Yup, that's Code Geass and Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Together! :D
I probably should get it out here right now that I'm terrified about how well this went. It's not my original idea, but a plot bunny from Aki1 that I adopted. (Thanks for all the ideas and suggestions too!) It's a positively brilliant idea that I am not only absolutely thrilled to be writing, but also having a blastdoing so. So in short, oh my gosh, I hope this lives up to your excitement, Aki1. *panicpanicasjfdjsaspload*
Anyway, I'll also put it out here right now that this is not completely a sparkles and unicorns fic. There will be angst, there will be darker moments. Just a warning to anyone expecting nothing but "Disney Magic!" XD This chapter itself isn't too bad, mild language is about it. But don't get me wrong... there will still be moments of sparkles and silliness and such here and there. XD
Another long chaptered-fic too. Yay if you like them, I do too! If not... I'm sorry...?
Also, this chapter may be subject to minor adjustments. I'll make note of it here if there are any!
Um, please enjoy!
"Don't do this. It's completely ridiculous!"
"He's right. You may end up regretting it."
"There's no good reason to trust her… Please sir."
"Honestly…Nothing good ever came out of witch."
"Come on! There must be some other-"
They were awful. Positively awful. With every ounce of bitterness in his body, he silenced the seemingly endless crowd gathering around him.
"It'll be fine." He assured them. Had he not ingrained it into them that this may be the chance he'd been waiting for? And all they had been giving him in return was this. His patience was wearing dangerously thin by now and his temper was beginning to flare. It didn't help that he hadn't been in the best of moods in the first place either. With one hand clenched into a tight fist, he promptly waved them away with the other. "You should have been taking care of her, like I asked, instead of all this imploring. Now get back to your positions." And there was not one more protest as the hall went utterly silent.
Wordlessly, he pulled his cloak tightly around his shoulders and walked out between the grand double doors that formed his castle's entrance. Even the dark starless night could not conceal the bright wisps of green hair blowing from beneath the hood of the cloaked figure behind the gate. Approaching the tall black iron bars, he placed a gloved hand on the latch.
"One wish?" He asked. "And you will heal her?"
"Grant that one wish. That's all you need to do." She whispered. "And I will try my best, young prince."
He could not place all of his trust in her just yet. "And you will cure her first, before I grant that wish?"
The figure's exposed chin revealed a nod. "A fair deal, is it not?"
He didn't reply, but undid the latch with narrowed eyes, and the gate creaked open. "Enter." He commanded and turned sharply on his heel. The witch followed slowly behind, much to his displeasure. She had walked at a perfectly normal gait beforehand, but he bit his tongue. Now was not the time for any complaints, if this so-called miraculous witch desired it, then it would have to be tolerated.
They entered the castle, slowly, painfully so, making their way through the main hall. He could feel the eyes of his servants watching them as they came in and shot a dark look at the corners where they were poorly hidden.
"No one is to enter her room until I allow it." He declared without stopping his stride. Please. He added silently, choosing not to voice it.
Staying far ahead of the cloaked woman, he traveled up the sweeping staircases, through the corridors of the western wing and with a deep breath opened the doors to the familiar bedroom.
It was dark, like the rest of the castle that night, but the white of the walls and curtains illuminated it the faintest bit more. ("…Then when you see it, you're room will be brighter than the snow was.") He left the door open for the witch, and slowly, with quiet footsteps, walked further into the room.
"Nunnally." He whispered in a voice rarely heard by his servants as he lifted the white veils around the sprawling bed. "It's me."
The tiny figure in the center moved—only slightly, but moved nonetheless.
"Brother?" She asked meekly. He slid onto the edge of the bed beside her, removing his gloves so that she could feel the warmth of his hands around her own.
"I'm here." He brushed aside strands of her long wavy hair and kissed her forehead. "And soon, someone else will be here too, Nunnally. Someone who says she can help, and quite possibly, for real this time."
Her mouth opened slightly in surprise. "Brother…?"
"She's going to cure you. You'll be able see your room, your castle, all of us… You can feel the grass on your feet, walk through the halls of the castle, and maybe…go into the town." He drew her hands together warmly. "And we can forget about father… about why were even here in the first place. After all these years… everything will be okay."
Nunnally freed one of her hands and pressed it against her brother's pale cheek and giggled slightly, though it came out as something closer to a cough. "You're going to cry."
He opened his eyes and smiled. "I suppose I am…" He touched his own face. "It's been awhile, hasn't it?"
"Mm, it has. So if this will make you happy again…" She beamed back with a weak smile that contained so much more power than the strength she possessed to give it. "I'm happy too."
Hearing footsteps behind them, he turned to see the witch enter the room, her form blurred from behind the shield of the canopy.
