So! Happy be-lated Thanksgiving to all of my U.S. readers!
Onto the next chapter of the fic, and now we're actually getting somewhere. I must admit, I hated killing off Mana… For a king, he was pretty awesome, and his interaction with Allen in the last chapter made me sad. It had to be done for the story to progress, but still…
Oh! IMPORTANT NOTE!!!! I went back and edited the last chapter, and was horrified to find that I left out a HUGE part of the plot! So, if you haven't already, I encourage you to go back and reread chapter 2. Or at least the very last scene of that chapter, because important dialogue is important.
Enjoy the fic!
Cursed Wings Ch 3
~Swan Lake and Practice Imperfect~
***
Hidden deep within the Dark Forest, there was a large, abandoned castle overlooking a beautiful lake surrounded by woods as far as the eye could see. In a small, shallow area of the water, swam two beautiful swans. However, these were unusual looking birds in comparison to others of their kind.
The first one was white, but his one wing was a dark red color with black at the tips of its feathers. There also seems to be a black cross marking in the wind itself. The swan's head was greyer at the top, and an unusual scar cut down across the left eye starting with a pentagram marking above the eye and working down in a bolt fashion to the cheek.
A few feet away from it swam the second swan, a black swan with odd green tipped wings, and a green marking on its head. Its purple eyes were down casts, ignoring the people on the shoreline who were grinning pleasantly at the pair.
Lord Tyki was propped up against an old willow, taking a drag of his cigarette and peering down at the birds with interest and amusement. A few feet away from him stood Lord Cyril and Lady Lulubell, the male squealing over how "darling" the swans were and the women shaking her head at his antics. The dark swan turned away, refusing the breadcrumbs being thrown into the water by Lords David and Jasdero, while the whiter one guiltily began to eat the food, all the while, glaring at the Noahs with distain. Lady Road was hugging the Earl's arm as the man walked to the edge of the lake.
He grinned down at the darker bird and chuckled, "Oh now don't let my little spell make you sad Princess~ It doesn't even last long!"
The lighter swan stopped pecking miserably at the crumbs in the water to scowl up at Earl defiantly, making the old man laugh, "I'm telling the truth, young Prince~ As soon as the moon comes up…"
The two swans looked up to the sky as the clouds parted, revealing an almost full moon. The lake beneath them began to glow and sparkle. Then a whirl of water surrounded each of the swans, engulfing them in a cocoon of magic, before fading away and settling back into the lake. In place of the two swans now stood Allen and Lenalee, both looking bewildered and partly relieved to be back in their human bodies. Allen held out a hand to his friend and helped her out of the lake where the Earl and his followers were waiting.
"And that's how it works every night," Tyki smiled and tossed his cigarette as the pair touched dry ground.
"You have to be on the lake, though!" David laughed, tossing the breadcrumbs into Tyki's face. His older 'sibling' glared, but made no further comment as he swept the crumbs off his suit. "And when the moonlight touches your wings, POOF!"
"Poof, poof, poof!" Jasdero cackled folding his arms and flapping them like a bird while his twin make honking noises.
The two captives were not amused.
"Now look, children," the Earl approached them and Lenalee pulled Allen closer, both scowling at the sorcerer. "You must understand that this sort of thing doesn't give me any pleasure."
The Prince and Princess raised a brow, as the twins paused in their bird imitations to stare at their master before bursting into laughter. The Earl continued to grin as Lulubell coughed behind him.
"Well, just a tiny bit, perhaps," offered Cyril, highly amused by the reactions it produced from their royal prisoners.
"Yes, a tiny bit," concurred Road, as she stared at Allen with a look of a child peering at a particularly delicious piece of candy. Needless to say, Allen's skin began to crawl.
"Now, now, be nice~" the Earl patted Road over the head turning back to the two in front of him. "So maybe I do sort of enjoy your dilemma, but that's not my real goal. What I really want are your parents' kingdoms~"
"Take them then," snapped Lenalee, no longer able to keep her silence at the audacity of this… murderer, demanding that they give up their lands. "You have enough power, obviously. What's stopping you?"
"Well, you see we tried that already," yawned Lulubell. "It failed, obviously."
"Besides that, my dear," the Earl grinned. "Once you steal something, you spend the remainder of your life fighting to keep it. I found an easier solution to this little problem, though~ One that I'm sure will benefit all parties involved~"
Allen looked skeptical. "You mean besides killing our parents and turning us into swans, you have even more torture in store for us?"
"Hey, now, don't be fresh, cutie," Cyril leered. Allen blanched. He was beginning to feel that Road took after her relatives a little too much.
The Earl snapped his fingers and suddenly, Allen's and Lenalee's outfits changed into fancy white wedding garbs, each sporting a crown upon their heads. The woods materialized into a palace hall where several people bowed before them.
"If I had my children marry the heir to one throne and the Princess of another land, we could rule your kingdoms together legally~"
Tyki, now also dressed in royal clothes, stepped next to Lenalee, holding out his hand and smiling charmingly at her. Allen made to step in front of her protectively, but was grabbed by a white-gowned Road. The girl attached herself to his arm and giggled, "So wadda ya say, Allen~? Wouldn't I be a great Queen?"
