Disclaimer: I don't own Kyou Kara Maou
Stay Strong
Chapter 2: The Call
"How is he Gisella?" worry painted all over Gunter's face. His heart broke as the recently recovered Maou fell ill again. If he could choose, he did not mind being the one suffering as long as his beloved pupil was safe and sound. How he wished to the Shinou that all these episodes of fainting would come to an end soon.
"I can't seem to find anything wrong with him, Otou-san," the green-haired court physician replied while the green glow on her hand traced the Maou's body in an attempt to figure out what caused him to lose consciousness the day before. The same worry was also etched on her face. Her eyes were fixated on her King and she tried to examine him all over again.
The party who left for Dai Shimaron reached Shin Makoku early in the morning. It was a pleasant thing to see the Maou's long lost protector was back with everyone again. Days without him had successfully stolen the heart-warming smile from the King. Now that he was here beside Yuuri, the castle would finally regain its liveliness again.
Gisella noticed something was wrong as she welcomed the entourage. The usual cheery voice of Yuuri was absent and as much as they were happy with Conrart's return, their faces were not in the mood of rejoicing. Something was definitely amiss.
It was Gunter, who stepped in first and ordered for the King's private bedroom to be prepared, who allowed Gisella to figure things out. From what Gunter filled her in, Yuuri was perfectly fine until he suddenly grimaced in pain and passed out with high fever accompanying. Francia's court physician tried to help, but he did not have the capacity to use maryoku, rendering him unable to accurately examine the Maou. In the end, all they could do were attempting to bring Yuuri's fever down and reduce his pain with some medicinal herbs. Fortunately, when they left Francia earlier this day, Yuuri's fever had gone down and he did not seem to in pain anymore. However, throughout the trip and even until this moment, he remained unconscious.
"Well, I think we can only wait until Shibuya wakes up," the Soukoku Daikenja concluded.
As much as anyone wanted to object, they could not do anything else. Silent prayers filled everyone's mind as they really have no clue about Yuuri's condition. It did hurt them when they saw their King, the one who had transformed demon kingdom into a magnanimous rather than merciless kingdom, was lying still on his bed. How they missed their King's infectious smile and joyful laughter, even when he was only unconscious for less than a day.
"I'm going to finish the undone paperwork. Gunter," Gwendal called for Gunter as he signalled that it was the time for them to leave now. Even though he seemed to be so emotionless, deep inside he was really concerned about Yuuri. He cared for Yuuri regardless of his utter annoyance when Yuuri escaped his responsibility for that mountainous paperwork. Nevertheless, staying here would do no good for anyone. So he should just get going with his job.
Gunter spared a moment to glance over his King and he mumbled, "Please get well soon, Heika," before he followed Gwendal out of the room.
One by one, people left the room. Only Wolfram remained beside Yuuri now.
'Wimp, you better wake up soon or I'll accuse you of flirting with someone in your dream,' Wolfram thought to himself, trying to push aside the unwanted possibilities which were coming into and going out of his mind. No, he did not want to think of the bad things. He was too afraid to lose his fiancé. No matter how Wolfram agreed that his engagement was purely accident, he admitted that he began to develop feelings for Yuuri and he respected Yuuri so much more now.
Wolfram rubbed Yuuri's hand gently in his, hoping that this would bring Yuuri back to him. He heard a lot that when someone is unconscious or in a coma, physical contact and communication are important. Regardless of how futile one thinks about interacting with someone unable to respond, such interaction indeed affect the catatonic person in some intangible ways. Well, that was what he was going to do. He would stay beside Yuuri until those jet-black eyes would open again.
Minutes passed into hours and nothing has changed. People occasionally came into Yuuri's room, checking on him, only to find Wolfram not budging from his original position beside the still sleeping King. It did not matter. After all that had happened before, everyone trusted their King that he would stay strong and wake up at a point of time.
Birds chirped their song under the bright sunny day. It was the beginning of another day in Shin Makoku. Everything seemed to be normal, except that it was rather quiet in the castle; or maybe quietness had been the normal since Conrart left before. Soldiers trained more seriously with tense expression on their faces, maids hurriedly did their chores without their usual titbits of gossip shared as they passed one another in the corridors, and more predominantly, there were more people gathering in the King's chamber aside from its usual occupants.
Another daily round checks of the King's condition, just like what had always happened every time the King passed out for days. Even without any reminder, anyone close to the Maou would know the time when Gisella would visit Yuuri. It became like a morning assembly routine for them to find out about any improvements or – hopefully not – deteriorations on the Maou's health.