"Leave." She said upon reaching the place where he sat. He frowned and almost objected before stopping himself once again. Once again, there was no room for argument here.
He released his sister's hands slowly with some hesitation, but managed it and stood. Lifting the translucent curtains, his gaze lingered on the crippled girl and he slowly walked out of the veritable cocoon surrounding her bed. With a final defeated gaze, he nodded at the witch without a sound, and left the room.
He waited outside her room for what seemed like hours, pacing back and forth, leaning against the marble walls with nothing to take his mind off of what was happening only feet away, behind the closed doors. He might have fallen asleep at some point or another during his wait, but the strange mix of apprehension and eagerness turned the entire period into a blurry haze. (It occurred to him later that the witch herself may have had something to do with it, but he had way of confirming that.) He swore he saw light spilling from beneath the crack of the door, red, blues, violet, and greens, a peach color, faintly orange, turning white, then blood red before dying off abruptly. But he dismissed it as all just a dream, made up of twisting emotions and growing drowsiness, and looked away.
He hadn't the faintest idea of how long it had taken, but the time came eventually, and the door swung open by itself, without any noticeable encouragement from anyone. Immediately, he was alert once again. Sliding up the wall from where he had been sitting, he stumbled forward through the door. Don't expect miracles, don't expect miracles. He repeated in his head. One too many failures, one too many attempts had gone awry for such dreams to still have a place in reality. But this time, something was undeniably different.
Strangely, it felt odd to see the room exactly the same as how he had left it, like he had been expecting everything to have changed in the time he had spent outside of the room. The same low amount of light spilled in from the tall windows, and not a shelf, not a single thing had been moved or misplaced. Her bed came up quicker that he imagined, and he swallowed and lifted the veil.
Lying down, but awake, Nunnally greeted him with a kind smile. "Brother…" Nunnally said, eyes wide open. "You're beautiful… Just like I remembered." He slowly sank onto the side of the bed into the soft swirls of the cotton and silk. He found himself smiling as well, unable to think of anything else in that moment. She ran her hand along her brother's face slowly, matching up the feel of his features that she had become so accustomed to, with what she now saw and played with the soft black locks that framed it.
This time, it was different.
"Nunnally… You… you…" Her eyes hadn't changed, large and violet, a different shade from his own, but similar nonetheless. They held within them what seemed to be infinite kindness, an untouched innocence despite all that had transpired in the years earlier.
"Can you…?" He asked quietly. She bit her lip.
"I don't know. I suppose I'll have to try…" She shook as she tried to prop herself up, struggling to make and movement at all. Suddenly, all the joy was draining away. Gasping for air, she shuddered and gave in. "I can't… I'm sorry brother, I…" She collapsed back into the deep folds of her sheets, shaking hard before going motionless.
"Nunnally!" Panic stuck him immediately and he snapped. He had placed far too much hope on this, and now it was all gone, right before his eyes. He quickly honed in on the witch standing at the foot of the bed, noticing her for the first time since he re-entered the bedroom. "What the hell is this!" He shouted to her, standing up from the bed with a violent motion towards his unconscious sister. "What did you do to her!"
Two arms even paler than his own, frighteningly pale, drifted out of the folds of her billowing cloak and dropped its hood. Her face was beautiful, if not vacant, with rivers of green hair draping over her shoulders and thick bangs above sharp golden eyes that seemed to contain far too much wisdom of the world and it's horrors for a face so young.
"She can see again—I've healed her." The dullness of her voice infuriated him. "Aren't you happy, prince? Be thankful that I was able to do that. What ails her is far from simple: a smart boy like you is bound to have realized that."
"You said you would cure her entirely, not just return her sight." He countered warningly. "You broke our deal, and on top of that… she's…"
Showing the first sign of any emotion, she raised an eyebrow.
His eyes narrowed and he stepped towards her. "When you arrived at that gate out there, you told me you were capable of wonders. Capable of healing any and all ailments for the mere price of granting that wish of yours. You lied..."
Unfazed by his rising temper, she didn't move an inch. "I said I would try to do those things. You were too blinded by desperation to notice that, it seems. I am at no fault here, and she is better off than she was. Can you not show any appreciation for that?" If she was disgusted with him, her blank face did not show it.
"Unfortunately, that's not the way I see it." He answered in a low growl. "You broke your half of our agreement. And even if you deny that, you've sent her into a fever. That's your fault, all your damn fault...!" He was shaking now, about ready to throw any and all self-control to the wind.
"It will pass." Was the witch's calm reply. "I may not have solved all of her troubles, but I already said it, one gone is certainly better than none at all. So calm your temper, because you're wasting your time. The rest of her illness is beyond my capability, arrogant little prince."
