Beauty and the Beast

by F.A. Star Hawk

Sena certainly hadn't expect all this to happen when he went in search of his father. AU. One-shot. Agon/Sena.

FASH: Alright, so it's a week later than I planned to post it, but at least I finally managed to finish it. Anyways, there were signs for me to do this including a man named Gaston and the song 'Be Our Guest' playing on some strange radio station, and I love fairytales and Disney movies, that too.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the basis of the storyline, but any modifications you see are mine.

""-speech

''-thoughts

Sena didn't bother looking up from his book when his father burst into his room, sputtering about a marriage proposal and not making a whole lot of sense.

"Father, if you speak slower I might be able to figure out what you're trying to tell me." He said calmly as he flipped a page.

After a couple more sputters his father was finally able to legibly speak.

"It's Suzuna, she's asked for your hand in marriage."

"Suzuna?" Sena brought the book away from his face long enough for his father to see his disturbed look. "Why would she do that?'

"I don't know, but if this gets out you'll be the laughingstock of the town, what sort of boy is proposed to be a girl? It's just not natural."

Sena lifted a hand to his temple. "She couldn't have thought I meant that could she?"

His father stopped hyperventilating and gave Sena a piercing look.

"What exactly did you say to her?"

Sena's cheeks coloured and he buried his head in his book.

Just a couple weeks ago Suzuna had been pestering him about when he was going to begin courting her and before he could stop himself: "I don't want to be the dominant one in the relationship, if you know what I mean." had tumbled out.

Apparently Suzuna didn't know what he meant and had instead taken the initiative. It was times like these he really wished he had been born a girl.

"Sena, what did you say?"

"Nothing! Just that I didn't like her that way, this is probably just her way of crying out for attention."

His father crossed his arms and sighed. "Sena, you're almost seventeen and you still don't like any girls that way. At the rate you're going you'll never get married."

Sena pursed his lips and put his face right up against the pages of his book.

'Me not getting married isn't entirely my fault, it just wouldn't exactly be smiled upon if I did marry the type of person that I like, unless I pretended I was a girl.'

But if he did that he was pretty sure he'd be disowned in a flash, so it was just better for him to keep his mouth shut about the matter.

"Anyways, I've been called over to one of the neighboring towns to trade some textiles and linens in the market, so I'll see you in a couple days."

Sena straightened up. "You're not leaving now are you?" He asked as he threw a cautious look out the widow. "The sun will be setting soon and it'll get dark. The forest paths are confusing enough in the daylight, you might get lost."

His father scoffed. "I've traveled those paths since before you were born, I won't get lost. Besides, I want to reach the town early tomorrow so I can get back here as soon as possible."

He leaned forward and ruffled Sena's hair.

"Be good while I'm gone, maybe bring Suzuna over since she's so eager for you two to loose your virg-"

"Dad!"

"I'm just saying. You don't have to if you don't want to." He smiled widely. "I'll see you again soon Sena."

"Bye."

When his door shut Sena finally tore his eyes away from the book and set it on his bedside table, wondering what he'd do once Suzuna asked that question to his face and, knowing her, in a very public place, right after announcing it to the entire town that she was going to do it.

'Maybe if I just stay inside for the next couple of days she'll forget about it.' Not very likely, but he'd rather avoid this particular problem as opposed to facing it head on.

He went to sleep that night assuring himself that he wouldn't step outside for a week. His assurance appeared to be false though because the next morning he was woken up by the sound of, rather distressed, neighs.

He stumbled out of bed and looked out the window.

"Phillip?" His father's horse was nervously thrashing around outside with his father no where in sight.

With a bad feeling beginning to swell inside of him he made his way downstairs and rushed out the front door, slowly down a great deal as he approached the frightened animal.

"Hush, hush. It's alright Phillip, calm down." He gently held out his hand and stroked it along the horse's nuzzle. After several long moments it was finally beginning to calm down when a shout gave him and Sena a fright.

"Sena!"

The boy slowly turned around, grimacing as Suzuna came into view.

Well, at least there wasn't a horde of townspeople behind her.

"Hey Suzuna, did you need something?" He asked lamely, glancing at the horse out of the corner of his eye.

"Why yes Sena, I do need something." Suzuna responded with a wide smile and Sena resisted the urge to take a step away.

"I have a dream. A dream where some day I'll have a sweet little house-husband to take care of our half a dozen children, four girls and two boys, while I'm away hunting."

'Hunting?' Sena blinked very slowly before moving one hand to pinch his arm to see if he was truly awake.

"Ow!"

"Sena, are you okay?" Suzuna asked, eyes wide with worry.

"Um, yeah. Listen, I've just got to do something, so if you'll excuse me..." He once again gently patted the horse's nuzzle before he pulled himself up into the saddle.

"But Sena, you're still in your night-wear and you don't have any shoes on."

"This is too urgent to worry about how I'm dressed. Now come on Phillip, take me to father!"

Riding from the center of the town to the edge of the forest took a good ten minutes and once they entered the forest Phillip had begun tracing the path he'd been running without Sena's direction.

After turning onto a path that Sena himself had never ventured down they came across an entirely different sort of path.

Shrubbery had been crushed, small branches on trees had been snapped and some of the thicker branches had ripped pieces of linen caught on them. Phillip nervously began fidgeting and refused to move onto the path.

Wolves weren't entire unheard on in this area, especially in places like this, the deeper, less traveled parts of the forest and Phillip wasn't usually this easily spooked. Something had definitely frayed his nerves.

After another failed attempt to get the horse to move Sena climbed off.

"Well, since it seems like you're not going to go any further just stay here. Stay." He slowly backed away, turning around once he was sure Phillip wouldn't wander.

Then it began to rain.

Sena mentally cursed his rotten luck, the thin cotton he was wearing provided little protecting and in no time he was far more damp than he would have liked, but the trees were at least providing some protection from the onslaught so he kept journeying onward, trying not to slip on the uneven land.

After what seemed like hours of searching he came across his father's cart, the wood had some very distinct claw marks on it and Sena worriedly looked around to make sure there were no wolves lying in wait before moving toward the cart.

There was no blood anywhere, a very good sign, but where could his father possibly have gone?

Right ahead of him was a rather steep incline that he highly doubted his father would climb up, not to mention that with all the soil loosening from the rain Sena didn't feel like climbing up only to slip down.

So first he turned to the left, slowly making his way through the thick forestry and tall grass before belatedly realizing that if his father had stumbled this way there would already be a path for him to follow.

He turned back around, letting out a hiss of pain as he stepped onto a large, prickly weed that the grass had been concealing.

'Father better not just be enjoying himself out here in the wilderness while I'm risking my health out looking for him.'

By the time he got back to the cart the rain had begun to pout harder and even the trees weren't providing much protection anymore so, after making sure that there weren't any paths in the grass leading away to a different part of the forest, he decided it was high time to turn back and go home. If his father wasn't able to make it home by the next morning he'd form a search party, but right now it seemed like his father had just wandered back the way he had come in and was going down a path that Sena didn't know of to get back home.

He had just begun walking back towards where he had left Phillip when he smelt something being carried and dragged down by a harsh storm wind, something that signaled the presence of someone else in this forest. Smoke.

It was very faint and it was absolutely useless trying to search for a pillar of smoke against a grey sky, but he had a feeling that the smell was being carried from up the hill.

With a small amount of remorse he began climbing, almost having to crawl along the steep surface, pulling himself up by grabbing onto deeply rooted plants. When he finally reached even ground onto he had to crawl underneath overgrown, thorny rose bushes that he had no doubt were tearing at his flimsy nightclothes as well as his flesh.