A sigh from Gisella was enough as a full-length report on the Maou's health to everyone who came to his room. No change, nothing. Although they were glad that Yuuri's condition did not worsen, they could not help but to hope that at least they could hear a piece of happy news about Yuuri. Even if Yuuri was unable to do anything, his waking up was good enough to add a tinge of spirit to do their usual mundane works. Certainly, Yuuri's existence has become an inseparable part of everyone's lives in the castle.
Just when everyone was going to leave Yuuri's room for their respective responsibilities, the blond prince shouted, "Yuuri!" – One single word that kind of have the power to gather everyone. Like a pre-rehearsed act of a movie, everyone turned back and started to fill in the room again.
"He squeezed my hand just now!" Wolfram scanned through everyone's faces before turning back to Yuuri.
"Yuuri, can you hear me?" he spoke with a softer voice now, realising that he was being too loud for someone who might just wake up, "Please open your eyes. We... I can't take this anymore... Please, Yuuri..."
As though the Shinou heard his prayers, black orbs slowly came into view. Glassy at first, as the two eyelids flipped a few times, and then they became focused on another pair of enchanting emerald eyes. A wide smile appeared on the too beautiful face for a boy, followed by a bear hug as Wolfram leapt towards Yuuri – mindful that Yuuri was still weak.
"Yuuri! I'm so glad! Finally you're awake!"
"Ano... Wolfram..." Yuuri spoke haltingly, "I can't... breathe..."
"Ara, I'm so sorry!" Wolfram immediately let go of Yuuri, realising that he might choke the Maou into another few days of sleeping. Yuuri then sat up on his bed.
"Heika, how are you feeling?" Gisella got into her usual spot when she examined the King.
"Err... Very fine actually," Yuuri stretched his arms and straightened up his back, "Feels as if I just woke up from a very long sleep."
"Yeah, actually you did sleep for quite long this time round, Bocchan," Yozak supplied, "about two days actually."
"Eehhh? That long? What happened to me?" there went Yuuri's characteristic comical shock.
"We also don't know, Bocchan. But glad that you're finally awake now."
Yuuri looked around him; he saw everyone was there, relieved at his awakening. He was really glad that he has such wonderful friends or even family in this alternate world. The first time he came into this world – or flushed into this world to be exact – he thought he was going to suffer a pitiful death soon. He knew nothing about this strange place, hell he could not even understand every single word the people said around him. It was until the hidden language in his mind was awakened, followed by Conrart's appearance that he discovered a chance of survival in this world. Unfavourable events did happen, but overall, he was glad he could find his place in Shin Makoku.
"Ah, that means I haven't been exercising for days. Conrad, shall we go for a jog? It's not too late right?" Yuuri looked at his nazukeoya.
"Well, of course not. But are you sure you're okay? Shouldn't you be resting for a bit more?" a charming smile pasted on Conrart's face. He was glad to find nothing was wrong with his godson, but at the same time, he could not just dismiss the concern about his godson's health.
"I feel very fine. Come on, let's go!" Yuuri put his blanket aside, ready to jump down the bed and get changed.
"Ah wait, Heika! At least let me examine you for a short while," Gisella stopped Yuuri. As his personal health advisor, she could not take chance on her King's condition.
"Okay, okay..." Yuuri remained seated while letting Gisella check on him.
"Ah, Heika... Such a strong spirit you have there. I, Gunter von Christ, am really the most fortunate man in this world to be an eye-witness of Heika's indomitable resilience over hardships. How I wish I could remain on your side to see your ideals come into realisation and I shall..." Gwendal ushered Gunter out of the Maou's chamber as he and everyone knew Gunter's speech would not end until the Maou was out of his sight.
Further down the hall, they could hear, "Ah, Heika! Heikaaa!" and they just sweat-dropped at another of Gunter's monologue. Thank Gwendal that they did not need to watch Gunter's show any longer. One could not stop thinking, how Gunter managed to get his reputation as an excellent swordsman and renowned wiseman in the kingdom.
"Err... Conrad? Is this really necessary?" Yuuri showed his reluctance to attend the banquet held by Lord Stoffel von Spitzberg together with this many advisors and a platoon of soldiers.
"Well, Heika, if I could choose, I would even like you to not come at all," Conrart responded to his King. He was actually unwilling to let Yuuri attend the banquet because he still could not trust Stoffel's sincerity. He suspected that this might just be another of Stoffel's propaganda to gain power from the Maou. However, it was impolite if Stoffel's invitation for the King was just being dismissed. So in the end, he, along with some other King's advisors decided to come with the King.