That was it. He had enough of this condescending witch and her lies. "I don't care about these excuses. It's simply apparent that you failed your end of the contract. Leave the castle NOW! You'll receive no wish from me." With that, he flung the curtains aside and made for the door without thinking. From the corner of his eye, he saw the first genuine reaction from her, as she stepped back in an emotion that could neither be quite called shock or anger.
So it surprised him even more, when her figure was already there, blocking the door.
"Out of the way." He said. "You'll be leaving this room with me." She didn't reply. "I said move." Still no answer. "Out of my way you-" He raised his arm to shield himself from the sudden gust that blew through the room, sending papers everywhere and lifting the snow-white curtains far into the air.
He slowly turned to see the windows behind them closed. Remaining calm, he turned back to the witch. A faint red light glowed beneath her heavy bangs.
"If you are that ungrateful, perhaps a small lesson would be beneficial to you." She stepped towards him and grabbed his wrist with a firm and icy grip. He found himself unable to speak, unable to resist. He stood there frozen as the wind picked up around them, lifting their hair up into tangled patterns and sending their capes rippling up around their forms.
"You are a kind boy..." She whispered, her voice eerily gentle and her face up next to his. "Selfless, compassionate, loving… you've buried it all too deep within yourself for anyone but your sister to find it. You wallow in your misery of banishment, of failure; you've become cold, bitter, and angry in its stead. So…" He tried to withdraw himself away from her pressing gaze, but still found no strength to move. The wind continued to swirl around them violently and he found it harder and harder to stay awake as the background faded into black, it's dark tendrils threatening to take him in and hold him there forever. "Until you can reclaim that kindness that you were born with… you will live a life of solitude, with nothing but sorrow and trials, your cursed subjects' company, and the demon's dreadful eye to haunt your every move." His eyes were drifting shut by now, but her voice remained clear. "I'll give you six years. It should be plenty of time. Experience true pain, and learn these things, prince, before your one reason for living is taken for good."
Suddenly, he was released from the binds and the wind died abruptly, but he didn't notice. All he heard was the horrendous screams of what could only be his subjects in the floors below, and all he could see was the darkness descending over his vision. His strength gave away and he collapsed in the middle of the floor at the place where the witch—now gone, had stood. The last thing he saw before unconsciousness claimed him was his own reflection on a broken, overturned mirror—identical, save for his left eye, now glowing a deathly red.
Five Years Later; in a small Britannian village
One minute, she had been merrily going about the house, listening to the clanks, whirrs and frustrated shouts drifting out of the basement with some amusement. The next, a look of horror descended over her face as she stared dead ahead into the depths of her empty cupboard. It was always these little things that slipped her mind.
"Suzaaakuuuu-kuuuuunnn!"
The young man, hearing his name being shouted desperately, stopped on the path and blinked. Swiveling back around he spotted the source of the call sticking her head out of the kitchen window, waving her arm slowly back and forth in order to capture his attention.
"I forgot to tell you that we need cheese too! Any old kind will do! I'm making my lentil soup tonight! The one with blueberries and the-"
"Haha, yes, I, um, know!" He called back to Cecile faking his best, big eager smile. "It'll be… great!" He tried to put as much emphasis as he could on the 'great.' "I'm sure Lloyd will love it too!" Never had there been a more blatant lie. Luckily, it didn't seem to faze her.
"Hm. He avoided it last time I made it though…" Cecile raised a finger to her chin in sincere thought. "Maybe he wasn't hungry. Ah, ah! Sorry for wasting your time Suzaku-kun! Go on!"
"Right!" He gave her a far more honest smile before taking her advice and continuing on his way.
Lloyd had once asked him why he always made these runs into town. (Cecile had given him a swift whack on the head afterwards, but he answered the question nonetheless.) He had said that he didn't mind it at all, and that he just wanted to get out of the house. Neither of them really bought it, but that wasn't important, as they probably knew the real reason anyways.
"Good morning Nina. It's a lovely day isn't it?"
The timid, glasses-clad girl shrunk back a bit. "Yes… wonderful. Do you… um, want anything?"
"Ah yeah…" He looked through his bag briefly and produced a few coins. "The carrots look good. I'll take two of those." He beamed and handed her the money. She shrunk back further into her stand, poking a small hand out to accept it. "…Thank you."
"Thanks!" He started to walk away before stopping. A bit of small talk couldn't hurt. "You know, Euphemia really likes your strawberries! She mentioned them to me the other day, and I thought I'd tell you that!" He grimaced as Nina suddenly looked like she was about to keel over right there on the spot. "Okay then… maybe I shouldn't have said that…" He mumbled to himself. Time to make a recovery (Or at least try.) "Ahaha…! I'll see you later then!" No reply came and he hurriedly walked away, the stares of the other sellers that lined the streets hot on his back.
He sighed. Maybe the next shopkeeper would be a bit kinder. Nina was awfully shy after all…
The next one greeted him with a sigh and a tired expression, his only words were to "hurry up" and "stop dawdling."
