and their prior shock and horror seemed to increase, though the boy swore that the other carried an even larger amount of absolute dismay. They brought a hand up to their faces in the exact same gesture of worry. They gulped and before anyone else was any the wiser, their eyes rolled back and they fell to the ground in a synchronized dead faint.
"You do it."
"Oh, I insist you do it, dear man. Don't tell me you're afraid of nothing, King Stan."
"Grr…who asked you anyways!"
"You're a 'fraidy cat, it's quite plain. Please move along or—"
"—God! You're driving me insane!"
Epros merely smiled in amusement, since the Great Evil King Stan had inadvertedly finished one of his many rhymes. Stan, the poor Evil King that no one really took seriously (even in his true form), was ranting and raving, as was his fashion whenever things didn't go his way. But one must wonder, why were these two together? The answer to this question was really quite simple.
Ari.
The both of them really missed him. Of course, in Stan's case it seemed a lot more serious as he had known the boy the longest as they had been attached since the very first day—in the most literal of senses. Not that the Evil King would be one to admit it, but he really did like his slave, but he had to maintain face in front of everyone. After all, Evil Kings were not supposed to be all mushy and romance-like, but at least they could be possessive. Very possessive.
For Epros, it was more out of necessity that he go see Ari. For one thing, he had known the boy the least out of the entire group as the journey had neared the very end when they had joined forces. So he wanted to get to know him more. Secondly, as Epros was not afraid to express himself—unlike some people—he really did like Ari and wasn't afraid to say so. He enjoyed his company, as short as it had been. The boy was peaceful, quiet and pretty witty when one listened to him. Thirdly, he still needed to study that power within Ari much closer. The boy radiated with an unknown power and he was curious about it.
And lastly, he needed to get away from Linda for a while. As nice as the girl was, she often got on his and everyone else's nerves with her random bouts of song.
So, it was with the urge to bring Ari to their sides did these two Kings bump into each other on their way to Tenel at Madril. Rather childishly did they fight all the way to Tenel, words being thrown here and there and everywhere as they traveled to the exact same destination. And the fighting still continued, much to the great amusement of Epros, the former Phantom Evil King, even though he pretty much just stopped trying and concentrated all his energy on trying to win Ari's attention as they managed to convince the boy into travelling with them once again.
And speaking of Ari, the poor boy looked ready to keel over. It was around four in the morning, the sun had yet to rise and Epros and Stan had pretty much dragged him from bed at the Madril inn. The magician offered an arm to the boy who sleepily took it, going to slumber where he stood with Epros' arm as his pillow.
"It's early yet, the sun hasn't risen. Come Stan, can't we leave? This island starts to feel like a prison." Epros suggested, gesturing to the rather strange ruins about them that was highly known as Traveler's Isle for those who used the stone circles as a means of quick travel. "Ari is tired, we need a place to stay. I'm very sure the new world can wait another day." The Evil King whirled on him, ready to let loose a string of insults, but then caught sight of how tired his slave was. For a few moments, he stood still as an angry statue, but then he relented—if only a little, tiny way.
"I'm positive that there's going to be an inn. What place doesn't have an inn?" Stan stated, crossing his arms. "Come on. Lets get going and then we'll stop to rest. Unlike some people I could name, I'm not a heartless guy and I do take care of my servants." Epros gave him a look that said, 'Yeah, right', but said nothing as he followed the other blond to the newly appeared travelling circle. "Come on! We must explore the new world so that I may conquer all of it!"
Epros didn't even bother to deign that with an answer.
Within a few moments, the three of them stood upon the newest of the stone circles, which was a brown that was almost the same shade of the sleeping boy's hair. Epros waited for the circle to activate as he shifted Ari's position so that he could just hold him in his arms. Stan bristled visibly at this before activating the stone circle with his power. In a shimmering light, they had gone.
Ari really wondered how he always managed to end up in such unfortunate situations.
Not that he found his current circumstances that bad—considering the last few months, this was probably the best few days in his life—but he really, really, really did wonder. It wasn't enough for him to go out against his will to fight Evil Kings, be beaten up on a daily basis and then help rip apart the very man who was keeping the world in a state of classification. It had been pretty nauseating, painful and absolutely dreadful.
