Now Romulus loved his friend, whom happened to be the king of the realm, dearly but his constant bragging was terribly grating at times. That is how he ended up blurting out a lie. A lie that entailed his precious grandson, Feliciano, could change pasta into gold. Romulus regretted this with his whole being. The king, like most people, wanted proof of this strange claim. So, Romulus was ordered to bring his grandson before the king. And with a heavy heart, the man complied.
"Ve~ Grandpapa, why are we going to the castle?" Feliciano asked curiously, unaware of what his grandfather had done. He often was like this, Feliciano. Throughout the village, he brought a strange sense of cheer wherever he went. His cheerful smile and carefree attitude was very contagious. It didn't help that he was rakishly handsome. He had warm amber eyes and enough of a tan to make his teeth stand out, pearly white when he smiled.
His grandfather sighed uncharacteristically. Like his grandson, he was known to be carefree and upbeat; although, he was also known as a great, fearless general. "The king wishes to see you. I may have told him you can cook pasta into gold..."
"... what? Grandpapa! I'll surely be hung for fraud!" he teared up, to say he was disappointed in his adored grandfather would be an understatement.
"I know, Feli, but I'll figure something out. You will not be punished for this old man's mistakes," his grandfather assured him. A sad grin had taken residence on his face as they walked into the courtroom of the king's giant castle, Romulus' arm wrapped comfortingly around his grandson's shoulders. They were immediately greeted by the king.
The king sat regally in his large golden throne. He was always one for the elaborate, though most would consider his style gaudy. His throne room was a large room painted a bright red color, with intricate gold leaf designs swirling around on the walls. On an elevated stage sat his throne along with his wife's much smaller throne. Behind the thrones were two nearly wall length windows, which were currently covered by thick red curtains. The rest of the room was simply open space with multiple pictures and small tables with flowers flanking each side. Romulus was well accustomed to walking through this room, but his grandson was in awe of the grand room. Though all that was completely pointless to mention. Oh well.
"Welcome!" the king's grandiose voice rang out warmly before addressing Feliciano, "I hope you are ready to prove yourself, my friend. If you can prove your ability I will give you my son's hand in marriage."
This startled Feliciano, he didn't have a choice either way. It was death or marriage to the king's son. He almost preferred death. It wasn't like he didn't like the prince. In fact, they were great friends; at least, Feliciano believed them to be good friends. The prince, Kiku, was a reserved, polite, and handsome young man and didn't open up often. But, nonetheless, Feliciano nodded. His grandfather promised a way out, and he hoped he could in him. He was quickly taken to his quarters, seeing as the king granted him an entire day and night to complete the task.
When he reached where he was to make gold, he took a deep breath. Feliciano was greeted by a small, brick room. Inside the room was a mattress pressed against the far wall along with a kitchen set up on the opposite side. Pots, spoons, and various other appliances to make pasta with were set about the kitchen. All the ingredients Feli could think of were also there. The king seemed to spare no expense. This caused the teen to gulp in fear. Behind him the door closed and Feli stood there lost in despair. It took him seconds of silence before he started to sob and collapse to the floor.
Meanwhile, Feliciano's grandfather was pacing back and forth in his house. He needed to fix this. There was no way in the world he would let his treasured Feliciano die. But there seemed to be nothing he could do. After what seemed to be hours, he was torn from his thoughts by a knock on the door.
Who could be knocking at his door? Romulus thought. He hadn't been expecting anyone, he lived far from the village. Since no one ever bothered to come and visit. Especially when it rained as it was now. Romulus went to open the door, his thoughts being pushed aside for a moment.
He opened the door. The man was surprised to find a cloaked figure, dripping wet. He immediately ushered the person, who he assumed was a traveler, into his warm home. Once inside, the traveler removed his hood to reveal dark, chocolate brown hair and hypnotizing hazel eyes. He looked awfully close to Romulus' teenaged grandson.
"Whatever were you doing in that downpour, sir?" Romulus inquired, "Take off your clothes, I'll give you some of my grandson's while they dry. I'll make you some warm soup too."