No such luck, it seemed. The next three vendors all gave him the same wary stare; the same fake smiles and forced kindness. It was hopeless. After living there for over 12 years, he thought the town would have warmed up to him by now, but alas, nothing had changed. Sitting on side of a calmer street, he carelessly set down his baskets and rested his chin on his palm. 12 years of going into town everyday, 12 years of going in hopes that the people would for once give him a real smile and still: no results.
In frustration, he kicked a small rock down the stone street. He told himself that he wouldn't let it get to him, that he was happy anyways. But he liked everyone, he was nice to everyone: so why couldn't they just find it in themselves to return the favor?
Eleven, Eleven, he reminded himself. Oh, he was getting sick of that number. The Holy Britannian Empire and its ceaseless conquests had finally reached overseas: and in the process turned him and everyone else from his country into a number, a mark branding them as second class-citizens.
"Suzaku?" His heart leapt as sparkling lilac-eyes suddenly consumed his vision without any warning.
"Wha!" He fell over backwards in surprise, his head narrowly missing the wall behind him. Opening his eyes, he looked up to see a concerned Euphemia, hands to her mouth in alarm.
"I'm sorry!" She hurriedly kneeled over to help him sit back up. "You just looked so down, I was worried, I mean, your always so cheerful, and-"
"It's all right!" He waved his hands frantically, trying to show he was okay. "I'm fine! It's not your fault, I was just surprised to see you right…there."
"Oh." She lowered her hand. Euphemia Lee was without a doubt the absolute treasure of that sleepy little town. She was kind and innocent; beautiful too, her pink hair flowered out like a balloon around her. There was that sweet face and elegant posture too; all like a princess. Shopkeepers delighted when she came to see them, men flocked from towns near and far to try to win her affections. It was pretty much impossible not to love her.
And Suzaku really liked her. He really did. She had never shunned him, she welcomed him with open arms from the moment he came to the village, greeting him with a smile, pulling him along for walks down the streets with her, she was really very sweet, but…
He didn't love her in the same way she loved him.
"Suzaku…" She smiled timidly while holding intriguing gleam within her eyes as she avoided his direct gaze. Despite knowing what was coming, he smiled back.
"Yes?"
"I was thinking… would you like to come over for dinner tonight? Just the two of us!" She reached for his hand, which, not wanting to make her upset, he let her have.
And therein lay his other problem with the citizens of the town. Euphemia had taken a liking to him the instant she laid her eyes on him—and made it her mission to get him to feel the same way. And it didn't help that the mayor of the town was none other than her rather frightening older sister, and his aversion to Euphy's constant attempts to make him and herself a couple (However courteous they always were) had not only earned him an essentially permanent place as the town outcast, but also the unending subtle wrath of big sister Cornelia. He almost shuddered just thinking about it.
"Euphy…" He racked his brain for a good excuse. There had to be something. "I really would love to, but I'm afraid one Lloyd's inventions just broke down. And quite badly this time, so he'll need both my and Cecile's help." It wasn't totally a lie, he thought, saying that something probably would break that night, and Lloyd would subsequently drag his housemates into helping him fix it.
Her smile disappeared and she tilted her head to the side quizzically. "Which one is this?"
"You know how my house is always so cool and refreshing here in the summer…?" He almost cringed at how fake his voice sounded. "It's the machine that keeps it that way."
"Oh, oh! Yeah!" Her face lit up. Euphemia had a habit of taking everything that he said without a second thought. "Well, I guess that's okay…you need to tell me when you're free. It seems like you're always working..." Suzaku hadn't really bothered to give it much thought, but she had a point. "…And that's not very good for you, you know? So be careful."
Suzaku began to gather his baskets as he listened to her speak, stopping only after she had finished. "Maybe that's true, but to be honest, I'm fine with it, Euphy. You don't have to worry." He tucked the baskets under his arm and stood, offering her his hand. She accepted it and he helped her back up to her feet.
"Then I guess I'll just have to trust you here…Then can I at least tell you to be careful not to get into any trouble because of it?"
"Fine, fine." He held his palms open in defeat and grinned, trying to shake the sudden dark mood that had descended over their street corner. If her expression was telling the truth, it seemed to do what he had intended. "I really do need to be going now, but it was nice talking to you.."
"Same!" She giggled. It was a sweet sound, cheery and bright, enough to stir a familiar pang of guilt in his chest. "I'll get a date next time, right?"
Suzaku, who was already walking down the street, hesitated to answer. "Well… I'll see about that…? I'll see you later!" He waved, and then hurried off, leaving a partially confused, partially disappointed Euphemia on the street corner.
