Disclaimer: I do not own Ni No Kuni or it characters, they are owned by Level 5.
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"H-he l-l-looks just like...".
"Just like Prince Gascon" his partner finished.
"You must be mistaken" Amelia interjected, "from what I'm aware of, the young prince Gascon, went missing over 4 years ago, and Swaine, here, has been with us for roughly the same amount of time, surely it would be impossible".
The two guards exchanged glances, uncertainty clearly showing in their expressions, before looking towards Swaine one last time, then sighing.
"I suppose that makes sense" the first guard eventually spoke. His partner looked at the group "the young Prince Marcassin could truly use his brother at this time" he muttered darkly.
'What' Swaine looked up towards the two guards, his mouth went dry as panic rose in his chest. His brother was in trouble?
"What exactly is the problem" Pepper inquired, his head tilting in a slight notion to express his confusion at the guards sudden change in stature.
"Huh" the guard barked, "a-ah never mind, suppose we believe you on being travellers" he said as he spared a glance at, the now pale Swaine, "you may pass but you won't find much work, not with the state the public is in", and with one final glance at Swaine they returned to their post.
"Fancy that, being mistaken for a prince, I suppose those guards were rather desperate... thinking you were from the royal family" Cinder mused, her chin resting on her raised paw, a slight smirk plastered on her face.
"I-I guess we had best find a place to stay for the night, we can figure out how to tackle this 'work dilemma' in the morning" Pepper sighed, "I just hope we have enough Guilders to get back on that boat".
"I don't think we have, but we could try to travel north, the sooner we leave here the better, we don't need to get ourselves involved with this countries problems, why stay longer than needed" Amelia muttered, glancing at Swaine to see his reaction, but to her surprise, he looked distant, his eyes were focused on a point she couldn't see.
"I suppose..." he sighed, walking ahead of the others. Pepper and Cinder exchanged confused looks before following. Leaving Amelia to stare worryingly after Swaine. 'What secrets are you hiding' she wondered as her concern for the young man grew.
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Swaine lay on one of the inns beds, huffing as the soreness in his back subsided. At a loss of what to do, he merely stared at the ceiling allowing himself to be dragged into his own thoughts. 'Something is wrong with Marcassin, it clear as day that those guards were desperate for some form of help... but why. As far as I am aware everything was fine here' his eyes closed in concentration, 'There was very few issues with Hamelin products being found outside of Autumnia, and no rumours had made it further than these steel walls', his brows furrowed, 'what could possibly be the problem?'.
'Just what could possibly be plaguing my brother?', he thought his pondering making him anxious.
"So what are we going to do about work" Pepper inquired, snapping Swain from his thoughts. "We can hardly make it another month without a task" she continued.
"Maybe there will be some smaller tasks we can do to keep us afloat until this problem washes over, whatever the problem is exactly" Cinder responded, her ebony tail swishing from side to side in frustration.
"Setting sail is out of the question, we can't afford a room at the cat's cradle, a journey to Perdida is incredibly dangerous from here, we can't afford the equipment needed to get up those mountains safely " Amelia stated flatly, despite her dismissive tone her eyes betrayed her worry, "at the most, we could always scavenge for useful items on the plains, the monsters may carry some, and I'm certain we can find a piece of shadowglass or two between fights" she finished.
"I suppose..." Pepper sighed, his ears drooped at Amelia's suggestion, they could be stuck here a long time, selling items for mere guilders wouldn't keep them sheltered of fed for very long.
Swaine inwardly groaned, 'there's too many things wrong right now, only a month ago there were rumours of trouble with creatures along this shore', the group had assumed this would be a good chance to make a fair amount of money. Despite Swaine's protests the group had decided to go.
"What do you think we should do Swaine" Cinder mewed, "you've been quiet since we got here", she pried.
He didn't reply.
"Swaine..." Cinder pressed, unsure what to think of the younger mans change in behaviour.
"Leave him be Cinder, it's been a long day for us all" Amelia sighed, "I'm sure we'll figure this all out in the morning, it would be best if we rest for now".
Cinder looked at her for a second, preparing a rebuke, but just sighed before turning to her bed and setting her weapons on the nightstand before settling down. Pepper followed suit and settled down in his own bed, but Amelia cast one last glance towards Swaine before she followed the others to rest.
Swaine was left alone to his thoughts yet again, this time however he allowed his mind to wander into memories from many years ago.
'Marcassin has never been one to act irrationally, so it's unlikely than this has been caused by unnecessary decrees or difficulties controlling crime rate. He's always shown interest in peoples well being, so it's unlikely that his actions and decisions caused riots or protests. could it be possible that some sort of illness caused this.
Thinking back on the short journey though the gilded streets, Swaine realised that many of the people they passed looked bedraggled and dazed, it was difficult to tell at first as they were not focused on their surroundings, but thinking back to it they looked poor of health, many had dark rings around their eyes, all of them looked as pale as plaster, the few he spared more than a quick glance looked half starved and hardly any were alert. It was as if they had contacted a plague, as if they were sick to death with worry.
'Sick!' realisation hit him like a rock, 'Is that it, is my brother ill',his younger brother had always been venerable to illness, due to this, any minor illness had always affected the young boy majorly worse than the average child. If this was the case, that his brother was ill, it would explain the way the guards acted, his brother would need him now more than ever, and if the worse happened to his brother the country would be without a successor as many believed Gascon to be dead.