Once he crawled out of the underbrush he unsteadily stood up, sneezed several times in succession and blearily looked ahead of him only to be flabbergasted.

"Since when was there a castle out here?" He tiptoes forward through a large, rusty gate onto the castle grounds.

The castle itself was a dark, looming building that Sena would rather not go into, but what other choice did he have.

He made his way to the large oak doorway at the front of the castle and pushed the doors open with a small amount of difficulty.

"Father, are you in here?" He called, voice echoing eerily in the cavernous entryway.

He thought he heard some scuffling further on and he took several cautious steps forward.

"Is anyone there?"

The was more scuffling and Sena, in an attempt to lessen his sudden fear, told himself it was just a couple or mice or squirrels seeking shelter from the storm.

He passed a room with a huge fireplace and resisted the urge to go warm up by the fire. If there was a fire burning then that meant someone was here and if that someone wasn't his father he wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible.

His eyes slowly adjusted to the dark as he crept up a grande staircase and turned left, going straight until he reached another doorway. Upon opening it up he discovered a spiral staircase and he began his ascent.

Outside the storm was becoming even worse and Sena could hear the rumbling of thunder, but even that didn't cover up the sound of a muffled cough very close by.

Sena raced up five more stairs but there were no signs of his father, only a couple lit candles in a candle-holder and a small clock in an alcove.

"Well, this castle is certainly strange." He muttered as he picked up the candle-holder and sniffled. "These wet nightclothes are going to be the death of me."

He heard a whisper and a shuffle and he quickly spun around, no one was there, neither was the clock.

Sena broke out into a run, he'd read about haunted castled before and none of those stories had happy ending.

He reached the top of the tower and slammed the door to the staircase behind him.

"Sena?" A rough voice called from across the room and Sena nearly dropped his light.

"Father, is that you?"

"Oh come on, who else could it possibly be?"

With a smile Sena moved forward, only to find his progress hindered by a cell door.

"Father?" He lifted up the light, uncertain. "Why are you in there?"

"Listen Sena, I need you to leave right now, put that back where you found it." He reached out and gripped Sena's hand in his own. "Leave no trace that you've been here, he'll be back soon."

"But father-"

"Sena, just go! I'll be alright, really, but you need to-"

"Well, well. What do we have here, another intruder?" A venomous voice asked and Sena whipped around to see a large, shadowy figure looming by the door to the stairway.

"Are you the one keeping me father here?"

"I am."

Sena's cheeks puffed out with anger. "I demand that you let him go right now!"

"I don't take kindly to trespassers." The figure replied darkly.

"But surely he doesn't deserve this just because he was seeking shelter." Sena reasoned and the figure laughed ominously.

"I'm afraid that shelter wasn't the only thing he was seeking from this castle. I dislike thieves even more than trespassers." The voice growled, not sounding entirely human. Normally by this point Sena would be terrified but he was far to angry to be anything else.

"How dare you accuse my father of theft!" He stomped forward but the figure moved away from the light.

"Sena, stop that."

"But father-"

"It's true. I thought that this place was abandoned and figured I could pocket a couple things."

"But that's not your fault! Anyone would think that this place was abandoned, it's not an any maps, I've never even heard rumors of this place!"

"That doesn't change anything." The shadowed figured was beginning to sound more irritated. "He will stay here and pay for his sins."

"Take me instead! My father is a good man, he doesn't deserve this."

"Sena, I won't let you-"

"Deal, he shall go free, you shall stay here." The figure began moving towards him and, as if by magic, the candles were extinguished before he could step into the light.

Sena covered his mouth to keep himself from screaming as the light went out, then there was a rusty squeal behind him as the cell door was yanked open, followed by the sounds of a scuffle and the slamming of a wooden door.

"Hey, don't just leave me here!" He stumbled around in search of the door, his eyes had grown too accustomed to the light he had been carrying and now he could hardly see anything in the suffocating darkness he was surrounded by.

"Hey missy, mind not holding on so tight?"

Sena shrieked and lifted up his hands to ward off any ghosts that may have decided to haunt him, the candle-holder went flying.

"Ow! What did you do that for? Meanie."

Sena backed up against the door and began feeling around for the knob.

"Nice ghost, don't hurt me." He mumbled under his breath.

"Ghost?" The voice laughed and the candles once again flickered back to life. "I'm afraid you're a bit off."

Sena finally found the knob and he ripped it open, not bothering to try and find out where the voice was coming from before bolting down the stairs.

By the time he got outside his father had already been thrown into some sort of strange, horseless carriage that was already beginning to descend down the hill.

Sena ran after it, carelessly rushing into the pouring ran and moving through the thorny rosebushes but by the time he reached the edge of the slope it was already out of sight.

"You- you monster! You didn't even let me say goodbye!" Sena swivelled around, his glare disappearing when he saw what he was talking to.

A large, furry creature, rather human in shape except with claws, paws and tusks.

Sena cocked his head to the side, wide eyed and curious.

"Are you ready to scream yet?" The beast in front of him asked angrily, it's eyes glinting in a way that Sena supposed would be very frightening if it weren't for one little detail.

"This is all just a dream." He said with a relieved sigh and the beast's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Actually this is quite real."

"No it's not. I must have gotten a fever after searching in the rain for so long. I collapsed in the woods and am now having this strangely realistic dream that's been influenced by all of the books I've read."

The beast moved closer and the expression on it's face, if mirrored on a human's, would probably be a smirk.

"Can you feel in dreams? Because running through those bushes must have hurt."

Sena frowned. "I'm sure the only reason I'm feeling any pain is because I just rolled into some prickly weeds in my fever induced dream."

The beast moved closer and ran the soft back of his paw across Sena's cheek in a despairingly gentle gesture.

"And how do you explain that feeling?" The paw turned around and Sena could feel the claws pressing into his flesh.

"I... I can't. This is real?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Well... Damn." He slumped over. "I guess I'll have to live out the rest of my days in the cell then, huh? Well that's bloody awful."

"Oh no, we can't do that." A voice came from directly behind him, the same voice as the one in the tower.

Sena jumped and swivelled around to search for the owner of the voice.

"Down here." The voice called and Sena slowly lowered his eyes.

The candle-holder was speaking to him.

"This isn't a dream?" He asked and the candle-holder laughed.

"Nope, you're stuck here now. But don't worry, we won't put you into that cell, right master?"

"We won't? Why the hell not?" The beast growled. "I hate trespassers."

The candle-holder sighed and hopped over to the beast.

"Master, this is the first girl who's taken a good look at you and hasn't run away screaming." He said with brutal honesty and Sena's mouth dropped open.

'Girl?' He quickly looked down at himself and ran a hand through his wet, straightened hair. 'What the hell are they talking about?'

"She could be the one to break the spell! We're running out of time and no one else has come here for years."

"But look at her, I don't think she's even hit puberty yet."

"Age doesn't matter in love!"

Sena decided that now was a good time to intervene in this conversation and he coughed lightly into his fist to draw their attention to him.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm a boy."

The beast and the candle-holder blinked at him slowly, the candle-holder was the first to recover.

"Gender doesn't matter in love!"

"Whatever, just keep him away from me." The beast growled before storming towards the castle.

"Alright, now it's time to properly introduce myself. I'm Mizumachi Kengo, and you are?"

"K-Kobayakawa Sena."

"Well Sena, following me and I'll give you a little tour." Mizumachi insisted cheerily but Sena shook his head.

"Sorry, but I really think I need some time for this all to sink in, I get the feeling that very soon what's happening is going to suddenly smack me in the face and I'm not going to like it."