Really, he felt a bit awful for constantly turning her down. Other than Gino and Cecile, (When she opted to take him in, Lloyd just sort of went with it. He didn't mind though, Lloyd wasn't really for or against anyone.) Euphemia was arguably the only person to have ever shown him real kindness. He just didn't feel the same way as she did, and it had to come along and complicate things.
Swallowing those thoughts, Suzaku carefully swung the door to his house open. He had been over-thinking all sorts of disheartening things that morning, so perhaps home would provide some relief.
"I'm back!" He called.
"Ah, Suzaku-kun!" Cecile quickly ran to greet him, though not with a particularly bright expression. So much for relief. "I know this is sudden, but you'll need to just go with it. Lloyd's in a bit of a…tizzy right now."
"Why?" Suzaku frowned; his thoughts immediately jumping to all sorts of awful situations the inventor could've gotten himself into. Cecile's worried expression was not helping.
"Relax, it's actually not a bad thing." Cecile reassured him. "A messenger dropped by while you were gone. Apparently, Lloyd's gotten a request to dine with an especially wealthy young man tomorrow night, and he's asking for Lloyd's help with something." The inventor dashed by the pair, practically shouting about something too fast to be understood. "Unfortunately, Lloyd wants to have that project he's been working on finished before he goes…you know how he hates leaving unfinished work… And that goal's a bit further off than he'd like."
"Oh, well that's a very good thing then!" Suzaku replied, his mood brightening. "This might be the break he's been waiting for, right?"
"Yes, quite possibly! Now if only we could get him to calm down a bit first, else we'll be hearing this—" She motioned in Lloyd's general direction, where his shouts and various mechanical noises originated. "All night." With a long sigh, she left him for the kitchen while grumbling something about how she could have ended up living with the unusual inventor,
Suzaku chuckled and followed her in. "But isn't this normally what we hear all night?"
"Ah, but it'll be louder now!" And Suzaku couldn't disagree.
Dinner that night was odd, to say the least. (Not that it was ever 'normal.')
Cecile, having finally dragged Lloyd away from his work demanding that he at least eat dinner with his housemates, did her best to keep things under control, but the inventor seemed to get more and more unsettled with every second away from his machines. Cecile had once told Suzaku that the man liked his inventions far more than any person… and Lloyd had done absolutely nothing to prove that statement wrong.
"Lloyd?"
"Eh?" He looked up from the ominously blue soup that he twirled his spoon around in.
"Can you at least say when you'll be leaving?" Cecile questioned, her voice like honey.
"Well…" He shifted his glasses. "He requested that I arrive for dinner, so I ought to be leaving in the morning…"
"And you'll be back…?"
"I'll send a message when I get there and tell you then." He dropped his spoon in some sort of sudden understanding, sending up a small splash. "Hm. Must be a snobbish boy."
Cecile gave him a sharp glare and a forced smile. "Don't make judgments, Lloyd." He glared back. "Well… Suzaku-kun! How did your trip to town go?"
"Fine." He replied, reaching for a piece of bread to save him from Cecile's soup. "I mean, not anything out of the ordinary… Euphy was there."
"Oho, still denying that Euphemia?" Lloyd asked with a sly grin, his spoon suddenly a tool for giving a poke one's arm from across the table.
"Well, I haven't turned her down…" Not directly, at least.
Lloyd appeared to be prepared to make another comment on that matter, but Cecile's warning glance promptly shut him up.
"…Not interested in women then?" He continued, still quite bluntly.
"… Well, I haven't thought about it." He worked hard at shredding his bread into lumps to hopefully absorb the glaring bowl of liquid beneath him. With Euphemia, all he could do was hope that she'd eventually understand that all of his polite refusals really meant that he wasn't going to love her in the same way anytime soon. "Euphy…she's very sweet and all, just…"
Lloyd suddenly interrupted him with a snort, loudly declaring his lack of interested. "Whatever. If you don't want money it's not my problem." Cecile responded with a dark glance and a thump to the head, sending Lloyd writhing down onto the table in pain.
"We're better off than most of the people in this town, and you know it! And this is not even a matter of money in the first place! If he doesn't want to be with her, that's fine, so be respectful!" She hissed under her breath.
Suzaku laughed nervously and decided it best to change the subject back to the original topic. "By the way, who is the man who invited you? Is he well-known over in the city or something?"
"Honestly? You don't know?" Lloyd responded, popping back up. Suzaku shook his head.
"You know that old mansion east of here?"
He nodded. "The one that's back near the forest, right?"
Lloyd clapped his hands together. "Congratulations! He lives there."
Suzaku was still slightly confused. "But isn't it abandoned?"
"Not anymore. It seems that this boy just came and fixed it up a bit."
