Behind the Scenes at the Duelling League: Happy Endings

[AndrewRogue]

The crack of a hammer rang throughout the abandoned wing, a repetitious burst of thunder in the empty and forgotten stretch of the arena’s living quarters. Were this taking place in any other part of the labyrinthine extent of the arena, the perpetrator would no doubt be silenced in a swift and harsh manner.
   
Here though, he was free to pound as long as he saw fit.
   
Wiping the sweat from his brow, the young Thomas set the tool aside for a moment, stepping back to observe the fruits of his labors. This was one of his biggest undertakings since he’d been taken and, considering his relative lack of experience, he had to admit a certain amount of pride.

The plant boxes he’d constructed and worked so hard to maintain, while achieving the effect he’d wanted, could hardly be considered complicated or ambitious endeavors. He’d at least had some experience with gardening at Budehuc, and the construction of a wooden box was easy enough after the first several failures.

This though. This was something else entirely.

A sudden yawn overtook the young man, surprising him. Looking at the dull, flickering digital construct on the wall, it wasn’t a surprise. Apparently both lunch and dinner had come and passed since he’d started today.

He laughed uncomfortable, a tired smile spreading over his countenance. Oh well. It wasn’t like he hadn’t missed his fair share of meals back at the castle, trying to hold things together there. He had to admit though, at the moment, he would have almost preferred the mental fatigue. It was surprising how easy everyone back home had made this sort of thing look.

Setting the hammer down alongside his other tools, he lay back, closing his eyes. He still had work he wanted to finish, but a short rest wouldn’t hurt. Ignoring the grumbling of his stomach, as well as the lingering disquiet of the silence around him, his consciousness slowly faded…

***

“Where could he have gone?” Cecile asked herself, walking up and down the deserted halls of the most distant corners of the arena. Thomas had missed both lunch and dinner with the rest of the group and, despite Juan’s half-hearted assurances, she couldn’t help but worry. Even if they were no longer at Budehuc, she still wanted to keep their “castle” safe.

Turning a corner, she started to reconsider her decision to explore this part of the arena – he might have gone off to train with Geddoe or Chris – when something at the end of the hall caught her attention. Her eyes opened wide as she approached, surprised to find something like this all the way down here.

She started to ask herself who could have done something like this, before another sight caught the question in her throat.

The worry and concern gave way to soft smile as she turned on her heel and jogged back down the hall, quietly as she could manage.

***

Thomas rubbed his eyes, stretching as he woke. From the feel of things, he must have done a little more than just nap. Still, he didn’t really feel like waking up yet, turning over and pulling the blankets a bit closer to him…

The young man’s eyes snapped open in surprise as he pushed the blanket back. He certainly didn’t recall having that when he had fallen asleep.

“Good morning, Thomas!” The cheery and enthusiastic voice of Cecile, although not expected, was certainly not unwelcome. It certainly beat a lot of the awakenings he’d gotten in the past. The girl was seated comfortably on his construct, a couple of water bottles and various packaged pastries sitting beside her. The smile of someone who’d spent their entire life waking up at dawn – and enjoying it! – was plastered across her face. “Did you sleep well?”

“I… I suppose, yeah,” he admittedly sheepishly, suddenly feeling a keen sense of embarrassment creeping into his awareness.

“Hungry? Its not home-cooked but, for you, that might be a bit better.”

He could definitely feel a flush striving desperately to prevail over his features, but he pushed it down. His experience as the master of the castle had at least given him the resilience to not get too embarrassed over minor things. “A little bit,” he finally admitted, taking one of the packaged items.

Silence reigned over the two for a long moment as Thomas fumbled with the wrapper, trying to think of a way to explain himself.

The girl finally broke the silence as she looked back over the construct. “I think it is really awesome looking.”

A weak laugh escaped from Thomas as he finally managed to open the package. “I guess. I really think its sort of listing to the left though. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to… well… not sit on it yet.”

Ignoring the warning, the girl pressed on, “So why’re you building a stage?”