"Aw, that's no fun." Mizumachi whined. "But I suppose I've got to be nice and hospitable, so just follow me and I'll take you to your room."

It was awfully strange, following around a candle-holder of all things up flights of stairs and through dark corridors until it finally decided that it had found you the perfect room and pushed you inside, promising that you'd be taken good care of.

"Oh well aren't you a sweetheart." A female voice cooed and once again Sena spun around, he'd been doing that a lot lately, face to face, as it were, with a wardrobe.

"Ah!" He jumped back, he'd been under the impression that there wouldn't be any talking objects in his room, apparently he was wrong.

"Oh, don't be frightened dear, I'm Sawai Juri, but please call me Julie."

"Uh, okay..."

"Now then, you'd better get out of those sopping wet clothes, I'll draw a nice hot bath for you."

"Nothing in the bathroom is going to be... Alive is it?" Sena asked nervously, not wanting to become and exhibitionist.

"Oh good heavens no, now you just wait here while I get everything ready."

Sena watched the wardrobe walk into the adjoining bathroom with mild fascination before carefully looking around the room for any other objects that might be able to walk and talk, but just didn't feel like proving it to him yet.

The bath was nice and warm and to help vent some on his sudden frustration he would allow himself to sink underneath the water and scream as hard as he could, knowing that the sound would be at least somewhat muffled by the water and the bathroom door.

He repeated the process several times before he felt ready to face his new life and he crawled out of the bath, wrapping a soft towel around him before going back into his room.

"Look at how tangled his hair is, not smart."

Sena looked at the comb that was standing atop his dresser, a little calmer then when he had fist seen Mizumachi or Juri, he was starting to get used to his whole inanimate objects walking and talking thing.

"Fuu. Why don't you do something about it then?" Came the voice of a red harp that had been sitting next to the comb.

"You don't have to tell me what to do, I was just getting to it!" The comb yelled before rocketing itself at Sena and quickly running through Sena's hair while the boy stayed completely still, trying not to be freaking out by the living comb doing what was probably it's job.

"Kotarou, that's good enough." Juri snapped and the comb paused.

"But Julie, I haven't been able to do this in so long. The master hates it when I try to comb his hair."

"Well yeah, because you're so obsessive about it. Now let's all move out of the room so that Sena can change into some nice dry clothing."

Sena turned to the wardrobe, he didn't remember introducing himself to her. "How do you know my name?"

"Oh, Mizumachi came by and filled me in a bit before he left to get you some nice hot tea."

"Oh, good." For a second there he'd almost thought that she'd end up saying something creepy along the lines of: oh, we know everything about you Sena.

"Since I'm going to be here for only God knows how long, do you suppose you could explain a couple things to me? I heard something bout a spell, is that why everything here is so strange?"

"Well, I imagine that Mizumachi will want to explain everything to you once he gets here, I hope you won't find his little history lesson too unbelievable."

Sena gave her a dry look. "I'm sorry to say this, but I think that if I can handle conversing with a wardrobe I'll be able to believe whatever it is a candle-holder has to say to me."

"Wonderful to know!" Mizumachi's voice butted in as he walked into the room, a fair amount of other items following in behind him.

"Um, can you all just give me some time to change before barging in?" Sena asked as he grabbed onto the pair of nightclothes Juri was holding out to him.

"Oh yeah, sorry about that!" Mizumachi said in mild embarrassment, to which a feather duster replied with:

"You're pretty insensitive to this situation aren't you?"

"Kakei! Don't be that way!"

The feather duster frowned darkly and turned to storm out of the room as well as a feather duster could manage.

"Don't mind Kakei, he's been bitter ever since he was turned into a feather duster, he would have rather become a mop but apparently lady luck didn't feel like complying with his wishes." Mizaumachi explained and Sena nodded along.

"Alright, I'll remember that. Now could you please leave for a couple minutes while I change?"

"Whoops, I forgot about that again. Let's go guys, back into the hallway."

Sena watched the objects march back out of the room, Juri shutting the door behind her, and couldn't help but wonder how long these, what he was assuming used to be people, had spent living as objects.

'When Mizumachi was speaking to his master he said that I was the first person in a long time to not run away screaming. But if anyone in my lifetime had come around here then surely there would be rumors of this place.'

He changed into the dry nightclothes and settled himself on the bed, mentally preparing himself for the long explanation he knew was coming.

"Alright, you can all come in now." He called and the door bust open, a small teacup, a teapot, a bowl of sugar and a pitcher of cream were the first ones to get to him, although the last two lagged behind a bit.

The cup jumped onto the bed right next to him and Sena stared down at it in interest.

"You sure are a speedy little thing aren't you?"

The teacup appeared to puff it's chest out proudly. "Of course, speed of service is what we're all about."

"Riku, get down here!" The teapot called and with a sigh Riku obeyed, standing still as he was filled up with tea.

Sena watched in fascination. "Isn't that hot?"

"Oh yes, but we can't feel it." The teapot replied. "Did you want any cream or sugar?"

"Um, one of each I suppose." Sena answered, eyes following every movement that the sugar bowl and pitcher of cream made before he moved to the floor so that the teacup wouldn't have to hop onto the bed.

"Thank you." He said politely as he took hold of the cup and brought it in close to his lips. "This isn't going to... Feel weird is it?"

"Nah." The teacup replied. "It's pretty natural."

"Well, okay." He pressed it against his lips and took a sip. "But... Not all the cutlery and stuff here is alive... Is it?"

"Oh no, not all of it. There's still some good china and cutlery left from when everything was normal." The teapot said and Sena pursed his lips together.

"Speaking of when everything was normal, now seems like a good time for that explanation."

"Oh no, first we have to go through introductions!" Mizumachi piped up excitedly. "That way when you addressee us you won't have to go: you there, yes you, the candle-holder." He sighed sadly. "Sometimes even after we introduced ourselves girls wouldn't call us by out names, it's sort of depressing. Anyways! As you know I'm Mizumachi, the wardrobe is Julie and the teacup is Riku, but as for everyone else in the room."

Mizumachi dashed towards the teapot. "This is Mamori, the pitcher of cream is Kurita and the bowl of sugar is Komusubi."

"Uh, hi." Sena waved at them as Mizumachi went over to another part of the room.

"The comb is Kotarou, the harp is Akaba, the footrest is Pitt, who is really just a cat so if you start talking to her and she doesn't answer, it's because she can't speak. The waste basket is Monta-"

"Raimon! My name is Raimon Taro!" Monta argued but Mizumachi brushed off his apparent dislike for the nickname and went on.

"There are some others that didn't feel like coming because they think it's a waste of time or they're too busy. There's Rui, he's a coatrack, be careful around him, he can be a bit violent sometimes. Same with the gardeners, they really didn't like being turned into gardening tools..."

Sena took another sip of the tea. "And the gardeners are?"

"Well, there's Toganou the rake, Kuroki the shears and Juumonji the trowel. Then we've got the oven, Hiruma. If you ever do wander in the kitchen don't go too close, he really likes using up all the firepower he's got. We've got Yukimitsu the index, he doesn't leave the library too much. You already met Kakei. And there's Shin, he used to be the captain of the guard, now he's a spear, funny huh? And last but certainly not least we've got Unsui, he's the clock that reported your presence to the master."

"Agon doesn't like trespassers, it's my duty to inform him of the on-goings of this castle. Not to mention that if everyone had just let an outsider wander as they please he would have only gotten more agitated when he found out." Came a voice from the hallway and Unsui walked in, by far the most straight faced clock Sena had ever seen.