"Oh… then that'd make sense." He supposed that it only went to show just how wealthy this man was. He had only seen it from a distance, and even that had been years ago, but he remembered the mansion being in such disrepair that it could hardly be called such. He went quiet for a moment. "If that's the case… does he know if there really is anyone in the castle back there?"
Lloyd stared at him for a second in some sort of mild shock. Suzaku couldn't blame him. It was an odd question to be coming out of his mouth. "I wouldn't know. But honestly, no one's ever been able to get anywhere near that old palace, so I'd doubt he'd have any idea."
"Are you into those rumors?" Cecile asked him softly. "You know…"
'Oh… no, not really. I was just curious." Suzaku idly rotated his spoon in his hand. The town had been plagued with rumors of some twisted inhabitant of that "unreachable castle" for just about five years; right after a large fire had swept through the town. They ranged as far as a mere social outcast, to some dreadful murderer in hiding; some townsfolk even believed it was a real monster living there.
Suzaku wasn't sure what to make of it. As far as he could see, the thought of a real monster living there was completely outlandish (but sometimes he had to admit that the villagers stories, however fabricated they were, gave him a bit of a chill) and a murderer would still be a stretch. Perhaps someone did live back there, but saying that no one had ever found away to reach the castle, he figured he wouldn't be finding out anytime soon. And it was more likely than not just something that had stuck from the time when the whole town was busy coming up with things to distract themselves from the destruction left by the fire.
"Suzaku." Lloyd bent over the table, waving his hand in front of his nose in an attempt to bring him back to reality. "My, you're spacing out plenty tonight."
"I guess I'm just tired." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. He wasn't sure if that really was the entire reason for his distracted state, but supposed that it sounded about right.
Cecile carefully studied his tired eyes before coming to a conclusion. "Why don't you go get some sleep then? It's fine; I can take care of cleaning up the kitchen tonight, and I'll help out Lloyd too."
"Cecile, I can't-" He began to protest.
"Then it's settled! I'll do your work tonight." She practically leapt out of her chair when she bent over to Suzaku. "Honestly, you work too hard every day, Suzaku-kun. You're doing your share of housework, on top of helping out around town, while pursuing your own interests, and helping Lloyd... It's no wonder you're finally tiring out."
"Cecile…" He couldn't hold back a little smile.
"You deserve the break." She waved him off. "Go get some sleep."
Giving in (with some remaining hesitation), he stifled a yawn, slid out of his chair and left the small table, making for his bedroom.
"Good night, Lloyd, Cecile." He waved lazily to both of them, and fell asleep the minute he hit his bed, with thoughts of mansions and rumors enduring in his mind.
Though Suzaku nearly overslept Lloyd's departure, he awoke just in time and it ended up going off without a hitch. Lloyd had happily announced once again that he'd send a message that night to tell them of when he'd be back, and then rode off, his "good-bye" hardly audible (or non-existant) over the thunder of his horse. After that, the day fell back into a typical lull.
Suzaku, now feeling much more alert and rested, decided that a stop at the town's little food spot might be a good way to break up the day. He quietly slipped into the coffee house, seating himself at a table in the far corner of the place, near Anya, who, as usual, silently drew various people and places around her in velvety black ink. He began to watch her work as he waited for his tea to come, marveling how perfectly the girl could replicate the scene outside of the window; each leaf, cloud, and line was like an exact copy of the real view. Before long, he found himself mesmerized by it, his tea arriving with him hardly even noticing it.
"Hey, Suzaku!" An arm draped itself across his shoulder and drew him in tight, instantly ripping him from his trance. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"
Suzaku, thrown off balance, struggled to get out of the near chokehold and make a response. "Y-yeah…!" He managed to shrug Gino's arm off of his neck and looked up at the younger man above him. "What are you doing here?"
"What else would I be doing in a coffee house?" He beamed, apparently finding this enormously funny, and pulled up a chair to bestride, throwing his arms idly over the headrest. "If you mean what am I doing in town, I'm restocking my wares. I went to the city, and God, it was something. Sold out within a few days. But not the point! I should be the one asking what you're doing here, given that you never take a break for anything."
Suzaku shook his head. "Well, I have a bit of free time—Lloyd's out of town. I figured I'd try to break up the monotony."
"Out of town, eh? Good business?"
"So it seems. There's a well-to-do man who requested his help with something, but I don't know what it is, and I honestly, I don't think Lloyd does either. But no sense in turning it down, right?" He watched the steam rise from his mug and realized (with a stifled laugh) how the whole thing sounded pretty ridiculous when he put it like that. "He lives in that old mansion."
Gino frowned. "The one by the forest?" Suzaku nodded a yes, virtually launching Gino as far as he could over the chair. "No way… everyone's been steering clear of the forest since all those castle rumors started coming up, so that's been what …about five years? This guy must either be from a ways away, or completely oblivious to general chitchat if he wants to live so close it. I'd bet money that if he requested to see anyone other than Lloyd, they wouldn't have gone."