But he had to admit, he did have a bit of fun. Just a tiny bit. But there were a lot of things he could have done without—like being forgotten by everyone for one—but the good things definitely outweighed the bad in the end. Like the new friends he gained. He barely had friends before as they kind of ignored him and only noticed him when they deemed it convenient for them. These friends, however, were precious, good to him and pretty weird, but they had been his to call his own despite their quirky personalities and quick exits. Had he had the time to miss any of them he might have missed Stan the most of the entire lot. He had gotten so used to having him around in his shadow that sometimes, randomly during an errand for his mother, he would look to his shadow and call out to him, only to realize he wasn't there anymore.
And that realization had hurt. He supposed that Stan had become a constant he wished he had around more often. And he missed him even more when he went to the fortuneteller's on a whim. On the journey, the girls often went to them to ask about their compatibilities with other men, but Ari himself never bothered with asking, but as he had nothing else to do, he had to ask.
"Your match is…the Evil King Stan. Oh, my god! Get away from me!"
He had laughed. Laughed long and hard. And then he kind of started to cry. It was one of the few times he wished he had stayed invisible and had not returned to the world. It had been really embarrassing when his own little sister had to drag him out of the inn before he started sobbing and really started to make a scene.
Really silly, wasn't it? But it was the truth. He really missed Stan.
So it had been a real surprise for him when he found the Evil King on his doorstep again, panting and sweating as if he had run miles. He had also been cursing profusely as well. Had he run into some trouble? Ari had been worried then, but didn't feel too concerned when Epros came floating by a few moments later looking quite content and relaxed next to Stan. The boy knew that Stan and Epros never got along and had been prone to antagonize the other if Rosalyn wasn't around to already be antagonizing Stan. The thought of their fights always brought him to shake his head and smile in amusement.
"Slave! What's with the dillydallying?" the Shadow Evil King demanded, still huffing a bit. "We've got a new world to explore and conquer! And don't forget…you're still my slave for life!" The boy just stared, as he distinctly remembered being given his freedom after the final fight with Beiloune. The magician rolled his red eyes and stepped forward.
"Ari, a new adventure we'd like to have with you." He said. "And to get to know you better is something I want to do." Good old Epros and his rhyming. Right on cue, Stan started to complain about it, saying it was ridiculous how the former Phantom Evil King couldn't bring himself to speak plainly. He snickered quietly behind his hand as he watched them argue. And argue and argue some more. Before his sides began to split and he couldn't hold in his laughter anymore, he assented to going with them…
And now he was here; aching, sleepy and quite annoyed with them both, especially Stan.
"Stupid Stan." He moaned as he came to. There was light all around, nearly blinding the hassled boy as he woke-up. He rolled onto his side, his cheek rubbing against earth and stone. He reached up with a hand and rubbed his eyes. "Everybody alive?" he asked aloud.
"Oh, joyous day. I do declare. Ari, are you alright? How do you fare?"
"Slave! Don't scare us like that again! I thought you finally toughened up after all that fighting, but it seems I'll have to whip you back into shape since you've obviously become lazy while I was away. And what do you mean by 'stupid Stan'!"
Well, that answered his question.
"Where are we?" Ari asked, sitting up and getting his bearings. Though there was plenty of light for him to see with to help him recognize their area. "What the…? Tenel? That stone circle leads home…?" He looked around a bit more to make sure that he wasn't hallucinating. But the more he looked the more he knew that the place that they had ended up was definitely his home of Tenel…the forest part at least. But something felt vaguely wrong about all of it….
"Well, King Stan you've led us around." Epros began as he carefully helped Ari up. "The destination is Ari's home, as you have found."
"Can't be! The Tenel stone circle is green!" Stan argued. "The one we tried was unused and brown!"
"Nonetheless, the result is quite the same. Your excuses made now are rather quite lame."
"Not half as lame as your rhymes!"
"Well, it takes a lamer to know a lamer—you flamer!"
"AAAAAAARRRRRRGH! You watch your mouth you fake evil being!"
"The only fake evil being here is my sight within. Wasn't that insult given to thee by Rosalyn?"
"What! Don't you dare mention that washbowl woman around me! And all my insults are made by moi! The Great Evil King Stan!"
"Oh, very original, I do applaud. If only I knew that thou weren't such a fraud."