Swaine felt his blood run cold, 'they wouldn't of acted so desperate if my brother had only fallen ill with a minor cold he had caught them in the past, but he had always recovered in a few days, despite being bedridden for that duration of time. No, this is something more serious' he fretted, the fear for his brother's well-being returning. 'l have to find out exactly what's going on' his protective nature resurfacing as he thought over the situation.
Looking at his companions, seeing that they were asleep, he crept towards the door leading to the hallway of the inn, before sneaking out the building entirely, already knowing where his intended destination was, he paced through the back alleys listing out for any gossip or rumours that could be of use to him. This method not only offered him information but also provided him a certainty of his surroundings, if someone or something was following him... he would hear.
Passing the group of citizens and patrols of guards, earning a few startled looks from the older members of the city, he had only just passed though the back alleys into the main street when a startled, aged citizen caught sight of him, and rushed over to block his path.
"I-it can't b-be..." The older man stuttered, "y-you- your dead, you died many years a-ago". When he uttered these words, another group of adults nearby cast glances over to the conversing pair. Aware that he was attracting attention simply by being in the open, Swaine quickly altered his plan before addressing the elderly man.
"Sir, I think you've mistaken me for someone else, I-" Swaine began, only to be interrupted by the older man, who had become too certain of his belief.
"No, I know that face, I worked at the palace for a time, I would know you anywhere young prince, I-" he continued excitedly, hope flaring in his eyes, it struck Swaine at his core, so much so that he couldn't disappoint this clearly desperate man, but what choice did he have.
"Keep your voice down" he hissed quietly, suddenly aware that many more people were beginning to notice the old man's outburst, each of them now staring at the duo, trying to catch a glimpse of the young man. "I'm afraid you have mistake me for this 'prince', I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I am not him" Swaine spoke more loudly, and to his relief, many of the spectators lost interest in the old man's confident outburst.
the elder however, looked unconvinced, but didn't question Swaine and mumbles a half hearted apology before turning and, to Swaine's horror, stumbled over to a guard, presumable to report his find.
Filled with a sudden wave of dread, Swaine scampered into a nearby alleyway, luckily it was on his planed route, without wasting another second, he began to stalk through the maze of narrow passages that lined the backs of buildings on the main street. The buzz of activity echoed through the bronze, shadowed passage.
The gentle hum of the street gradually faded, the further he ventured into the twist and turns of the passages. The journey reminding him of past years. he would often take this path through the streets when he was younger in order to sneak out of the palace unnoticed, he had also brought Marcassin through this passage way when he trained him outside the city.
Far from his father's watchful gaze and the guards prying eyes.
They hadn't known at the time that his brother had the powers of the sage, and the elder of the two brothers intended to pass on what little knowledge he had gained from his former magic teacher, onto his little brother before Marcassin plucked up the courage and faced his father with the knowledge of his powers.
He had journeyed this path since he was nine, he was much too young to make that journey alone now that he looked back on it, though he would have denied any problem with the activity at the time as would only journey out to collect objects necessary in crafting his gun, and to explore the less known areas of the city.
Swaine was shaken from these memories when the entryway he had been seeking came into view. A simple bronze door, hardly different to the eye than any other door in the city, but seemingly built more sturdy than the foundation of the great city itself. Its locks were unpick able to any thief or skilled ruffian, the hinges overlapped by the heavy metal of the door, it would be impossible to open to anyone of the city, as the only key available to the long since unused door had been 'lost' over a decade ago.
Not that it had concerned anyone as the door was believed to have been blocked off decades ago when the passageway behind it crumbled due to misuse and neglect. The key had been kept within the palace and forgotten for years until the curious prince had stumbled across it while rummaging through the storage rooms draws, eventually his wanderings had led him to discover that it lead through a heavily damaged tunnel which had also lead to several old pipes, which in turn, spread out in a network or pipes and tunnels that passed under the city. More importantly, it had also lead to this very door that Swaine was currently faced with, a passageway only he knew about.
Sighing, he pulled a small chin containing said key, from under the cloth on his chest, a necklace he had left with when he left the city, and unlocked the door.
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A throbbing pain pierced through the mists of darkness that had engulfed the young boy in sleep. He blinked open his eyes through the haze of pain and exhaustion. He had been woken from his slumber earlier during the afternoon to be informed that several of the guards had supposedly reported seeing a individual who resembled his brother, in his desperation he had begged the messenger to bring the man to him, only to be informed that the man was not with them.
Under Marcassin's orders, they had set out to look for the man, the young prince attempting to remain awake until the soldiers reported back... but he had succumbed to fatigued before then.
Upon waking, he had realised that hours had passed, and he had missed a meal, a very poor circumstance considering his illness. And despite the dull throbbing in his head, the rumbling of his stomach caught his attention. He would need to eat soon if he planned on overcoming whatever illness had taken a hold of him.
'...Does Brother ever get enough to eat?' the young boy wandered, his thoughts once again resting on his brothers supposed return. His brothers whereabouts and well-being had always occupied the young boys mind, to the point where he worry restlessly about these unanswered questions. Luckily it have never affected him while he worked or trained in his magical abilities. But they had plagued him through many evenings when he had been left to his own devices.
A sharp pain surged through his body, and Marcassin let out a thin strained wail as it surged through his body. He drew in a shuddering breath as the pain faded into a dull ache.
Suppressing a sob, the young boy faced the door to his room and silently begged his brother to come home.