"Oh, really...?" Suzaku swallowed hard. Gino's words somehow made him uncomfortable, like Lloyd shouldn't be there, like things were about to go sour, and he found himself wishing that he wouldn't have mentioned it.
"Hey." Gino's hand was circling around in front of his face. "All of that stuff is just hearsay, right? You'll all be fine." As much as he tried to tell himself that he believed it, he couldn't seem to find it in him.
They continued to talk for the rest of the hour, Suzaku asked him about how business was for the young merchant, about what the city and other parts of the country were like, how Anya's half of the business was going (She continued to draw, hardly even stopping to look up at the pair.) As interesting as it was, and no matter how many times he assured himself that it was just irrational fear, he couldn't shake the ominous feeling that the start of the conversation had given him, and it held a portion of his attention throughout. It was as if his whole opinion of Lloyd's venture had been flipped upside down, and all because of a fairly casual statement, one that probably shouldn't have provoked such turbulence in him.
Long after Suzaku had finished his tea, Gino decided that he best be going back to his place, and headed out, pulling Anya along with him. Hastily, Suzaku did the same and left the café, making for his house immediately to hopefully find something to calm his pointlessly disturbed nerves.
Of course, all he found was the usual housework and a busy Cecile, nether of which helped at all. From there, it only got worse. Hours passed and still no message had arrived, not the smallest note giving nothing but a date or time. Night fell, morning came, another day, and not a word had arrived from Lloyd.
The remaining two members of the household in an unspoken agreement knew that they could not just smile and ignore it any longer. That afternoon, Suzaku and Cecile sat at the remarkably empty table in dead silence.
"Well…" Cecile was twiddling her thumbs at a near frantic pace under the table where he couldn't see. "He's not coming back soon."
"…He isn't." Regretting that he hadn't voiced his concerns earlier, Suzaku avoided looking directly at her. "Do you think…? I mean, that he…?"
"I'm sure he's fine. That idiot probably just forgot to send the message and got all caught up in his work..." Cecile insisted softly. "We're just being too anxious about this. It's nothing at all."
"Right, right. That's all it is, he is forgetful…" The false optimism was painfully mutual. "Maybe…" Suzaku hesitated. "Maybe I should go check. I could take the other horse to the mansion and find him. If he's there, there's no harm done, and I could even help him out if he needs it." He paused. "And even if he didn't… make it…there, I might be able to find him along the way and get him back home safely. Please, it's really the only option, Cecile."
Cecile shook her head stubbornly. "It may be the only thing we can do, but I'll go, not you. If something did happen to him while on the way there, you could very well wind up in the same position."
"But I've been down that route more than you have—It'll be safer if I go. And I'd rather have it be me instead of you who gets hurt." Besides, the town can't lose you, but it can lose me. But he held the sour thought in. Cecile didn't respond. "Please." He begged again. "It'll turn out fine, I promise."
"Wait until tomorrow?" She inquired softly.
Suzaku shook his head. "I don't think it can wait. And neither do you."
"Then…you're a persistent boy sometimes, Suzaku-kun." She sighed and rose from her chair. "At least let me get the horse ready for you."
Suzaku gave her a half-smile. "Fair enough."
Cecile appeared satisfied enough with that and began to glide away from the kitchen, only to stop at the exit. She didn't face him, but spoke clearly.
"When will you be ready?"
"An hour." He replied. "I shouldn't need anymore than that."
"You won't exceed the amount time you're planning for, right?"
"Of course not." He joined her by the kitchen entrance, and placed what he hoped was a reassuring hand on her shoulder. When she turned her face to him, her expression gave away how simply unconvinced she was, and he could not deny that fact, no matter how hard he tried.
And that expression didn't leave, even as her figure by the house grew smaller and smaller on the horizon.
It wasn't until he was actually on the road that it dawned upon Suzaku (and he truly wondered why it hadn't come to him any earlier) that he'd be riding through a forest at night. The trip had started out fine, he made it to the woodlands with no trouble, even passing by several other travelers on the way there, but now, he could hardly even see his own hands.
He kept picturing Cecile's face as she handed him the last of his bags. A tight-lipped smile and eyes with an expression he couldn't quite place, something not along the lines of a grim preparation for the worst, but that she was already accepting—and bearing, the truth that the worst existed. Part of him felt right away that her words— "Hurry back."" I'll see you soon."—Were merely her going through the motions, and that in truth, she expected none of it. She was already grieving for a tragedy that hadn't even begun.
It was this, and Gino's words that suddenly led him to question his own feelings on what was awaiting him, and the solitude imposed by the blackness around him was only allowing his doubts to grow. He had been fully expecting to be back by the end of the week, at the latest, yet now a voice sang at the back of his head, that he was wrong, that something awful had transpired, or would be very soon.