"Well, thank you then, I bet he'd be pretty scary when he's angry."

"No, don't say that! The master is a nice guy, really! He doesn't lose his temper that often." Mizumachi assured him, but by the looks on everyone else's faces either he truly believed Agon was much better tempered than he was or he was just lying so that Sena didn't feel as freaked out.

"Alright, whatever you say." Sena would just believe him, for now. "So is it time for the explanation then?"

Mizumachi nodded vigorously in agreement. "Where do you suppose I should start?"

"Well, the beginning would be the best place to start wouldn't it?"

"The beginning of the curse, or the beginning of everything?"

Sena blinked and wondered if it would make a difference. 'Well, I have time and it's not like I have anywhere I need to go...'

"Just start at the beginning of everything."

"Alright, well." Mizumachi took a deep breath and hoped up onto the bed beside him. "Years ago, probably before your grandparents were even born, there was a king and a queen who ruled this land and one day the queen gave birth to a pair of twins. Although by right the eldest twin should have been the heir, he instead wished for his younger brother to be the one to rule so that he could guide him from the shadows and make him great."

Mizumachi threw a look over at Unsui and Sena blinked in confusion. "You mean, you're-"

"I'm Agon's elder brother, yes." The clock replied stiffly. "Carry on Mizumachi."

"The thing about the younger brother though, he was a bit of a womanizer, a bit ego-centric. No one really thought much of it, he was a prince, prince's are allowed to be like that. But one day he just pissed the wrong person off."

"I always did tell him that his womanizing ways would be the end of him. I wish I hadn't been right." Mamori lamented before Mizumachi was able to continue.

"He had been seeing this girl for a while and then one day, right out of the blue he tells her to take and hike and gets a new girl. Well, the rejected girl goes to her mother, who happens to be a very powerful sorceress and complains, but the sorceress is fairly level headed and decided to see if he's really all that bad."

Mizumachi paused for dramatic effect and Sena found himself leaning in just a little close. "How did she find out?"

"It was on a night like tonight, all stormy and grey that the sorceress came, disguised as an ugly old hag and asked for shelter, offering only a single rose in payment. Well, the master was a fan of beautiful things and he didn't want to have someone who he would consider an eyesore in his palace, so he turned her away."

"And then?"

"And then she revealed herself and put a curse on this entire castle so that until the master was able to find someone who loved him despite his ghastly appearance none of us would return to normal. The rose that she offered had an enchantment on it and it would bloom for many decades, but when the last petal falls and withers, if the spell has not been broken by then, then we'll stay like this forever."

"And that's not even the worst part." Riku chimed in. "Tell him about what happened after the enchantment."

"I'm getting to that, shush."

"You mean there's even more after this?"

"Oh is there ever. You see, this happened back when people knew this palace existed, girls had heard about the curse and would come in to try and break it, in the process becoming a princess, but hardly any of them were able to stand the sight of the poor master, the ones who were able to were only there because of their extreme greed. So over the year's the master heart hardened, he refused to see any of the small number of girls who would travel to see him and soon enough we became forgotten. Until now. So will you help us try and break this spell?"

Sena leaned back a bit, unnervingly aware of the expectant eyes that were locked on him.

"Well, it sounds to me that it's really not entirely his fault that everything turned out this way. Had someone really, really tried to cure him of his shallow ways this all could have been prevented. And no wonder he doesn't like trespassers and thieves so much, it remands him of all those past rejections... I'll do it! I'll see if I can help you guys out."

Every occupant of the room was inwardly or outwardly cheering.

"But." Sena began and the cheering, in all forms, stopped. "I'm pretty sure he doesn't want to see me, so how exactly is this going to work?"

"Oh, we'll come up with something!" Mizumachi assured and Unsui sighed.

"Agon is not going to like this..."

After nearly an hour of excited, whispered plotting Sena found himself being flung out of the bedroom door by the horde of animated objects.

"Um, I don't suppose you'll tell me where I'm going?" Sena asked uncertainly, they had been whispering after all, maybe they didn't want him to know.

"We're taking you to dinner." Mizumachi replied and for one, horrifying second Sena thought he was going to be dinner, then he remembered that if Agon had wanted to rip him limb from limb and eat him he could have done so easily when they'd been outside together.

"Well that's nice, I haven't eaten all day, I've been so busy all day I just forgot to eat." His stomach grumbled in reply and he blushed while Mizumachi laughed.

"Well, I'm sure you'll like what we have in store for you and there's nothing like a nice dinner to bring a pair of people together."

Sena stopped in his tracks. "Pair? Is Agon going to be there?"

"Why of course, what did you expect?" Mizumachi asked curiously.

"B-but shouldn't I change into something more appropriate then? I'm not exactly dressed to impress here." Sena said as he motioned at his nightclothes and Mizumachi rolled his eyes.

"The master has never been all too concerned about what clothes people were wearing, it's what's undernea- I mean, inside, that counts."

Sena gave him a disbelieving look before continuing on, a frown on his face.

'Everyone who's tried to break the spell so far has been a girl hasn't it? And the reason why the spell was cast was because Agon liked to fool around with girls...Am I the only one who thinks that the evidence screams that he doesn't like guys that way, thus it's kind of impossible for me to break the spell?'

Apparently so, no one else had really commented on his gender yet.

After several more minutes of following Mizmuachi down the hallways they came across a large set of doors.

"Alright, here we are, now go in and don't be frightened if he glowers at you, that's just the master's way of saying hello." Mizumachi piped up as he began attempting to push Sena into the room without much luck.

"You mean he's already in here? I don't want to go inside if he's already there, I don't like entering rooms when I'm not wanted and the people in the rooms don't mind showing me how unwanted I am."

"Oh come on, it's not like he's going to kill you, he'll just glare for a bit before he gets used to you. Besides, you're hungry, if you go back to your room will you even be able to get to sleep when you've got hunger pains?"

Darn, he was right about that.

Sena ran a hand through his hair and with a sigh pulled the doors open and strolled inside with as much fake self confidence as he could muster.

"What are you doing here?" Agon growled from his place at the table and Sena placed his hands on his hips, deciding not to look directly at Agon incase doing so would incur stage fright.

"Well, seeing as I'm in the dining room one would assume I'm here for dinner." He replied, mentally cursing when he voice shook.

"I see, so Mizumachi brought you down here then." Agon got up from his seat and slowly walked closer, eyes seeming to narrow with every step.

"My subjects may be under the impression that you can do something for me, but I know better, I don't want your company and I most certainly don't want your pity."

Sena frowned. "Pity? What makes you so sure that I pity you?"

"You haven't looked at me since you entered the room, your voice is shaking, you're clearly uncomfortable with my presence..." Agon reached out a hand to run it along Sena's cheek much like he had done earlier. "Now that you know for sure that this is not a dream you can't even look me in the eyes, you're just some kid who wants to play hero to my subjects and will do anything for praise. That's what half the girls came here for."

Something in his tone made Sena practically glow with defiance and he slowly turned to look Agon directly in the eyes.

"There are some people in this world who genuinely want to help others! And speaking of your subjects, have you ever really thought about how hard this must be for them?! They have to rely on you, on your personality, to attract someone so that this spell can be broken! I'm sure you've never been told this since apparently you've been spoiled your whole life, but you have a rotten personality! I'm going to try and put up with you for their sake because they seem like such nice people and because this situation could have been avoided if someone told you to stop fooling around, but that doesn't mean I'm trying to be some sort of hero!" Sena crossed his arms angrily and glared up at him, daring Agon to respond.