Thomas had to work not to laugh. “I’ve just been thinking about home a lot lately. And I remembered how many people came to see Nadir’s shows… even the really awful ones. It always helped take everyone’s minds off of everything. So I thought maybe we could put one of these back areas to work. We don’t even need good actors, we just need people willing to get up there.”

“How long have been you working on it?”

“I’ve…” Thomas fell silent for a moment, thinking. “I don’t actually know. I’ve been coming here more often lately. Maybe a couple weeks?” Thomas patted the smooth planks that made up the floor of the stage. “A long time, either way. I’m starting to think construction is harder than managing a township.”

Fiddling with her own snack, Cecile shrugged, quieting slightly. “Well. To be fair, you had a lot of help with the other. You’ve been doing this all by yourself.”

“Yeah.” Thomas could sense a certain unmistakable air of disappointment around the girl and felt a twinge of guilt. “I’m sorry I didn’t ask any of you to help. I just… I wanted it to be a surprise. It wasn’t just for us. There are a lot of people who need something like this.” Looking at his friend, Thomas realized that there had been something he’d never considered. The support she’d always offered, the unquestioning aid… “Cecile?”

“Hm?”

He shifted, sitting – cautiously – on the stage. “Since you’re here, and the surprise has already been spoiled, do you think you might want to stay and help me finish?” He looked a bit sheepish as he continued, “Even if we can’t have everyone here… well, I think I obviously need some help.”

Cecile smiled. “I’d love to, Thomas.”

[AndrewRogue]

And thus ends a small triplet of stories that I wrote because I just got random inspiration and ran with it. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the result, although there are some individual flubs that I'm a little bummed about. But hey, that's the nature of churning out a piece and posting it with minimal proofreading/revision.

This all started late one night, right around the last booting/ranking topic. I started considering the DL as a fictive entity once more. At some point, I got crossed on the subject of happy endings, and started wondering what it meant to a cast to have people voted or not ranked and how that reflected. And it just came to me like a bolt of lightning. The DL was a place where happy endings were denied. People reached the end of their story and are yanked out to continue fighting here.

BoFV was the logical piece for such a POV, given that it had three main cast members, and the most central one wasn't ranked. Furthermore, the beauty of the ending really demanded it end there. A continuation seems like a drag no matter how I shake it. It also vaguely inspired the idea that the arena is a labyrinthine underground complex. Hotel rooms always struck me as something with the potential t be highly uncomfortable (and have some elements that annoy), thus the idea of the dorm looking like a cheap one.

From there, it naturally occurred to me that, obviously, the DL situation wasn't quite that grim for everyone. Some people got some quite good things out of it (see the second piece. Yuri gets Alice and his memories back, since, knowing how it works, Bad End is default in the Shadow Heart series) and some people... well... their situation only changes a little, leaving them to make of it what they will (third piece).

I think my biggest disappointment is the final piece, since I had a really great groove in mind, but took a couple day break after starting it and lost my groove. It probably needs the biggest revision out of all of them, but hey, that's the nature of the beast.

Which brings me to the next question!

Would people like to see more of this? Obviously it is relatively different from the general tone and perception of the DL, but the response here was fairly positive. Of course, that could be just the fact that this was a random set of pieces in the middle of nowhere, but hey. I need a throwaway project to work on, so... Yeah. Would people be interested in seeing more work in this vein, probably related to the goings-on during the week?

[Bardiche]

I hate fanfiction with burn-blazing passion, but I always love a good read.

As contradicting as it might seem, I do encourage you to post more.

[Yoshiken]

I know I've not posted before, but I know next-to-nothing of BoF and SH. Regardless, I have to say that I've really enjoyed reading these - it just adds to the whole DL atmosphere & the idea behind the DL.
As for the last one, having read the S3 manga, I can comment at least slightly, and I absolutely love it. XD  Thomas' character is pretty much perfect (can't comment on Cecile, who gets a minimal role in the manga), and the idea behind it is just absolutely ideal for the situation. Plus, it could be used well in the DL matches - an acting match between Kuja and Ghaleon needs to happen at some point.

I'd definitely love to see more of this sort of thing, although I can't say I'd like to see them too often - perhaps once a season, if that? I think that if they were written too often, it'd detract from the quality behind it - you said this was inspiration, and that's always gonna be better than something you've forced yourself to write for the sake of having to write something.