"Che, I was travelling when it started," the other man scowled, doing as the older Romulus asked of him. He put on the clothes that were shoved into his hands and wrapped himself in the blanket that Romulus had also supplied. Feliciano's grandfather sat him down in a chair the moment he was dressed. Then handed him a bowl of soup. "Thanks."
"Of course, I'm sorry to hear about your distress. Why were you travelling? If you don't mind me asking," he was curious. This mysterious man was very interesting. It wouldn't hurt to learn a bit about him.
"Actually, I was travelling to you," he said to Romulus in full honesty, "You need help, si?"
These word shocked Romulus. He did need help, but how could this stranger know about that? Romulus voiced this thought to the stranger, earning him a sneaky smile.
"That is not of your concern. I'm just here to strike a deal in return for my help," he smiled slightly at the shell-shocked man.
"What can I possibly offer in return?" Romulus was desperate, he would offer anything. Anything in return for his grandson's safety. And that seemed to be exactly what this man wanted him to feel.
"Your grandson," was all he said. It-he- was all this mysterious person wanted. As much as it pained Romulus, he couldn't bargain as much as he tried. And, without knowing the stranger's name, he agreed. How he hated to do this.
The sun had fallen hours ago, leaving Feliciano with only with the light of candles and the occasional strike of lightning. He worked diligently on making pasta, though he had no idea how to turn it into a completely different substance. His hope has dwindled away the moment sunlight was taken away by the tirade of the storm. But keeping busy helped calm him. After another ceaseless hour of making about a hundred types of pasta, his body ached and his eyes were sore. Deciding it was enough, he threw himself onto the bed with closed eyes.
Suddenly a noise sounded through the room causing Feliciano's eyes to snap open. Sitting up, he looked at a figure starting to cook the pasta he had made previously. How did this person get into the room? The door was locked and this person did not look like a guard.
"Who are you?" Feliciano asked the person with a quiet voice. The stranger turned to him with a scowl in place before setting about to his task yet again.
"I'm helping you, or do you want your feet dangling tomorrow?" the man responded with slight annoyance.
"N-No... But why are you helping? Did grandpapa send you?" Feliciano was quite confused. He had never seen this man before, but he must have been sent by his grandfather. Why else would someone help? Unless they get something out of it. Feliciano had no way of knowing that this stranger did have something to gain. Him.
"Your grandfather promised me something in return for saving your life," was the reply as the man was busy going about his work. "Why don't you just take a nap or something, idiota. Everything will be fine in the morning."
Though Feliciano had no idea what the stranger was doing, he obeyed the man. If grandpapa had employed this man's help, he could trust him. Right? With all his fears eased by the appearance of the stranger, Feliciano fell into a peaceful sleep.
Come morning, Feliciano was alone in the room of golden pastas. The stranger was nowhere to be seen, but he was simply waiting for the proper time to take his promised reward. He had saved Feliciano from certain death and that merits him to owning the life of the boy who would be dead otherwise.
The king had sent his guards to go check on the teen, and was quite pleased to find that the guards brought back good news. The king was elated. His friend's word was true. And better yet, he would soon have a son-in-law that could make as much gold as he wished. Feliciano was not as happy as the king was. He yet again found himself in a no way-out situation. He would have to marry his friend Kiku and somehow make more golden pasta whenever the king wished it.
Their wedding was coming up tomorrow. Kiku couldn't be more happy to speak the truth. The young man had always liked Feliciano, as much as he would deny it in the past. Everything was going smoothly, the wedding was being set up as Kiku sat alone in his room drawing. As much as he would have liked to be with Feliciano, seeing your spouse before a wedding was considered bad luck. Kiku sighed while finishing the picture of his soon to be husband, or wife, or whatever you would call Feliciano.
