Hello!

Here's the introductory chapter to an angsty Yuuram love story~ Hope you will enjoy it.

- Contains dark themes and a character death. You've been warned. -

Kyou Kara Maou belongs to Takabayashi Tomo. No owning on my part.

~*~o~*~

Life in Death

-Feral Prelude-

He opened his eyes to a brightly lit room. That alone was worrisome. Why was it so bright? He could not recall any possible reasons for it. A sudden thought flickered in his mind.

"Yuuri!" He bolted up and looked around with panic in his eyes. Gisela, who was sitting by his side jumped up from the sudden movement. He ignored her presence however, because his eyes caught sight of another figure on the bed next to him.

"Yuuri…" He whispered, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. Yuuri was tucked securely under his blanket and seemed to be sleeping; his paper pale face looked so calm. A few tears ran down Wolframs' face as he slowly leaned down and hugged his fiancé.

"I'm so sorry… Please, get well soon…" He mumbled into the double-black's hair and kissed his forehead. Unwelcoming coldness greeted his lips with that small touch. A choked sob came from behind him. He blinked in confusion and turned around to face the female healer. Only then did he notice her reddened eyes and tear-stained cheeks. She opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. Then, he heard a muffled yet familiar voice behind the door, the owner of which appeared to be giving orders. A second later a trembling Gunter entered the room, his eyes shadowed by his long lilac tresses. Stone-faced Gwendal came in after him and closed the door quietly. However, after the later caught his younger brother's gaze, he seemed a little surprised. Before any words could be shared between them, Gunter strode to the bed, grabbed Wolframs' shoulders and shook him roughly.

"What is wrong with you? While he's in his quarters, you are the one in charge of His Majesty's security! How could you let that happen?" He yelled into Wolfram's surprised face, purple eyes shining with a mixture of anger and sorrow.

"Gunter!" Gwendal warned.

"Did he mean so little to you?.." A few tears ran down the long-haired males' face and his hands on the blond demon's shoulders started trembling. Wolfram felt torn between shock and utter rage. What right did Gunter have to doubt Yuuri's importance to him? And he said it as though Yuuri had…

Gisela stepped in between the two and gently pushed the older man away from Wolfram, who seemed to be surprised by her action.

"He's… Not yet aware of it, father…" She mumbled and looked away. At that Gunter closed his lips in a thin line and Gwendals' expressionless face seemed to get a little nervous. Wolfram scowled.

"What the hell is wrong with you two?" The young fire demon growled and turned to his brother anxiously.

"Aniue! What's happening? Yuuri's going to be alright, isn't he? Tell me!" He demanded loudly, though his voice was filled with obvious worry. Gwendal did not respond for what seemed like an eternity. He chose to look away instead, making Wolframs' heart skip a beat. Instead of waiting for an answer, the young prince looked at his fiancé with fresh tears gathering in his eyes.

"Yuuri?.." He whispered pathetically and touched the boys' cheek gently. It was so cold. He heard a shuffle of clothes and turned around to see Giselas' teary rifle-green eyes staring into his own emerald ones.

"I'm… I'm sorry, Wolfram… Yuuri… He's dead." She whispered so quietly that Wolfram almost missed it. However, he didn't. He wished that he did though.

All color drained from his face and his eyes widened in shock and disbelief. There was no way that was true. That couldn't be true. It just couldn't. Wolfram lowered his gaze to the bed sheets, blonde strands covering his eyes.

"You seriously fail at being funny…" He growled out and looked up with pure hatred in his eyes. The occupants of the room froze up, dreading what was going to come next.

"Yuuri, the Great King of Demons that surpassed Shinou himself, is dead?.. The same Yuuri, who completely destroyed the Originators and managed to make humans our allies?.. The Yuuri, who has the strongest magic in all Demon Kingdom? The one, who captured so many hearts and managed to get himself out of so many pinch situations? He is dead? You want me to believe he died, just like that?" His voice rose with every sentence as he stood up on the bed, trembling in rage. The blond demon took a sharp intake of air.