"Well, at least you're honest." Was his reply before he walked back to the table and sat down and Sena stared after him in surprise, he had half expected that Agon would order him to leave because of what he'd said.

"What was your name again?"

"I'm Sena."

"Well Sena, sit down. Don't tell me that after yelling at a prince who, may I say, took it incredibly calmly, you're afraid to sit down beside him in fear that he'll strike out at you when you least expect it?" He asked in a way that made it seem like he was toying with the idea.

Sena ignored the way his instincts were screaming at him to run away and bravely moved forward to sit on Agon's right side.

"I'm not afraid to sit beside you, I'm just trying to come to terms with the situation."

Agon snorted. "Don't tell me that you still think this a dream?"

"Oh no, I've accepted that this is real, I'm just surprised you're being civil to me."

Agon tensed. "Why, because I look like I wouldn't treat you civilly?" He asked with a sneer and Sena shook his head.

"No, because you're clearly a proud person and I just snapped at you, I would have thought-"

"Say that again."

"... What?" Sena blinked in confusion and Agon turned away, almost as if he were uncomfortable with something.

"It's nothing, I just haven't been called a person in a long time." He muttered darkly.

Sena nervously bit his lip, realizing that he was starting up a sensitive topic.

"Not even by the girls who used to come here?"

Agon laughed, it was a dark, bitter sound that sent chills down Sena's spine.

"I think I was regarded as sub-human even before this happened to me. A lot of people didn't like me, and changing into this only made it worse. The girls who used to come here, if they could stand the first dight of me, would sometimes act like they regarded me as a human being, but that's not how they truly felt."

"And how do you know I'm any different?" Sena asked, immediately wishing he hadn't when Agon turned to give him a chilling stare, carefully looking him over.

"You seem like an honest person. Not that I trust you, lots of people seem trustworthy when they really aren't."

"Well, thanks, I think..."

"You had better be trustworthy, you don't want to know how I react to people who aren't."

Sena laughed nervously. "Yeah, I really don't. Especially since I've got people depending on me, I don't want to let anyone down..." He trailed off and propped his elbows up on the table, resting his chin on his hands. "And as long as we're on the topic of breaking this curse, I have something else to ask you."

Agon rolled his eyes, as if the very thought of discussing this annoyed him, which it very well could have.

"Go on."

"Well, there's a really important thing that hasn't been discussed yet, which is really vital to the whole curse breaking plan." Sena began slowly. "This whole thing happened because you were a womanizer, no offence, and apparently girls have been the only ones to try and break the curse so far, do you see where I'm headed with this?"

"Does this have something to do with the fact that you're not a girl?" Agon asked, voice laden with sarcasm that Sena didn't appear to take note of.

"Yes, exactly! What I need to know is if I'm going to fail at this no matter how hard I try because you are completely straight."

"Well, to tell the truth," Agon began lowly, smirking widely enough so that Sena could see the multiple sharp fangs that protruded from his gum-line. "I was always more interested in beauty than the gender of the person, it just so happened that none of the men around me were pleasing to the eye."

"Oh, good." Sena distractedly said as he grabbed a small roll from the basket in front of him.

"And since you feel like interrogating me about everything, it's only fait that I get to question you back, right?"

Sena opened his mouth to say that what he'd been doing could hardly be called interrogation, but he quickly decided against it, not wanting the almost comfortable atmosphere he'd been able to produce to be destroyed.

So instead he took a big bite out of the bread and nodded.

"Good. I'm assuming that since you agreed to this you're not exactly interested in girls."

"Not at all." Sena replied before taking another bite.

"But do you have anyone back home who's going to come after me for keeping you here? I would really hate to have to tie any suitors by the ankles and hang them from the top of the castle." Agon said in a voice which made it seem like the thought of doing such a thing would amuse him greatly.

Sena paused, frowning. "Well, I don't think she would..."

"She?" Agon prodded, a hint of a growl in the undertone of his voice.

"Suzuna, a childhood friend. A couple years ago she decided that we'd be a perfect couple and she's bugging me about marrying her ever since."

"Oh, so she's just a kid, nothing to worry about." Agon commented offhandedly as he began to eat.

"Hey! She's my age and I'm certainly not a kid."

"You are compared to everyone else in this castle, I've lost count of how many years it's been since we changed, I imagine Yukimitsu's been keeping track though."

"Ah, I see." Sena glanced at Agon out of the corner of his eye as he reached forward to scoop some mashed potatoes onto his plate.

It was hard to tell how old Agon really was, none of his fur had gone grey, his voice definitely didn't seem like it was coming from someone older than his grandparents and he certainly didn't seem old and frail.

"How old were you when it happened?"

"Do you have to be so curious all the time?" Agon asked back, starting to become slightly annoyed with all the questions being directed at him.

"I'm not curious all the time, but I think considering the situation it would be nice if you humored me, unless this is one of those cradle robbing situations."

"Cradle what?"

"Just answer the question."

"... Twenty."

'I see, the spell must be preserving everyone at the age they had been when the cursing took place.'

"How old are you?"

"Almost seventeen, my birthday is in late December."

"Hmm." Agon grumbled something under his breath that Sena couldn't quite make out before remaining silent and Sena, feeling that he'd leaned enough for one night, didn't bring anything else up.

That night as Sena settled in bed, easily ignoring the inhales and exhales coming from his wardrobe, he couldn't help but think that this wouldn't be as horrifying awful as he thought it was going to be. The situation wasn't great or anything, but it could have been a whole lot worse.

Over the next several days Sena settled into a pattern, much to apparently everyone's delight, where he would eat meals with Agon before both of them went off to do their own thing. They tended not to talk to each other very often, Sena never really knowing what sort of topics to bring up and Agon never bothered starting up a conversation, but they became more comfortable with each other, which was more than anyone could say for any of the prior candidates to break the spell.

So as Sena was prodded awake by and energetic Mizumachi, he figured that it would just be another 'normal' day.

"Sena! Wake up, wake up, wake up! A girl just stumbled upon the castle grounds and she keeps calling your name!"

Sena's eyes snapped open and he groaned. "How did she figure out where I was?"

"Your father must have told her, the main paths to the castle have all become overgrown over the years, she wouldn't look for you here if she didn't know you were here."

Sena slipped out of the bed, shivering as he left the warmth of his blankets. "Does Agon know she's here yet?"

"Not yet, but I bet any moment now Unsui will find out and go tell him. And you know how the master feels about trespassers."

"Right, you try and distract Unsui before he can tell Agon about this, I'll go see if I can get Suzuna to leave before things become complicated."

"Alright, leave it to me." Mizumachi gave him a mock salute and a large grin before scurrying out the door, Sena following behind him and quickly turning down the hall that would take him to the entrance, quickening his pace when he heard his name being called.

He ran into the entrance hall, eyes swiftly searching out his childhood friend, widening when he couldn't spot her.

"Sena!"

Suzuna bowled into him from behind, causing Sena to take several quick steps forward to keep from tripping, and she wrapped her arms tightly around him.

"Good to see you too Suzuna." He said awkwardly as he tried to pry her arms off of his person with no luck.

"God Sena, you have no idea what the last week's been like back home. Your father came into town babbling about a castle and a beast and how you were prisoner and even I didn't believe him until you didn't show up again. What are you doing here anyways? It sure doesn't look like you're a prisoner."

"Well, I'm kind of here voluntarily." Sena replied and Suzuna loosened her death grip on him, turning him around to face her.

"Define: kind of, in this case."

Sena avoided eye contact. "Well, there's something important I need to do here, so I've got to stay, sorry."