"Why I outta…"
And they continued to argue as Ari made his way away from the two quarrelling men, looking at the place he had always called home. Same old trees, same old paths, same old sky. He had often missed them on his adventure with Stan. He smiled to himself when he remembered how much he missed his cranky and whiny master when he did return to Tenel, already knee deep in chores to keep him busy for the months ahead. He walked ahead, his strolling on memory lane until he could no longer hear Stan and Epros' voices. If they wondered where he had gone, it served them right for not noticing he had left in the first place.
He reached the junction sign and looked at it for memory's sake. Madril, Tenel and the Nameless Dwelling. He frowned. Why on earth was his house known as the Nameless Dwelling? Why was a sign pointing to his house at all? He just shrugged. Life was just weird that way. The teenager soon found his legs taking him towards his home to pay everyone a visit before heading out again with Stan and Epros because after their first failure it was very sure that the Shadow Evil King would want to go and try again. As he neared the gates, someone walked out and bumped into him.
"Ow! Hey, watch where you're—Oh, hey! You got a haircut!" said the boy who walked right into Ari. Due to the bright orange coloured hair, he knew that this was the skinny boy known only to him as Chad. Ari smiled to him warily, only just registering what he had said. Haircut? Where had he been? He hadn't had a haircut in two years. And why was he looking at him like that…?
"Hey, isn't it around the time you go and get the bread at the bakery? Anyway…have you seen Annie anywhere?" he asked. Ari shook his head. "Oh, well. You're looking pretty good with the new haircut. And have you been bodybuilding? You've gotten buff. But it still looks good on you, even if it makes you look more like a guy. Anyways…don't look so gloomy. See you later, Ruka!" And Chad was off in search of Annie, Ari staring after him.
"…Ruka?" Ari said aloud. Why did Chad just call him Ruka…?
And back to where the two Kings were, they fought on still, their words now circling around the boy they had ignored.
"…Ari is my slave! Where do you get off letting him hold onto you like that?"
"If thou remember, the boy had been tired. My advice to you was that we should have retired. I was closest, while you were simply dawdling. So therefore he fell asleep on me, not really an odd thing."
"And you're so chummy! Since when were you so chummy? You barely even know the kid."
"Tis true, a terrible revelation. But to know him now, gives me elation. To rectify the wrong of the short time he had, I'll now make moments to remember, be they be happy or sad. Or maybe be more to him than just a friend, so I'll see this knew adventure through—straight to the end." He stopped, realizing what he had just said, so he turned around to face the boy…only to find him gone. "Oh, where's Ari! Where did he flee?" Stan let out a frustrated growl.
"This is all your fault! You didn't keep track of him! Who knows what sort of trouble my slave will be in?" The Shadow King began to stalk off in search of his wayward slave, calling out his name. Epros followed suite, floating instead of walking.
"Tis your own fault, as you can very well see. Who is the one here that boasts of owning Ari?" the magician asked, sending the Shadow King a very smug look, as the other gave no answer. "A dear treasure the boy is, one of a kind. No other one like him can we be ever able to find." He paused. "And he will be mine." He added as an afterthought, under his breath. Unfortunately for him, Stan still heard and went into another shouting rant.
"Agh! Stupid ex-king! What the hell do you know? I've been with him longer than you anyways and with that brat finally out of his life I have full custody over him! He likes me better than he likes you! He probably try to run away from you!" he yelled. Epros scoffed.
"A tisket, a tasket, a caveat I bring. You really are a fool, Shadow Evil King." Epros deadpanned, feeling annoyed. "You terrorize, you yell, place the blame and shout! Why, I suppose it's out of kindness that from his life Ari hasn't thrown you out! You're dishonest, a liar and a cheat. You make the boy miserable, tell him to kiss your feet—"
"Like you're any better!" Stan interjected. "At least I never outright attacked him! Unlike some floating freaks that I know." Epros glared at him and continued where he left off.
"My warning to you, Shadow Evil King Stan, is that you cherish the boy while you still can. Be kind to him, lay claim on Ari. Do so before he belongs to me."
"Izzat a challenge?" Stan growled out. "Because I don't like to lose. The boy is mine until the day he dies. It was promised the first day we met."
"Oh, what a wonderful prospect," Epros drawled sarcastically, "a positively delightful treat. I'm sure he'll find that fate about as sweet as whole wheat."