With an exasperated sigh, he strained his eyes far into the night once again before giving up all together. Regardless of what lie ahead, he hadn't the faintest idea where he was going now and riding blindly was only making it worse: if there were ever a time to quit for the night, it would be now. A sharp jerk on the reins brought his horse to a halt, and he slowly, very slowly, made the move to dismount. But the chance passed him by. A loud crack echoed from somewhere close, but the darkness had disoriented him to the point where it was made impossible to tell the direction. It didn't matter. The horse was instantly shaken by the sharp noise, and bolted into the forest, Suzaku still on its back.
"H—hey!" He crouched over tightly in an attempt to protect himself from the unseen branches rushing towards him. Twigs and bushes whipped past his ears and caught onto his shirt as they moved what seemed to be faster and faster and faster, and all in complete darkness.
It was quite possibly the most frightening thing that had ever happened to him. Even looking back later, Suzaku still shuddered every time he thought of those few minutes where he rushed between invisible trees with God-knows-what coming straight at him.
The entire time, the only thing he could possibly think was that he needed to get off, and fast. His wish was quickly granted, though not in quite the way he was hoping for.
He was unsure of what exactly had occurred to take him off his unwanted ride, but there was a sharp turn, a jolt, then a mouthful of dirt. And it was over. He lay there on the ground for what felt like several minutes, not daring to move as a throbbing pain engulfed him, coursing along what seemed to be every square inch of his left side. His thoughts, still jumbled and chaotic pleaded for nothing to be broken, and with a groan, he forced himself up, if only to spit the taste of soil from his mouth.
Hesitantly, he waved his limbs about to ensure they were still working; much to his relief, they were. I suppose that's a good start… It didn't take long for him to realize that he was covered in cuts and bruises and dreadfully sore, but nothing appeared broken, and for that, he couldn't be more thankful.
It was only then, when the pain and shock had subsided enough for him to think, that he realized Cecile had been right. He was stranded. Alone and without transport in the one place he had been told to avoid for years on end, with not a clue of how far in he was, and all in the pitch-black darkness of the midnight hours.
Before he had come to the village, before he was taken in by a cook and the oddity of an inventor who lived with her, he remembered being told by someone with a stern face that he could not remember, that in a desperate situation, panic would only lead to death. Though the features of the statement's author had faded away, he could at least say that those words had influenced his reaction to such circumstances. Only twice before did he have to take heed to those words, and both times, he managed to listen, and to succeed.
However, this time, panic threatened him, if only for the briefest, fraction of a second. He battled it down as vigorously as he could, gazing at his palm with what might have seemed like a blank stare if anyone were to have seen it.
With perfect timing, it all came together. He could see his hand, if only very faintly, but that alone was like a beacon of light after hours of sightlessness. A renewed burst of hope flowed through him, and he stumbled to his feet, all but whirling around to see where he had landed.
He stumbled backwards the instant he saw it, nearly falling right back down to the place where he had been sitting. His vision had returned courteously of a clearing, quite large in size and more likely than not at least partially manmade due to the massive expanse of a castle that resided in it, its gates but meters away from where he stood. The moonlight only enhanced the magical, wondrous quality that it seemed to hold, despite the stone gray walls and sharp iron gates. He figured that it might have just been the simple fact that it was a castle, and not only that, but a supposedly unreachable castle,that made him feel in such a way, but even then, it did not diminish anything from it.
The shock slowly began to transition into an idea. The castle showed few signs of wear or damage—meaning that someone (or something, he thought vaguely) was at the very least taking care of the place, and help could very well be a short walk away. The supposed resident could perhaps at the least point him the right direction for him to head come morning. Beyond that, he might find shelter, assistance, maybe a map…
He took the first few steps towards it with his eyes fixed on the towers rather than his feet, then stopped abruptly, the full meaning of what he was about to do setting in. In a blind need to find some sort of help, he had completely forgotten just what castle this was. No one was known to have ever been as close to it as he was now, and there was nothing but dark rumors surrounding it. Maybe there was a chance of finding some support, but the more he thought about it, the less likely it seemed that he'd find what he was searching for in a castle owned by someone who rarely, or possibly even never, left it. Horrors of all kinds could be in there, and he was well aware that he might be walking right into them.
And in a moment of bravery, desperation, stupidity, or some combination of the three, that's exactly what he did.
All good...? Next chapter we'll meet out "beast" and our crazy cast of object-servants. (This is so much fun, I can't even begin to explain!)
On some silly side notes, I made lentil soup for dinner while I wrote the part mentioning it. It was quite delicious and it did not include blueberries as an ingredient. (Part of me wants to try adding them... just to be ridiculous...XD)
Reviews are always wonderful~