[DjinnAndTonic]

I really liked the interaction between Cecile and Thomas in your latest piece. The build-up to that conversation dragged a bit, but I enjoyed reading Thomas' thoughts. It all stays very true-to-character and continues to fill in little bits of information about the setting - your view of the DL 'world'.

I'd like to see more.

The Behind the Scenes aspect is interesting, but if you were to continue it, I know I'd become increasingly anxious about how an actual match would play out in your version of DL reality. It seems like it would be too dark for how I usually view the DL.

Also, I want to see your take on a Boss/Villain living in this weird dystopian DL.

Overall though, I don't think this is something that would make a long series. I'd like to see a few more short pieces that flesh out your world, but the DL concept as a whole doesn't have a central plot. It doesn't want one.

But I really enjoyed what you've written so far. They are like added flavor/color to what you could have simply written as 'I view the DL as a place where...'

They are Kool-Aid. But not Grape Kool-Aid, because that stuff sucks.

-Djinn

[Ultradude]

Hm. I'd like to see more, but don't force it. Write as you're inspired, and don't write if you aren't, and I'll be here to read it when you write it.

I'll second the interest in seeing a villain's point of view, whether it be a sympathetic villain or freaking Kefka.

[Lezard Valeth]

In the beginning, it was coincidence that three particular random events occurred simultaneously in three very different worlds. Lucca Ashtear was unveiling her newest transportation device at the Millenium Fair. Lilka Eleniak was preparing a Teleport Gem for her next destination on Filgaia. And at a celebration party somewhere, Viki sneezed.

The resulting dimensional rift in the time-space continuum brought all three to a small pocket dimension uninhabited by sentient life. Surprised and distraught, the three young women set to work trying to open a portal to their individual homes.

The brilliant mind of Lucca Ashtear led them through the scientific rigor of testing various devices powered by both physical and magical forces. Lilka, though still an apprentice mage, had studied enough to break down the normal processes of magical teleportation and dimensional travel. Viki, eager to help, was in charge of making tea.

After a few attempts at dimensional travel that had only succeeded in transporting items like trees, bicycles, and an abandoned space station to the pocket dimension, the group finally created a stable portal. And to their fortune, the first thing to come falling unceremoniously out of the portal was the revered Lenneth Valkyrie, who was on her way to a time-shifted Midgard in pursuit of a vagrant time-travelling deviant. Some reports of this incident recall that Viki had once again sneezed.

With the help of an all-powerful Creation Goddess who was in hurry, the group began to open multiple portals to all kinds of different realities. While some were not so friendly, quite a few of dimension-displaced victims were quite adventurous. Exploration of the small pocket dimension began. As more and more ammenities became easy to attain, some of ever-expanding group began to grow attached to the world.

Indeed, after returning to their home dimensions for some much-needed world-saving, each of the original founders ended up coming back to the pocket dimension's tranquil atmosphere. A vacation spot of sorts for some, a chance for entrepeneurship for others. It wasn't long before the more battle-minded visitors set up a tournament, using the pocket dimension's multiple portals to invite champions from all across the multi-verse. It ended up being quite a profitable spectator sport.

To this day, Lucca and Lilka (and by honorable mention, Viki) remain the go-to experts on DL Portal Management, though with the enormous amount of technological and magical experts visiting the realm, the system is hardly ever in need of repairs. Many scientists throughout the multi-verse have hailed the DL's engineering department as a bastion of education, and applauded the use of the DL's profits from its Sporting division to fund their research efforts.

Dr. Ashtear proudly stated in a recent interview, "The only thing the organization spends more on than the Transport Research department is the DL Medical division... And when you consider the amount of casualities and creative methods of destroying eachother the Duelists have devised, the focus on White Magic and Cloning technology really becomes a bigger priority."

-Except from "History of the DL" Documentary, Part one


This is kind of how I imagine the DL... A little bit more light-hearted than most, maybe?

This sort of reminds me of Chaos Wars.   Why don't you post this on the fanfic section?