Three months,
It had taken him and his retainers three months and several frustrated refusals to return to the safety of the castle before they reached this place.
This one just had to be it, He didint think he could convince his party to continue this goose chase another four weeks if it wasint. "Ill MAKE this work." He said pushing past the night market crowd and forcing open a rickety wooden door.
A young man stood at the back of the room. His pale skin reflected heavily by the Neon purple light that stemmed from the cauldron below Him. For someone so hunched over the elongated figure seemed so tall all the same. his red hair fell easily at his shoulders and and yet still had spikes at the top of his head drawn out of his slender face. his green eyes glittered in the light of the couldron like potions ebbing and flowing in the flickering light.
Those green eyes darted like blades across the Room to the young man in the doorway blocking a portion of the searing light that flowed from the bustling alley behind him.
"And who do you think you are?" he said shifting his stance before giving a slight grimace to the light that flowed in behind him.
quickly closing the door, he hadn't realized how long he had been staring at the stranger. "so striking..." but he had a mission and he needed to figure out how to help his people, and bring security back to the land. which is why he came here searching for a Mage...
"It's your lucky day" he said picking up the spoon on his wall and a handful of dried black objects that he promptly dropped into his cauldron; each one made a satisfying plopping noise with the last changing the caldrons light from neon purple to a deep blue color. "But, you'll find I'm no help to you, so you should just keep looking."
They both stood there awhile, the taller man stirring at his cauldron and the smaller man standing akwardly staring at him. The room, if you could call it that. was probably no bigger than a large janitors closet. the far most wall being spread with small tables right up against the wall and a few leading down from the corner of the rightmost wall forming an L. to the left a large bookcase with unkept books clung with dust close to the wall as if it might fall forward. further down the left wall was all matter of bits and bobs, books, chests, tables scrolls and other items bulging outward making the Room seem even smaller than it was.
"Well, I suppose me telling you won't change your mind, so you might as well entertain me and finish explaining what you need a mage for." He said snidely as he placed his spoon back in its hook. he motioned to the chair. "sit there if it helps you feel any more talkative" When those bright green eyes stared at him he couldn't seem to pull away but at the same time he knew that he owed the stranger an explanation as to why he had bothered him.
"I am a Prince" he said shakily as he stepped further into the musty dark room. except for the cauldron and the single sconce on the wall near the door, there was hardly any light and without that cauldron the man would surely be working in the dark. he placed his hand on the back of the comfy looking chair and inspected, it was a nice little spot, close to the door was seemingly the only way to go aside from behind the counters in this small cramped space. its partners were a small round carpet and an even smaller end table with a doiley on top that was sorely in need of cleaning. all the same, the spot seemed cozier than anyplace he had known in the castle he hailed from.
"I've traveled all this way because my family has a rare problem and as I am now of age it is fallen upon My Shoulders to-"
"Yes yes I know who you are" the stranger said picking up a book He skimmed lightly through the pages unfazed by the strangers air of concern and leaned again upon the counters before speaking once more.
"I know exactly which Prince you are and which Kingdom you come from...I know that your blood is cursed. All the same I'm surprised to see made this trek. it looks that you haven't gotten any of the outward disfigurements that your father had." The stranger sliced the boy up-and-down with his green blades making quick work of his small frame and concluding the assessment of his physical form before speaking. "Honestly, I just wanted to see if you would live up to any of the stories that I hear about you and your family in the taverns. But it seems I won't get that much entertainment this evening." He snapped closed the book and set it upon the counter shifting his stance to his feet and stepping forward towards the blonde Prince.
The floor creaked beneath his weight as he leaned over the small figure. "Humor me" He chortled. "whats your rare curse."
Swallowing what sense of embarrassment he had from the stranger's silver tounged words. the prince tried to tear himself from examining his features any further. purple tattoos of tear drops lie right beneath his eyes. "what a beautiful palate of colors." he thought noticing how red, white, purple and green all matched well on his frame. he fully accepted at any moment the stranger could snap at him again, but he wouldn't mind because in he already felt so comfortable there. he looked up at the stranger and poured out his deepest concern. "i am cursed to never find love." hus deep pools of blue water welling up with tears at the corners. the Mages own green eyes widened as he roared with laughter catching himself on his heels and the edge of the counter "love" he grunted between Laughs. the man turned and walked back the short distance to his original spot retrieving the ladle from the wall and rummaging between jars and bowls of items as he spoke. "I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that any old Mage can't remove any old curse any old person comes in with on a whim. But really, what makes you think you'll be any better off having that problem fixed."
"Well...well! as heir to the throne I must marry in order to ascend the throne and I insist that it be for love."
"And what makes you think that youre so unable to find it on your own?" a trail of glowing stones leaped over the red heads shoulder and into the cauldron with startling accuracy as he turned on his heel to Stir once more.
The Prince hissed an exhausted sigh as he leaned back into the cushioned chair laying his arms on the rest's he spoke again.
"I've loved many, or at least I assume so. Ive had many in my life at many different times, none of them felt what I felt or vice versa at the same time. it would seem no matter where the women came from, how intellectual, creative or wise...I can't find a match that works for me."