"It's Yuuri, nazukeoya. Sigh... Going to a party like going to a war like this... How am I supposed to enjoy myself?" Yuuri grumbled, "And Wolfram, can't you just stop being so grouchy?"
"Aren't you yourself also complaining now?" Wolfram barked. He could not believe that Stoffel dared to act up again and on top of that; his brothers seemed to be playing along Stoffel's plot. Was it not obvious enough that Stoffel has never had any good intentions for whatever he was doing to Yuuri? Why would all of them let Yuuri go to Stoffel's residence?
"Argh, okay fine," Yuuri pouted and chose not to comment some more to avoid any fight with Wolfram.
Days seemed to be going further downhill ever since his recovery. Suddenly an invitation arrived on the Maou's table when he was doing another painful pile of paperwork. It was from Stoffel. Stoffel was going to hold a banquet to celebrate the King's success over forming alliance with large countries. Endless arguments had started from that moment onwards. While some said the King should not come as it might be dangerous – considering Stoffel's attempt to kidnap the King before, others said that if the King did not come, it just proved that the King was biased against Stoffel and Stoffel might use this for another of his plans.
In the end, it was decided that Yuuri would still come for the party on the condition that his advisors would come with him. Yuuri was already rather irritated at this because he did not have a say in this matter. He was the King, but this decision was more like made by his advisors. Who knows if Stoffel might have change?
Upon reaching Stoffel's residence, Yuuri tried to ease the tense atmosphere by admiring Stoffel's garden. Too bad, the only result he got was further accusations against Stoffel and he could only sigh at it. Apparently it was harder that what he thought to resolve the long-existing conflicts between the two parties, since Lady Cheri's reign.
'Gosh, I hope I can survive this,' Yuuri thought in defeat.
The banquet went on smoothly with Stoffel, as expected, constantly praising Yuuri until Yuuri felt uncomfortable at the never-ending flattery. Aside from that, there was nothing irregular at all.
Looking around at his companions, Yuuri did not find them relaxed a single bit. Though they were rather far away from Yuuri as he sat on one corner, he found them stealing a glance at him every now and then. They appeared to be having conversations with other people, but their eyes remained fixed on Yuuri.
Suddenly, the similar burning sensation reached for Yuuri's chest again.
'Oh no! Not now!' Yuuri panicked. Of all the other times, why did it have to happen now? The situation was already bad enough and he did not want to aggravate it.
Yuuri tried his best to hide the pain that was toying with him. He put on his so-called poker face and sat straight, which did not help to relieve his pain. Ah, how he wished that there was another strange tradition in this world that slumping down on your chair was a gesture of appreciation or something, such that he could ease his agony without attracting unnecessary attention.
Wolfram came over to Yuuri and Yuuri struggled to maintain his act.
"Ne, Yuuri..." Wolfram started, "Umm... Okay. I think I might have been thinking too much. This time round, Stoffel doesn't seem to keep any plans up his sleeve."
"Di-didn't I tell you that?" Yuuri luckily managed to cover up his stutter as the pain intensified.
"Yeah... I guess you're right. Well, I couldn't help. You're too often being so naive and wimpy until I got to step in to help you," Wolfram's usual high self-esteem could be heard clearly, to which Yuuri was glad that Wolfram was no longer exasperated by his coming for the banquet.
"Shall we go for some dessert? I want to try the parfait over there," Wolfram pointed to one side where the appetising frozen dessert was, if only there was no annoying throbbing in Yuuri's gut.
"Oh, okay. Sure..." Yuuri could not reject because it would just raise suspicion and bring forward more questions on him. The longer they talked, the harder it was for Yuuri to hold his fine outlook. So it was better if he just went along with Wolfram.
The only thing that Yuuri failed to calculate beforehand was that the heightening agony could successfully make his legs tremble. Halfway to the dessert section, Yuuri held Wolfram's hand that was guiding him tighter before he tripped and finally collapsed onto the carpeted floor.
Yuuri finally gave in to his suffering as voices around him turned into incomprehensible static. Before he completely lost his grip on consciousness, he vaguely recognised Wolfram grabbed him and lowered him slowly to the ground. Then some people came over and someone in brown carried him out of the banqueting hall.
"There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with him," Gisella concluded. She just finished examining her King again and obtained the same result as that for the previous case.
"But, something must be wrong since this is not the first time!" Gunter denied Gisella's finding.