"Grrr…whatever. Anyways…there he is." Stan pointed out ahead of them. And there Ari was, standing in contemplation about the strange name that Chad had used on him. He did not even say a word when the two Kings approached him and asked about his well-being and where his mind had went. So deep he was in thought…
…what's the matter with being gloomy anyways? I like being gloomy.
Alright, so he was thinking superficial thoughts. So sue me.
"Slave! What's wrong? You're not moping over nothing, are you?" Stan asked, waving his hand in front of the boy's serious face. He sighed and threw his hands in frustration. "Whatever. I'm tired of all this. Lets just get going to your house then. Maybe your mother could make a sandwich or something…"
"Something's weird." Ari finally said, making both older men to look at him.
"What is it, Ari? Tell Stan and me." Epros asked, beginning to float slowly towards the Nameless Dwelling that his current object of affection called home. Stan followed and Ari began to move along as well while he explained what he meant. It took him a few moments to figure out the words, but soon enough he figured them out.
"I know that the stone circles can send you somewhere, depending on the circle. Like the green one always brought us to the field here in Tenel forest and the new one on Traveler's Isle brought us here, but did you notice that when he got there…there was no stone circle in sight?"
Now that the two Kings thought about it when they had awakened there wasn't any stone circle around. And as far as they knew the stone circles could only work if there were two points to work with. A strange sort of dawning happened to the two as they got to the doorstep of the Nameless Dwelling and were soon accosted by no other girl than Annie. Stan had already received the early pleasure of knowing who she was already, but Epros hadn't so he introduced himself politely.
Ari hadn't said anything to her. He was still thinking about how strange things felt. They felt right, yet somehow different. And he really wondered if the other two felt what he felt…as if he didn't quite fit in. Not that he didn't feel it before, but now that feeling of not belonging was very acute to the point of almost hurting. He looked at the ground thoughtfully, trying to puzzle out this strange feeling when he caught sight of something he thought he would never see.
Annie's shadow.
It was black.
He blinked. When had Stan fixed it…?
"Who are you guys?" Annie asked as Ari raised his eyes to look at her. "Are you guys part of the circus? Did you get left behind, because they've left, like, waaaaaaaay long ago." She said, making the boy feel all the more confused. How could she be acting like this? He was sure that she had met Stan (in his human form) and Epros already, or at least from the day they had decided to go adventuring again when she appeared to send him off with the rest of the family. Annie tilted her head to the side as she gave Stan and Epros an appraising look.
"Who does your make-up? I mean…how much eye shadow can you have?" Annie asked of Epros. She then turned to Stan. "And are those ears real? Cause they look real dorky on you."
"Yes, well, when you grow up you'll become a washbowl woman just like that annoying hero, Rosalyn." Stan said.
"Well, that's rude." The girl stated. "And are you talking about the Great Hero Rosalyn? I thought she was really pretty when she stopped by. And I want to be just like her when I grow up—so don't insult her!"
"You watch it girl! If your shadow wasn't already messed up I'd—"
"Messed up? What are you talking about?"
"Your shadow is—Hey, why isn't it pink?"
"What do you mean? My shadow's never been pink."
"Lies! I turned it pink the day I met you!"
"Met me? We've only just met today!"
That's weird, Ari thought, Annie's met them before, so why is she acting like this…? He shook his head. And she honestly meant every word she said? Including about her shadow. That was bizarre! Annie loved her pink shadow and she wouldn't lie about not having one ever. He tried to listen more carefully to the conversation at hand, but a gasp from the side caught his attention. He turned around and gasped himself. Standing there, face to face with him was his exact double! He leaned closer. Well, not exact. His hair was a lot longer than his—shoulder length to be exact. He reached out to touch his double and he did the same.
Ah!
He was real! Flesh and blood. His mouth was agape and so was his double's. This was…so strange. And yet there was something else just…off. Reaching out again, he poked the other in the chest—as his double did to him—and was very, very, very shocked to find that the other had a very…defined chest. No, he wasn't shocked—he was horrified! This doppelganger, this look-alike, this twin…was a girl! His hand went up in his classic gesture of distress.
Oh, god…what was going on?
It was too much for him to process, considering everything else that had happened to him. The traveling, Chad, Epros and Stan and the weird feeling that he didn't belong in the world. Just too much. He swayed a moment or too as his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fell faint.