"I'm sure you know what I'm going to say next, but all reiterate just in case youre so far removed from this world that no one happened to tell you. There are plenty more fish in the sea then the ones youve tasted."
"But fine food is wasted on someone who cannot taste." he exclaimed leaning forward.
The taller man let out a groan tapping his spoon on the edge of the Cauldron and letting his shoulders drop with a sigh. "So, what is it with you...you got some dirty little fixation you can't get anyone into? or maybe you're just too prim and proper to get yourself dirty with anyone who's not your cousin...out with it, What's really wrong with you."
The man nervously ground his fingers into the edge is of the armrests as he looked down at his feet , eyebrows knitted as he let the truth flow from his mouth.
"I have been told. On more occasion's than I can count, that I love too intensely too soon."
"Ive planned weddings after an hour of courting. Crossed boundaries of privacy because i was sure i felt a bond. I try to be modest with my affection, but it would seem that I love just about anyone who is kind to me."
The stranger rolled his eyes and scratched at his collar bone through the strap of his black wife beater shirt. Like everything else in the room, it needed a good wash or better yet to be replaced, he noted several holes that lined the bottom edge. "That hasn't stopped people in your family before" he said with a sigh "why not just marry anyone, seems like you have no reservations against loving randos..."
"And just how" He said scratching rather for furiously at his side burn squinting one eye at him and the other shut. "Do you figure a mage could help you fix that problem?!"
It was more than strange to see anyone of royalty down in these gutters let alone anyone of any much substance. Mages or anyone with magical qualities and their cronies were confined to live in the alleys and slums of most towns, avoiding daylight and general recognition for fear of being confused with a jester or some grandstander. It wasn't always that way, but with the rise of industrialization many people felt magic was a form of entertainment rather than something that could help people in their day-to-day life and how could you blame them with the lack of elderly or even retired aged people to keep record of the past since the great war. Many peoples introduction to magic was through these street acts and such.
"I've heard tales about the mages in this area having the quality to divine and bind someone to their best match I couldn't help but go after it even if it was meager advice. I've exhausted all my other options you have to understand I feel like I've wasted so many hearts."
He looked up longingly at the tall figure whose slits were still bearing down on him with particular distaste. "And so, you think that I'm one of those people who could possibly help you."
A pause swept over the two strangers as he improved his stance and smoothed back his vibrant red hair. "Well, you would be right, but that doesn't mean that I lm into helping the Burgois. Who's to say you find lady and she happens to hate the rest of us mages so much that she begs you to finish wiping us out? I would have signed our death certificate. You have to know that if i do this for you ill nneed you to do something for me...in self preservation of course." A long smile spread across a stranger's face as he returned to the side of the room with the chair and the young man. "You already know what I can do for you Prince Roxas but, what will you do for me."
he was so close now his heart skipped a beat. the red head simply dwarfed the small set up the prince rested on and he wondered, despite how cozy it was how comfortable it might be for such a tall man this squeeze himself into this tiny space day in and day out. "I'll pay you and the slum handsomely. Have it all cleaned up maybe even make it a nice town, you and your friends could live happily here." The stranger's smile widened the shining green flames lept at him from his eye sockets as he continued to speak." I think you know well enough that only saving me wouldn't sate my interests, what can you do on a more evolutionary level...for all of us" he said tipping his spoon as he crossed his arms and rested them on his knees. "Think hard prince, you don't want to upset me do you."
words falter'd at his lips and he wondered just what he could give such a beautiful stranger in return for his help. although he felt the danger in his tone he felt safe. "I'll make you high court wizard" he said firmly. "I'll set you up in my castle and make you one of my advisers, that way you can make sure that your people and never mistreated or overlooked." he said smiling.
The gears stop turning behind the stranger's eyes for a moment. rising to his feet and turning away he pulled the edge of his lip between his index and thumb, thinking. "Tell you what, I know you might not think that I know but there hasn't been a high wizard in the Kingdom since at least two generations before ours. But I feel it could at least be fun." the redhead leaned forward on the edge of the counter closest to the chair. "Now, about this love interest...it won't be cured in one night, but I can prep you here for the rest of my analysis. How's that sound."
"Great" he said clasping his hands together and rising from the chair. "let's get started with whatever it is that needs to be done."
The man snorted a bit before reaching for one small flower bud and throwing it into the pot. Sparks leapt from the cauldron and the color finally settled into a muavey blue. He grabbed a vile in dunked it arm deep into the liquid, lifting it out again filled to the brim. "You'll have to drink this" he smiled. the slime dripped thickly from the bottom of the glass the ragged man held out to him and clung to the fine hairs on his arms.
warily he took the glass and chugged the mixture. it went down hot and thick, yet the taste was sickly sweet.
"yknow, you really should have at least asked my name before hiring me and drinking whatever i handed you." the prince popped up from his glass to find the stranger with his arm perched on the back of the chair looking down at him curiously. his eyes seemed to glow in the darkened corner like backlit emeralds.
A haze flowed over him as he felt his cheeks begin to burn. pleasure swirled within him and rose to the top like heavy cream.
"Its Axel, do me a favor and try not to move out the chair. ill wake you when youre not incapacitated."
the light faded from veiw as he settled deeper into bliss. "this is a really...comfy spot..." he mumbled.