"No, that's not how this works!" Suzuna cried, pulling him into an embrace once again. "You're supposed to be happy that I came to rescue you! You're supposed to come home with me and realize that we're meant to be together! You're supposed to-"

"It's very un-ladylike to go after someone else's man, especially when it's so obvious he doesn't feel that way about you." A voice growled from the shadows and Sena tensed up.

'I guess Mizumachi failed in his attempt then.'

Suzuna had felt Sena tense up and she angrily whirled around, trying to find the source of the voice. "What's that supposed to mean?! Come out and say it to my face."

Sena suddenly felt hot breath against his neck and he was pulled into another embrace, not unlike the one Suzuna had him in before, although this one was slightly more awkward.

Agon had never held him before.

Suzuna turned back around when she wasn't able to find the speaker and when her eyes landed on the pair in front of her they widened drastically and she froze on the spot.

'Poor Suzuna, she's trembling from fear, I wish-'

"Let go of Sena right now!"

'Okay, maybe it's anger, understandable.'

Agon seemed to find this whole situation entirely too amusing and he chuckled darkly, his hold on Sena tightening.

"I don't have to let go, because he's mine."

Suzuna frowned darkly and took a step forward. "What's that suppose to mean?"

"It means that he's not going to leave me for you, he's going to stay here, he wants to stay here." Agon replied confidently.

"That's not true! His father told me all about you! There's no way Sena would want to stay with someone like you, right Sena?"

"Yes Sena, why don't you tell her what you think." Agon egged him on, removing his arms and stepping back.

Sena nervously avoided eye contact with Suzuna again, preferring to look at the ground in front on him instead. "Suzuna, I'm going to stay here with Agon." He finally said and he didn't even have to look at her face to know that Suzuna was clearly confused.

"But Sena... Why?"

"He needs me. I can't just leave him alone." Sena took a couple step back, pausing just as he back came in contact with Agin's chest.

"Yes you can!"

"No. I can't." Sena finally looked up, inwardly praying that Suzuna would be able to tell that he was serious about this by looking at his expression.

"Oh, I get it." Suzuna finally said and Sena almost sighed in relief, but something seemed a bit off. "He's got you under his control doesn't he? Because the Sena I know would never stay in a place like this when I was asking him to come home with me!"

"Suzuna, that's not it, he really-"

"Stop talking, you're not in your right state of mind!" She came forward and grabbed his shoulders, glaring up at Agon who smirked down at her cooly.

"Don't worry Sena, I'll come back once I figure out how to break this enchantment he's placed on you." She promised before dashing out the door.

"But I'm not the one who's been cursed!" Sena called after her. "He is." He ended with a sigh, rubbing at his temples.

"Well, that was amusing." Agon quipped and Sena turned and gave him a dry look.

"You know, if you had let me handle that myself, I probably could have explained everything to her."

"I highly doubt it." Agon replied, running a clawed paw through Sena's hair absent-mindedly. "I think she would have thought you were under a spell that made you want to stay here no matter what you told her. Besides, I expected her to run away as soon as she saw me and never come back, I was only trying to help."

"Well, thanks for trying." Sena said before turning to get a better look at Agon. "You know, you sounded awfully confident that I wouldn't leave you for her. Any particular reason for that?"

"Well, if you had left just because she came to take you back, then you wouldn't have been worth my time anyways." Agon said with a wide smirk. "Even if you don't like her as much as she likes you, she's still your friend, if you chose me over her, well, clearly you like me more." Agon's smirk turned into a grin and he wrapped an arm around Sena's waist, bringing him a bit closer.

"And to prove my theory right, how about a-"

"Agon! There's a trespasser in the castle!" Unsui called as he dashed forward, Mizumachi right behind him. "I would have told you earlier but this... idiot behind me..." Unsui trailed off.

"Oh, looks like we're interrupting something." Mizumachi called in a sing song voice, patting Unsui on the back lightly. "I think we should consider the trespasser problem solved for now. I'm gonna go find Kakei." Mizumachi turned around and practically skipped away, Unsui following after him a few moments later.

"I do so loath interruptions." Agon said as he turned his attention back to Sena. "Now, where was I?"

"Uhh." Sena replied intelligently, looking up at Agon with wide eyes. "There's a question I've been meaning to ask you!" He blurted out, blushing darkly when Agon rose an eyebrow at him.

"Very well, go on."

"Well, I've heard about that enchanted rose and the time limit and I was just wondering, you know, how much time we have before the last petal falls ro whatever. Could you show me it?"

Agon frowned and pulled away. "I don't like showing anyone that. It's just another unneeded reminder of my situation. I haven't even looked at it for years, not since the last girl left."

"Well, wouldn't now be a good time then? So that we know how much time we have so that we'll know if we need to take things faster?"

Agon frowned stubbornly. "No."

"No? Why not?"

"Because then it'll seem too forced, I like what we have going on not. If we ended up not having a lot of time left you'd only end up smothering me and trying too hard."

"That's not true." Sena retorted, feeling slightly sheepish when Agon threw him an unconvinced look. "Well, maybe it is true. But doesn't it bother you that you have no idea how much time you have left?"

Agon crossed his arms. "Not really." He replied aloofly. "I like my space, I don't need you throwing yourself at me."

Sena gasped in mock anger and lightly hit Agon's shoulder. "As if I'd ever do that."

Agon began walking away and Sena trailed behind him. "Oh yeah, you're too much of a wimp to throw yourself at me."

"Hey! I'm not a wimp!" Sena claimed and Agon whirled around, an expression eerily similar to a smirk on his face.

"I don't believe you." He started walking back down the hallway and Sena swore his smirk had grown even larger.

'What the hell? It's like he's baiting me so that I do go after him...' Sena crossed his arms and cocked his head to the side. "But I thought he liked his personal space?" He sighed and shook his head. "He's just confusing."

But in any case, even if Agon didn't want to know how much longer he had until the spell could no longer be broken that wasn't going to stop Sena from finding out, all he had to do was find the rose.

He began walking towards the library, figuring that if there was anyone who would know something like this, it would be Yukimitsu.

And just as he had thought the index knew every little detail about the castle, including the place where Agon kept the rose.

So now he knew where it was, but it was going to a bit troublesome for here on out, because it was somewhere in Agon's personal quarters.

'If I get caught in there, there's not much I can say to cover my tracks. I'm too used to the castle to get lost now, and I know there are some rooms I shouldn't venture into.'

But damn, he was too curious to let consequences get to him, so during the time when he'd normally be eating breakfast he made his way in the general direction of Agon's quarters, fairly certain that he'd be able to pick out the door that Agon would have chosen as the barrier to his personal space.

'Too plain, too plain, too girly...' He stopped upon reaching a rather ornate door and gave it a hard look. He wasn't all too sure about Agon's aesthetic sense but he figured he might as well try the fanciest looking door before looking anywhere else.

He shakily reached out and turned the knob, breathing a sigh of relief when he discovered it wasn't locked.

'Probably because everyone else knows better than to sneak into his quarters.'

He took a cautious step inside, half expecting to get caught up in some sort of booby-trap. But when he managed to take five steps in without having anything flying in the general direction of his head he figured it was safe to stop being sneaky.

He moved past the general lounging area, quickly averting his eyes from the shredded remains of what Sena assumed was once a portrait and made his way to the nearest door.

He opened it up just a crack and peered inside, eyes going wide at what he saw.

Displayed on a small table right beside Agon's bed was the rose, glowing a glorious shade of pink.

'But... I thought he didn't look at it.'

And the room looked very lived in, so it couldn't be that Agon was crashing on his own couch.