"He can't be dead! He's too much of a wimp to die!" With that, Wolfram turned to the figure on the bed and his rage was suddenly shadowed with distress. With tightly clenched fists he kneeled next to the pale boy and looked at him intensely. Indeed, he was not breathing. Wolfram laid his head on the others' chest and prayed he would hear something, anything. It was quiet. His heart didn't beat. The sudden apprehension fell heavily on his shoulders – they were not lying. Yuuri was dead. Yuuri was dead.

Wolfram clenched his teeth as tears started streaming down his cheeks and falling on the blanket that covered the figure under him. How could Yuuri die? How dare he? He had a daughter, a fiancé and a whole country to rule over, for Shinou's sake! How could he just leave all that behind? That's right... He couldn't. Wolfram swore to protect him – he couldn't just let his king die. Yuuri had to come back to life. He must!

"Wake up, you stupid wimp! Wake up!" The blond demon clenched his fists tighter and slammed them on Yuuri's chest. Weakly the first time, then once again, stronger with each hit. It was all his fault… He failed to protect the one he truly cared for. His world seemed to slip from under his feet.

"Don't you dare leave me and Greta alone… We love you… So please…" His voice was merely a whisper. After the fourth time of landing his fists on the chest he felt a strong grip on his wrists that prevented their movements. With a sharp gasp, Wolfram looked at the person who stopped him. Gwendal, who had been deadly quiet up till then, now stared at his younger brother with a visible streak of pain in his dark blue eyes.

"That's enough, Wolfram. Do not mangle His Majesty's corpse." His voice sounded serious, almost scolding. Yet his eyes betrayed his lack of resolve – he looked almost apologetic. Wolfram stared at him for some time before shaking his head and freeing his wrists. He quickly wiped his still streaming tears away and scowled at his brother, then at the remaining two demons in the room. Gunter seemed broken, his cheeks shone from the tears that ran down his face. Gisela was not facing them, so he couldn't see her face.

"Fetch that Sage!" Wolfram suddenly exclaimed, startling everyone in the room.

"He's called the Great Wise Man! Surely he should know how to fix Yuuri! He can't die just like that! There has to be a way to bring him back! Shinou cannot let his descendant die!" Wolfram bolted up from the bed and strode past the stupefied royal advisor and his adoptive daughter. Reaching the door, still clad in only his nightgown, the fire demon looked back at the other figures in the room and growled lowly.

"What are you standing around for? We need to get Mura-" he yelled but stopped short as he noticed his brother's green uniform just a small step away from him. Surprised, he looked up to meet Gwendal's eyes, but as he did so, he felt a blunt object come in contact with the back of his neck and the world started closing in on him. He never reached the ground though, because strong arms wrapped around his small figure and held him up.

"I'm sorry, Wolfram." That was the last thing that he heard before his vision turned black.

~*~o~*~

Gwendal lifted up the unconscious body of his youngest brother and turned to face Gunter and Gisela.

"I'm going to bring Lord von Bielefeld to his room. Gunter, make sure nobody in the castle learns about this incident or the fact that His Majesty passed away. We cannot dismiss the possibility of the assassin still being in the castle. Also, make sure to send Princess Greta and former Queen Cecilie off to von Voltaire castle first thing in the morning. Tell the girl that they are going to celebrate the local festive there. She must absolutely not learn of this. Gisela, employ Dacascos and a few other soldiers to guard this door. Under no circumstances do let any maids or soldiers in. I will be sending Anissina your way, work together to identify the exact source and circumstances of His Majesty's death." With that Gwendal went to the closet and retrieved a spare blanket, which he draped over Wolfram's motionless body. Gisela nodded in determination and was about to leave, but Gwendal stopped her.

"Wait. There's one more thing. Lord Weller should be back by dawn. At that time all of us must meet in His Majesty's study to figure out the situation. Wolfram should be up by that time, so he should be able to fill us in on the details of our enemy. Also, Gisela, I want you to not leave His Majesty's side at any time while that happens. I trust you with this task. Is that clear?" He questioned and the younger female nodded before leaving the room to gather the guards. Gunter got rid of the remains of his tears and looked at Gwendal with concern.

"You know, you should let it out as well. Keeping it inside will only drive you insane." The fair-haired man said. Gwendal gave him an empty stare.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." He said before leaving the room with the blond bundle in his hands.

~*~o~*~

Thanks for reading! Reviews are more than welcome!