On the other side of the castle, Feliciano wasn't as happy. He was currently being fitted for an outfit to wear tomorrow. The seamstresses were taking their job very seriously as the outfit was made of the finest. The clothes consisted of a pure white silk top that was very close in style to a kimono and stopped at his thighs, tight white trousers with black lace trim, and a veil of white lace. It suited the teen beautifully, but he hated it. He didn't want to go through with this. Among his flurry of thoughts, he didn't notice that the seamstresses had left him in his chambers. Feliciano laid down on the plush bed in his temporary chambers.
When he looked over to the window, he found it blocked by a familiar figure. The stranger was here. Feliciano leaped up and pulled the man into a tight hug. He hadn't the chance to the last time, he was far too tired and slept through the man's exit.
"You're here to help again?" he looked up at the stranger with innocent eyes.
"No, I'm here to collect you. You're mine now, idiota," the stranger held him close, though he would deny he did later. Before Feliciano could start crying in fear, the stranger quickly explained what Romulus did to save him. Feliciano burst into tears at the end of his recount, but didn't fight the man as he took him along. Eventually, he would accept this man and think not of him as a heartless demon, but someone he could live naught without.
How he hated this. After the strange man that aided him and his grandson, he appeared in Romulus' house once again. He had told Romulus that the wedding will not happen, that he would take Feliciano before it even took place, that he wouldn't see his grandson again. Romulus' heart ached as he was told this. He begged the man to at least give Feliciano a few years before taking him, but the man was stubborn. The man did give him a chance to make another deal. A deal that if Romulus found out his full name, the man would give back Feliciano. Or at least allow Romulus to see him often. That was enough for Romulus. So he agreed.
It had been years since then and he had no idea what the man's name could be. The man had taken to visiting the old grandfather at the end of every six months. Yet again, it was coming to the end of another six months. This time Romulus swore that he would discover his name. So he sent soldiers out to find possible names of the man. Each came back with numerous, so Romulus dutifully wrote every name down. He would go through all of them, crossing out any he's tried before and rearranging all of them. By the night of the sixth month, he was sure he finally discovered it.
"Old man, have you found my name?" the stranger asked, perched on the table.
"Is it Edward Elric?"
"Fuck no, that sounds like a shrimp's name."
"Is it Levi Ackerman?"
"No, that sounds like a creepy shrimp's name."
"Then could it be Lovino Rumpelstiltskin Vargas?"
"... How the hell did you figure it out?" a look of shock was etched on Lovino's face.
Romulus grinned and patted Lovino on the back, proud of himself for finally figuring it out. Now he could see his precious grandson again. After all these long years he would get to see his smile once again. "That's a secret, boy. Let me see my grandson already."
"Fine, fine. I'll be back," Lovino sighed before muttering something along the lines of 'at least Feli will stop bugging me now' as he disappeared. He was gone for a few minutes before coming back with Feliciano and a bundle in his arms. At the sight of his grandfather, Feliciano launched himself into his arms with an impossibly bright smile.
"Grandpapa! I've missed you so much! Lovi was being such a meanie, not letting me see you!" he cried out as he held onto his grandfather as if his life depended on it.
"But now I have you back, Feliciano. How I've missed you," Romulus hugged back. The duo quickly set about talking and catching up. But after a few minutes of constant chatter, they were interrupted by the sound of crying and a disgruntled shushing coming from Lovino. Feliciano hurried over and took the bundle out of Lovino's arms and went about calming the baby wrapped in cloth. "Is that a baby I see?"
"Si, we found her in the woods and decided to keep her," Lovino said to the surprised Romulus. Within the few years Lovino and Feliciano had together, they had become close. One day as they were travelling, they found the baby girl and Feliciano demanded that they raise the poor thing together. Which they did.
After recovering from the shock, Romulus slowly went over to the men and the small girl. Feliciano giggled and handed the baby over to his grandfather. He held the child in his arms, staring at her. Then his face broke into a grin. "Finally! I thought I'd never have a grandchild!"
A/N: Sorry it is short, but I hope you liked it! Thought you might want a sweet ending because of the last ending being not so cheery. Hehehehe *sweatdrop* Anyway, don't forget to R&R! And there's no need to be shy about requesting one, lovies!