'But why would he lie about that? I don't get it.'

He opened the door a little wider, intent on taking a closer look incase there were any clues to solve this mystery lying around. He had only taken the first step inside when he heard a muffled sound, like a door gently being closed.

He gulped, not wanting to turn around to look at the presence he could feel behind him.

"Curiosity killed the cat you know." Agon all but growled and Sena tensed, trying to keep his cool.

"Why did you lie? If you know you don't have much time left you should tell me!" Sena spun around and looked up at Agon, trying to be as defiant as his fear would allow. "How am I supposed to get you to fall in love with me the way we are now? We hardly even spend time together!"

Agon took a daring step forward, closing up what little space they'd had between them.

"And why are you so sure I haven't yet?"

Sena stared at him for a moment, dumbstruck. "B-because we hardly spend time together... And... And we don't even talk very much when we are together!"

Agon pulled away with a roll of his eyes. "Are those really the only reasons you can come up with?"

"I happen to think they're very good reasons." Sena replied with a pout, not resisting when Agon began dragging him out of his quarters. "But feel free to tell me why my reasons seem inadequate to you."

There was no change in Agon's demeanor as he waved a hand dismissively. "Far be it from me to tell you why, find out for yourself."

"Oh, I will." Sena said, crossing his arms as they entered the dining room, Agon keeping the door open for him.

"Well, you're a determined one aren't you?" Agon grinned in an entirely un-calming way.

"Oh, I'll show you how determined I am." Sena retorted by way of retaliation, unable to help but be curious about why Agon's grin widened at the words.

After breakfast, when Agon left to do whatever it was when he was alone, Sena followed him. Agon didn't seem too concerned about it the first couple of hours, but when Sena once again began to trail him after lunch, he became a little irritated.

"Don't you have a book to read or something?" He asked, quickening his pace in an attempt to lose the brunette.

Sena easily kept up. "As interesting as a good book would be, I decided to show you how determined I was, remember? And I'm determined that we spend more time together." He began walking even faster so that he was beside Agon and he smiled up at him charmingly.

"So, did you want to do something together? Since I'll be following you around wherever you go anyways."

Agon's eyebrow twitched as he looked down at the positively beaming Sena before he rashly grabbed Sena's hand in his own and started going down a hall that Sena had never ventured down before.

"Well, if you're coming with me anyways I might as well go somewhere you'd like so you don't complain about being bored." He grumbled.

"My, how gracious of you."

Agon slowly came to a halt around halfway down the hall and slowly, almost reverently, lifted his hand to the knob of the door they were in front of.

"This was my mother's favorite part of the castle." He mumbled before opening the door and leading Sena through.

The brunette's eyes widened as he stepped outside to a space about six feet wide and maybe twice as long. The walls were covered in some sort of flowering vine, the deep orange blossoms just beginning to bloom. There was a large stone bench at one end of the space that Agon had already made himself comfortable on and Sena quickly followed suit, turning his eyes upwards to stare at the incredibly blue sky.

"She liked to come out here on busy days that were too nice to stay indoors, but she couldn't leave for too long."

"It's really nice out here, very peaceful." Sena idly picked one of the flowers, examining it closely.

"Yeah, it's a good place to go when you're stressed, you can just calm down and think." Agon shifted around, becoming restless.

"What the name of this flower?" Sena delicately ran a finger along a petal and Agon shrugged.

"I don't know, I think it's just some sort of weedy plant."

"Oh." Sena drooped a little and Agon dramatically rolled his eyes before plucking the flower from Sena's fingers and tucking it behind the brunette's ear.

"But I suppose they're pretty enough."

Sena could feel his cheeks heat up for some unfathomable reason and he was incredibly thankful that Agon had already risen from the bench and was heading for the door, so he had some time to compose himself before Agon turned to look at him.

"Are you coming or have you finally given up on following me around all day?"

Sena sprung from the bench and made his way to Agon's side. "You're not getting rid of me that easily."

"Perish the thought." Agon agreed at he opened the door and the pair walked back down the hallway and every once in a while Sena would bring his hand up to the flower, assuring himself that it was still there.

Dinner was a peaceful affair and when Agon jokingly asked if he would be stalked anymore today Sena answered no, unless he wanted to be followed around more, of course.

After going their separate ways Sena made his way to his room, resisting the urge to drop by the library and pick up a cheesy romance novel to compare his feelings to the heroin's.

He walked into his room and Juri turned to greet him, only to gasp at something.

"What? Is there something on my face?" Sena asked, rubbing the back of his hand against his mouth absent mindedly.

"No, that flower, where did you get it?" She asked with a strange amount of glee that made Sena momentarily want to take a step back.

"Agon gave it to me. He took me to that place outdoors, the one his mother liked."

Juri was by far the most excitable wardrobe he had ever met, she was practically reeling at the news.

"Do you know what that means?"

"Uh... No. Why, does this hold some significant meaning or something?"

Juri scuffled up to stand in front if him, shaking in what Sena assumed was excitement.

"That was the place where the king proposed to the queen! And she liked those flowers so much that she had a bouquet made out of them for her wedding day!"

She removed the flower from behind his ear and looked at it curiously. "So? Just because it was some big thing for his parents doesn't mean it's important."

Juri sighed dramatically. "Do you think the master would really take you to a place with so much romantic history surrounding it if he didn't like you?"

Sena blushed hotly and tried to answer, only to find that his normal excuse of them not spending enough time together to fall in love was stuck in his throat and refused to come out.

Juri's eyes were glinting in amusement as he told him to get some rest, informing him that 'all would become clear' in the morning.

Sena did as she said, although he could help but wonder if she was pulling his leg with the whole 'romantic history' of the room. Maybe he'd ask Mizumachi tomorrow, just to make sure it was the truth.

The next morning he was once again prodded awake by Mizumachi in a manner almost exactly the same as the day before, although slightly more urgent.

"Sena! Wake up, wake up, wake up!" He nearly yelled and Sena groaned, rolling over to give the candle-holder a weary glare.

"You can glare at me all you want, but that doesn't change the fact that you have to get up, like, now!"

Sena slowly sat up, stretching his arms over his head in a leisurely fashion. "Why, what's the rush?"

"Shin was making his rounds around the property when he saw a bunch of villagers coming this way, lead by the girl from yesterday. And I don't know about you, but I general find that torches and pitchforks aren't a good sign when it comes to a mob."

Sena felt his jaw drop. "Suzuna's come back, already?!"

"Yeah, and apparently your dad is coming along to."

Sena buried his head in his hands. "God, I don't believe this."

"As much as I'd love to leave you to your disbelief, we've got to hide you. If they think that castle is completely empty, they'll just leave and they won't bother us again."

"Does my dad not know about the curse then? And that there actually are a bunch of people in the castle even though it doesn't look like it?"

Mizumachi paused abruptly and Sena took that as initiative to continue.

"Because if Suzuna was somehow able to convince everyone that I was being held captive here by someone who wasn't entirely human, then maybe they wouldn't think that supposedly inanimate objects moving would be too far fetched."

"... Well damn, I didn't think about that."

"It's a good thing I think about these things for you." A voice drawled from the doorway and they both turned to see Kakei, unenthusiastic as ever, making his way towards them. "I've already told everyone to get into their own designated 'battle stations', those villagers will never know what hit them, especially is they wander into the kitchen and Hiruma gets them."

"They're not going to get hurt too bad though, right?"

