Once upon a time, in a kingdom far far away, there lived a kind prince. This prince was known far and wide for three things. His hair was as pure white as a fresh fallen snow and was thought to have magical properties; his eyes were a deep red, almost as red as a demon's were thought to be, but were filled with his love of his people; his kindness was the most known though. Every day, he would go down to the nearby villages and provide food and cloth for the poor children, giving them all that they needed and more, even giving them a house to live in. Every day, he would go around those small villages and give anyone that needed something, that thing. He would provide medicine for the sick, money for the poverties, and compassion to the depressed. But there was one that did not accept anything that the prince gave. She was the musician in the court, a rare beauty seen by few and appreciated by many, and every day she gave to the prince but did not take. She sang beautiful songs and told mystical stories to the prince, enchanting him even more as time went on. Eventually, the prince fell in love with her and asked for her hand. She refused with a kind smile. 'I cannot marry you for our positions are too different.' The prince thought long and hard about it and, one day as he was visiting the homeless children, realized something. He could step down from the throne and let his little sister take control, even if her mindless straightforwardness wasn't all that appealing for court matters. All he needed was to have his sister marry a man who was perfect. Finding that man was not easy, but the prince did it. When he did, his sister agreed to marriage on one condition. The prince was to stay at the castle until he died. The prince readily agreed, thinking only of the musician that still sang for the court, and went to tell his beloved that their positions were the same now so that they could marry. The musician said, without a smile this time. 'Our positions are still far too different, you would not understand. When you have seen the darkness of the world, you will.' The prince had no idea what she meant by the 'darkness' that she spoke of but was eager to learn, so he asked her to show him. She had immediately refused him his request, saying that he had to do it by himself. The prince, having made a promise to his sister, could not leave the palace to find out himself. Eventually, the musician left the court to travel to other places and the prince could not follow. It is said that he still lives in that palace, waiting for his beloved that would not come back.
Shion finished reading the fairy tale and set it on the desk in front of him. It had been two years since the wall had been torn down and the child had grown in both physical and mental strength. The child almost demanded now to be read fairy tales when it was time for bed and Shion, being Shion, did not refuse. Though some of the fairy tales that were found were not always a happy ending. Shion shut the door to the room that he just left and went out to the front room. "Hey Hamlet." Shion said as he smiled down at the tiny rat. Words could not express how lonely Shion has felt for the past couple years but he did not dwell on that feeling. He knew that if Nezumi wanted to be around Shion, he would come back. If you love someone, you can let them go. If they don't come back, they were never yours to begin with. Shion looked outside, watching the rain outside, before going upstairs to his room which had a balcony attached to it. He hesitated before opening the door, the wind immediately blowing through the window and bringing a lot of rain with it, and stepped onto the small balcony. He heard the siren start, the one that told everyone to get inside since it was a huge storm, and smiled at the feeling of déjà vu. How could he not when it was a similar scene from how it all started six years ago? Shion's smile faded, the feeling going away. Only, Nezumi wouldn't appear this time. Shion listened as the siren grew louder and decided to do what he did six years ago. Yell out his frustrations and sadness. It was as good a time as any to decide to do it. It also felt better as he did it, feeling the tension in his body relax. It had been ages since he felt this relaxed, but that relaxation also brought tears since the tension was from him holding those drops of water back. He laid his arms on the rail of the balcony, his head landing on them as he sobbed, tremors going through his body as he tried to stop. He didn't like feeling lonely, he liked it a lot more when he spent cold winter nights in the west district with Nezumi, but who did prefer loneliness over company?
Questions Shion usually refused to think of were now brought to the front of his mind. Where was Nezumi? Was he healthy? Did he have enough food to eat? Did he still collect books and act in plays? Was he sleeping in alleyways where he could get attacked at any moment? Did he find someone else to love? Did he find a woman? Was he kidnapped or raped or was he being abused? Was he… even alive…? Shion felt the little rat tugging on his sleeve. "Not now, Hamlet… Leave me alone for now." The tugging became even more insistent and Shion lifted his head to blurrily look at the rat next to him. His eyes were so blurry that he was beginning to see two rats of different colors. "Not right now, Hamlet." He stopped as the tears cleared from his vision to see that he wasn't seeing things. Hamlet was looking up at him with Cravat. Shion blinked a few times, standing up slowly, as he looked down at the newly appeared rat. He rubbed his eyes; certain he must be having one of those wishful hallucinations. Surely Cravat's appearance didn't mean anything about Nezumi being here. Perhaps Nezumi just sent Cravat to show that he was okay. Or Cravat could be here because Nezumi was de- no more thinking for you, Shion. Shion reached out to pet Cravat, making sure that it was not a wishful hallucination, and his eyes widened when he felt the fur under his hand.
"You miss me?"
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I apologize, the story at the beginning was thought up for something else but I changed my mind… I decided to do it this way since it fit the story more. But the story came from just something random that I decided to do, and it was brought on by Nezumi calling Shion 'your highness'. I know, not very original, but whatever. I felt like doing it this way. It's entertaining, no?
Nightmare