It had only taken her five minutes to realize that Prince Jean Claude was an idiot. The man was too full of himself, even for her tastes. Nonetheless, he was prosperous, rich, and good looking to boot—all criteria that Mai needed to live a comfortable life. First appearances weren't everything, right? She had decided to give him a chance and see where it went from there.
But now, looking back on it all, she realized that none of that mattered any more.
Because being carried off by a dragon in the middle of the night, with high chances of being eaten later, tended to put things in perspective.
A Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters fanfic written by Kohaku no Hime
. Read it here.
Summary on fanfiction.net:
In which an unusual princess has to deal with dragons, enchantments, and combinations thereof. AU, eventual Polarshipping.
An Alternate Universe Fic where Princess Mai journeys to the city of Hermos to meet with a prospective suitor, prince Jean Claude. She has barely had a chance to settle in when a dragon attacks the castle and carries her off. Her situation becomes even more complicated when she learns the dragon is under a curse, and wants her to help him break it.
The Princess and the Dragon Contains Examples of
- Absurdly Sharp Blade: Jean Claude's sword.
- Adaptation Name Change: Yami Marik is known simply as Ishtar in this universe.
- Alternate Universe Fic: The story takes place in a fantasy world created by the author, though many elements carry over from canon.
- Amnesia Danger: Mai knows about Jou and Ishtar before the events of the story, but due to a spell she has forgotten them both.
- Artifact of Doom: Orichalcum. It enhances a sorcerer's control over magic and can even give magic to someone who didn't originally possess any, but it also corrupts its wielder's soul.
- The Shadow Items note also qualify, although they don't turn people into Shadows indiscriminately and Shadow Magic is not evil in itself.
- Ascended Extra: Jean Claude was a oneshot character in the anime. In this fic, he plays a much bigger role - crown included.
- Bag of Holding: Yugi has two of these, both of which are put to good use.
- Bystander Syndrome: Kaiba has two fully-grown white dragons who obey him implicitly, and could easily obliterate Jean Claude. He flatly refuses to help, however, at least until Jou makes him an offer he can't refuse.
- Card-Carrying Villain: Ishtar.
- Cool Sword:
- Jean Claude has one. It’s a thoroughly impressive weapon, but the circumstances surrounding its making are ones that will make you cringe.
- Bakura has a sword called Dragonsbane, which he attacks Jou with when he kidnaps Mai.
- Curse: Jou is cursed to be a black dragon by Dartz.
- Most of the palace guards in Hermos are placed under a gag spell that prevents them from revealing the truth about their circumstances to anyone without being punished by green lightning. To ensure their silence, the spell is also laid on their sickly princess and her handmaiden, and given the fragility of the princess’s health there is a very real chance she will die if it is triggered.
- Cursed with Awesome: Referenced. Tristan laments the fact that he was not the one turned into a dragon.
- Damsel in Distress: Averted. Mai may be kidnapped by a dragon, and then by a band of thieves, but she is as far from a distressed damsel as it is possible to be and would be insulted if she were referred to as such.
- Disguised in Drag: Twice onscreen. One character in particular apparently makes a habit of this.
- Draconic Humanoid: The form Jou takes every new moon is halfway between his original human form and his cursed one.
- Dragons Prefer Princesses: Well, this particular dragon prefers one particular princess, but the trope still applies.
- Fake Memories: Mai’s memories, as well as those of her family and a few others including her handmaiden, are altered. Because clearly Bad Guys don't want a pesky thing like a memory getting in the way of their plans.
- Faking Amnesia: A certain princess has a memory spell placed on her again when she discovers what's going on, but when it fails to take she thinks fast and feigns innocent, amnesiac bystander.
- Healing Potion: Ryou brews these, but his potions aren't as powerful as the waters of the Healing Spring (see below).
- Healing Spring: Jou discovers one of these while seeking a cure for his sister. Its waters are used several times, saving more than one character's life.
- Involuntary Shapeshifting: Jou is transformed into a dragon, and shifts into a Draconic Humanoid every new moon.
- Magic Staff: Yugi uses one of these frequently, particularly when casting powerful spells.
- Make an Example of Them: Jean Claude LOVES doing this to maintain order this applies particularly to Raphael - who becomes well acquainted with a whip and a nasty potion - and to Alister, whose arms are deliberately broken multiple times. "Ouch" doesn't even come close to covering that particular amount of pain.
- Noodle Incident: Kaiba once made Yami so angry he nearly turned him into a Shadow. Yugi intervened and the Dragon Lord spent a month as a goat instead.
- Original Characters: Several, though they are all in minor roles.
- Rebellious Princess: Mai, so very much.
- Secret Passage: There is a network of hidden tunnels under the castle of Hermos, which end up being incredibly useful - just don't walk down there if you have claustrophobia.
- Seeing Through Another's Eyes: Achieved by use of the Sight-Sharing powder.
- The memory gem Yami gave to Mai also allows one to see the memories of another person.
- Self-Sacrifice Scheme: Marik's plan for getting rid of Ishtar is to sacrifice himself.
- Shout-Out: Aside from the many call-backs to canon, there is this conversation between Mai and Vivian while discussing Jean Claude's suitability.Vivian: Says the woman who, at one point, said no to a suitor because he had greasy hair and a hooked nose.Mai: [sounding annoyed] What, you wanted me to be married to Lord Severus?
- The name of Chapter 37: Dungeons & Dragons.
- Split Personality: Marik, as per canon.
- Superpowered Evil Side: Ishtar note is just as formidable a villain as he was in canon.
- Tongue-Tied: Jou cannot reveal anything specific about his true identity without being attacked by green lightning which causes him unbearable pain.
- A similar spell is laid on a good portion of the palace guards so that they can tell no-one what's going on without causing harm not only to themselves, but the sickly princess.
- The Usurper: For such a minor role, this guy wins the crown for "World's Most Evil Man". Did I say "win"? I meant "violently and cruelly steal EVERYTHING and turn everyone's world upside down to get what he wants."