"Nah, they'll just get some sense knocked into 'em. You shouldn't fight against beings that you don't understand, it's universal logic." Mizumachi said confidently before gently patting Sena's hand. "Don't worry about a thing. The master would never let anyone take you away." His eyes momentarily flickered to the flower that Sena had set down on his bedside table. "Ever. Right now, you're pretty much the safest person in the world." He jumped down to the floor, walking beside Kakei as they made their way through the door.

"You just lie low, we'll have everything sorted out in a couple minutes, no problem." He assured him once more before closing the door behind him.

The room felt oddly empty, Juri having already left before Sena had woken up to go to wherever her 'battle station' was and Sena found himself fidgeting at the sheer silence he was enveloped by.

Until a banging began, it was muffled and rhythmic, like when someone was knocking on a door.

Sena's eyes widened with realization. 'They're trying to knock down the front door!' He bounded off of the bed and quickly swapped his nightclothes for the clothing he'd worn yesterday, by the time he finished changing the knocking had already stopped.

'I'm not just going to wait around and let other people fight for me like some sort of damsel in distress. Maybe if I try to talk some sense into everyone they'll stop this madness.' He glanced back at the table, pursing his lips. 'Maybe I can bring the flower along, so that when everything's settled down I can get Agon to explain these things to me instead of being all cryptic.'

He gently picked up the flower and tucked it behind his ear before making his way out the door, flinching a bit as a faint scream made it's way to his ears, followed by many more.

'So the retaliation has begun, huh? I guess I'd better move a bit faster.' He quicken his pace, nearly making it all the way to the front hall before someone came up behind him and gripped onto his wrist.

Sena whirled around, intent on giving who ever dared to stop his a major tongue lashing, but he stopped in his tracks when he saw who it was.

"Dad?"

"God Sena, it's good to see you." He pulled Sena closer and gave him a tight hug. "We've got to get out of here, Suzuna told me that you were put under some sort of enchantment, but I'm sure once we step off of castle grounds you'll be back to normal." He began dragging Sena towards the front hall.

"But dad, I'm not under any enchantment! I really do want to stay here!" Sena claimed, trying to pull his wrist away from his father's grasp.

There was a loud scream, presumably from the kitchen area as a few seconds later Sena could smell what he assumed was burning hair. 'That's what happens when you try and overcome fire, my friends.'

"Are you kidding? Who in their right mind would want to stay here?!" He began going down the stairs, intent on just waltzing straight through the door while everyone else was occupied, but Sena would have none of that.

He gripped onto the railing tightly and refused to let go.

"Sena come on, don't you want to come home?" His father asked, loosening his grip and walking up a couple stairs to get closer to his son. "Where everything is normal, and, maybe someday..." He ran a hand through Sena's hair, frowning a bit as he came across the flower. "You can start up a family." He pulled the flower out and his frown deepened before he crushed the delicate blossom in his hand. "With Suzuna." He let the crumpled remains of the flower fall to his feet.

Sena watched it drop and felt an odd emotion begin to bubble in the pit of his stomach, like anger, only it felt much more violent than what he normally felt when he was angry.

Despite him not entirely believing it, that flower, what it represented, was extremely important to Agon and the other occupants of the castle. For his father to just crush it as though it were nothing more than a common weed set alight this new emotion. Rage.

Sena tried to calm down, tried not to seethe at the image of the crumpled flower on the floor, but he couldn't seem to hold back.

The next time his father reached from his wrist he yanked it out of his grip with a force he didn't even know he possessed.

"Now listen here! You may say that I'm under an enchantment, but isn't it you who wants to control me life?!" He asked loudly, not noticing that the sounds below had come to a halt as he raised his voice.

"I say that I want to stay, but you want to take me back? What for? So that I can pretend to be in love with Suzuna and live happily ever after?! Well guess what! That's not going to happen because. I. Am. Gay!" He snapped and his father took a cautious step forward.

"Sena, stop talking, you're not in your right of mind, we can-"

"What, just because I'm finally telling you the secret I've kept from you for years I'm not thinking straight?! Think again dad! Doesn't everything make more sense now? Why I've never even contemplated getting married, why no matter how much Suzuna liked me I never tried to reciprocate her feelings?" He took a deep, calming breath. "It all makes sense now dad, right?"

His father nodded. "I understand... This place is getting to you even more than we first thought!"

"What? No! That's not it!" Sena yelled as he was picked up and tossed over his father's shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "Let me down! Let me down this instant!" He called as he struggled to get free, squirming even more when his father reached the floor.

"Hero MAX!" Monta called as he dashed forward, flinging himself towards the man's solar plexus.

Sena's father easily sidestepped and Monta crashed against the floor, but of course that only served to aggravate him and make him try harder. The next time he 'went in for the kill' he didn't miss.

Sena dropped to the ground as he father tumbled over and he quickly stood up, planting his hands on his hips and frowning darkly.

"Furthermore, I like Agon, he's got a couple faults but that's what makes us human! He's not as bad as he seems and I, I might even love him! So there's nothing that you can do or say that's going to make me want to leave!" He straightened up and glared at all the villagers harshly. "You got that? NOTHING!"

The world exploded in a flash of white.

Sena fell to the ground, hands covering his eyes until the glow died down a little and he was able to move them without blinding himself.

Everyone was changing back, slowly morphing from their cursed state back into their human forms.

Nearly all the villagers had begun running away as soon as the light started shining but Sena's father stayed on the ground, watching with wide eyes as his son was nearly bowled over by a girl with short, turquoise hair.

"You did it Sena! You did it!" She cried as she gave Sena a tight hug before pulling back and smiling widely. "Man, that was some speech you made, almost brought a tear to my eye." She sniffed and Sena stared up at her.

"Julie?"

"The one and only! Now how about we go and-"

"Well, that was a very well timed interruption." Agon's voice drifted down from the top of the stairs and Sena turned to see a tall, broad form began walking down the stairs, dragging Suzuna behind him.

"Hey, stop dragging me you, you, dread-head! I can walk on my own!" She huffed and Agon, with a roll of his eye, let go while she was pulling herself away and she fell back into the arms of a person Sena could only assume was Unsui.

"Please forgive him, my brother can be somewhat lose with his etiquette at times." Unsui said as he helped Suzuna back up onto her feet and she nodded slowly, gazing up at him with the beginnings of a blush spreading across her cheeks.

Agon reached the bottom of the stairs and strode over the Sena, grinning widely as he stopped in front of him.

"Took you long enough to admit that you love me, that crazy friend of yours was about to clobber me before she got temporarily blinded."

Sena blinked up at him, mouth moving to form words but no sound coming out.

"I'm gorgeous, I know." Agon said with mock arrogance, the words snapping Sena back to reality.

"Oh, don't start off on that tangent again or you'll be in a whole world of trouble Agon." The brunette said with a frown, although his expression abruptly changed when he was pulled into Agon's arms to something more along the lines of 'giddy'.

"And now that I'm not all freaky I can finally do what I've been wanting to do for a while now."

Sena furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Which is?"

His question was quickly answered when Agon sealed their lips together.

When they pulled away Sena was blush a deep red that darkened even further as he heard cat calls and wolf whistles coming from all around him.

"Next time I'll be sure we don't have an audience." Agon promised before turned to Sena's father, who still hadn't moved from where he was sitting on the ground.

"So pops, you gonna say anything to your future son-in-law or what?" He asked and Sena elbowed him in the ribs.

"Don't be so rude."

"Um..." Sena's father began and immediately all eyes snapped to him, everyone within hearing distance waiting with baited breath to see what he would say. "Welcome to the family?"

So now with the curse broken, Sena's father's blessing and Suzuna going after a not entirely unwilling Unsui, they all lived happily ever after.