"I'm sorry, but I really can't figure out what causes this," Gisella looked at Yuuri – who was squirming in agony a moment ago – regretfully. All she could do was alleviating Yuuri's pain as best as she could without knowing the reason behind it. Fortunately, there was not any fever coming along.
"Yuuri..." holding Yuuri's hand, worry covered Wolfram's face. He did not mind staying up the whole night, holding Yuuri's hand at the expense of his own rest; but he could not stand being unable to do anything to help Yuuri.
When Yuuri and Wolfram were walking to get the dessert, Wolfram felt Yuuri tightened the grip on his hand. He turned around just in time to see Yuuri fell down and quickly grabbed Yuuri's upper arms. He felt like getting a heart attack as he cried out Yuuri's name. The Maou's advisors quickly gathered around and Conrart finally carried him out of the room.
They had explained to Stoffel that Yuuri was not feeling well recently and they would like to head back to Blood Pledge Castle right away. For once, they could feel Stoffel was genuinely concerned for Yuuri – regardless of whether the true motive might be for his own gain. Nevertheless, they were glad that there was no further questioning or holding of the Maou longer in Stoffel's residence.
Finally, everyone decided that they should just rest for the night, hoping that by the next day, Yuuri would be awake and maybe they could get some clues about his fits. As everyone left the King's chamber, Wolfram stayed and climbed the bed over to his usual side. It was harder for him to fall asleep now that he felt he needed to watch over Yuuri. Fatigue took over Wolfram only when it was further into the midnight.
Deep into the night, the crescent moon provided the little light to the dark world. A hooded figure in black was staring intensely onto a crystal ball, murmuring some chanting. The crystal ball showed an image of a young man with a glowing red symbol on his body sleeping.
More chanting and the young man opened his eyes – his unseeing eyes. He got up from his bed and walked like the dead, out of his room and further down the dark corridor. He kept on walking, leaving the castle where he stayed, towards the creepy forest, looming to swallow anyone who dared to go into it.
Shivers as the only thing protecting him for the cold night was his pyjamas, scratches on his hands from the sharp branches, as well as cuts and grazes on his bare feet were ignored as he walked further and further into the darkness where nobody would likely be able to find him.
Conrart was getting ready to sleep after he finished his usual patrol in the castle. He looked at the unusually eerie crescent moon which gave him a rather unpleasant feeling today. Diverting his eyes onto the garden, he saw someone so familiar in blue outfit.
"Yuuri..?" Conrart squinted his eyes to get a better look in the darkness before a knock on his door pulled his attention away.
"Kakka," a soldier appeared before Conrart as he opened the door.
"What is it?" Conrart asked.
"We saw Heika heading out of the castle. We tried to talk to him but there was no response," the soldier reported to Conrart, confirming Conrart's suspicion.
"I'll go after him. Prepare my horse and inform Lord von Voltaire right away," Conrart replied.
"Yes, Kakka," the soldier bowed and he quickly rushed to do as what Conrart had ordered him to.
Conrart moved back into his room and immediately changed back to his usual military uniform. He took his sword, the Sword of Life, which he had sworn to protect Yuuri with it. He knew something bad might happen following Yuuri's fits and now this. Wasting no other seconds, Conrart hurried to the foyer where he saw both Gwendal and Gunter there.
"I'm going to find him now," Conrart told both of them.
"Oh how could this happen?" Gunter started to panic.
"Please don't spread this around for now. I will bring Heika back as soon as I find him," Conrart continued.
"Be careful," the long silent Gwendal finally spoke, eyes deep into Conrart's.
"I will," Conrart answered as he permitted himself to get to his horse and galloped towards the direction where Yuuri left.
In the foyer, Gunter's panic was totally ignored by Gwendal. All Gwendal could wish was for Yuuri to be safe and more importantly, for his brother too. He knew Conrart was no weak man. Conrart was the Lion of Luttenburg, the one who survived the deadly battle. However, the bad premonition that has been haunting him made him more cautious towards Conrart's safety.
'Shinou, please keep them safe.'
There goes chapter 2!
I decided to put a title for each chapter. I think it gives readers a better impression of the main idea behind each chapter (or does it not?). I also double the length of this chapter. Hope you're satisfied with it.
Thanks jayfeather63 for you review! Haha it felt so good to have my first review.
Oh oh I wanna ask too! Do you prefer me using the Japanese form of address (e.g Heika, Geika) or the English one (e.g. Your Highness, Your Excellency)?
Please review this one too! I would be really glad to find out whether my ideas are accepted.
So thanks for reading and see y'all on the next chapter!