"Wh-What?!" Allen sputtered.
Lenalee gasped as Tyki pulled her closer, bringing a hand up to kiss it lightly, "What say you, Princess? I promise, I'd make a good Prince."
Simutaniously, Allen yanked his arm away from Road as Lenalee delivered a hard kick to Tyki's shin, thus breaking the illusion, and shouting, "NEVER!"
"Come on Lenalee, we're out of here," hissed Allen, taking hold of his friend's hand and running toward the forest.
"And where are you pretties running off to?" Cyril called back cheerfully as Tyki rubbed his leg with a soft curse.
"A soon as moonlight leaves the lake, you'll turn back into swans~," the Earl smiled, eyes gleaming wickedly. "No matter where you are."
The two froze at his words. Behind them, David and Jasdero were rolling on the bank of the lake laughing at them, while Road giggled gleefully saying something about how she couldn't wait to play with her "new dolls."
They were trapped. The chances of anyone ever finding them were slim to none knowing the Earl's power. With this realization, Lenalee's lip trembled and Allen pulled her into a hug, numbly wondering if he would ever see the outside world again. Or if Kanda and Lavi knew that they were still alive.
***
Events around the Tiedoll palace preceding the news of Allen and Lenalee's disappearance went accordingly: Komui returned home for his coronation and his parent's funerals, only to return to the Tiedoll palace immediately after that to search for his way a went sibling. He refused to hold a memorial for his sister, insisting that she was simply missing and that he would do everything in his power to bring her home. Only two other people shared his opinion, and like Komui, they were seen as delusional.
Lavi had spent even more of his time locked up in the palace library studying everything he could to decipher the meaning behind Captain Cross's warning. The Great Scribe had been angry about his apprentice's lack of focus on his work, but at the same time, he chose not to discourage him from staying within the walls of the library, hoping he would eventually return his attention to matters that were of more importance to them.
Kanda had spent even more time training and sword fighting. In addition to his skill with Mugen, the Prince was a great archer. Shortly after the disappearances of Allen and Lenalee, Kanda began to practice more on his skill with a bow and arrow. Komui, had been more then happy to assist the Prince, even going so far as to offer, what he called, "live bait" for Kanda to practice on.
"King Komui's servants aren't happy," flustered Krory, one of Tiedoll's advisers, as he hurried to prepare for Kanda's training, carefully pouring a blue powdered substance into a pale full of false-headed arrows.
"And I care because?" Kanda was busy tying a cloth over his eyes to even take notice. He also failed to notice that his half-witted page, Chaoji was having difficulty covering his own eyes.
"Oh, don't worry about them, Krory," King Komui called, walking up to add some more powder into another pale, but pouring some into his face in the process. He coughed, and wiped his glasses. "I think this is going to be loads of fun!"
"The Great Beasts aren't gong to give them up without a fight." Kanda murmured.
Krory paused in his work and pressed cautiously, "You aren't still thinking they're alive, your majesty?"
Kanda sniffed and pulled at string of his bow, testing its durability and nodding in satisfaction when it seemed right. "When I find the Great Beasts, I'll find the Bean Sprout."
"But- but Kanda," Chaoji stuttered, still fiddling with the blindfold, stumbling into Krory a couple of times and then into Kanda only to be shoved back. "We've searched e-e-everywhere and f-found nothing. He's n-not coming ba-back. The whole kingdom knows that."
Komui stuck his foot out in front of the page, and the chubby man tripped hard into one of the practice buckets, spilling arrows and powder everywhere.
"The whole kingdom can go fuck themselves," Kanda shrugged, not reacting as Krory waved a hand in front of his eyes. "The Bean Sprout's alive. So is Princess Lenalee. And when that stupid rabbit finds the information we need necessary to track them down, we're going to find them and bring them home."
"Indeed," agreed Komui, stepping back to give the Prince and his page a good once over. Chaoji, now had the blindfold one, but was attempting to move it just enough so he could see a little at the bottom. Komui grinned, walked over and snapped the cloth back over his eyes. "No peeking."
Krory sighed and hesitantly called over his shoulder. "Animals! Assemble, please."
Trudging across the grass, all dressed in ridiculous costumes designed to look like various wild creatures and papers with large black printed numbers hanging from around their necks, Komui's servants approached the archers and the referees. They were less then thrilled to be the "live bait," and Reever even voiced his out rage while readjusting his lion's mane (an old mop they put to better use).
"Your majesty, I must object! This is ridiculous! We're servants!"
"Tiedoll's people have the day off," shrugged Komui innocently, eyeing his attendants with mild amusement. "We had no other choice. Besides, those costumes look wonderful on all of you!"
"But, your grace," whimpered the smallest member of the group, Johnny. "This is an embarrassment to us all! We're inventors, not beasts!"
"Just shut the fuck up, already," growled Kanda, making several of the complainants jump and back away. "Suck it up and deal with it."
"Or else you won't get that lovely bonus I promised you," Komui smirked.
Reever placed his face in his hand and shook his head. "As you wish, sire."
"Ah ha," Krory began nervously. "When I count to three, the blindfolds shall be removed from the archers' eyes and they shall proceed to earn points by shooting the animals. His majesty, Prince Kanda's arrows heads are blue powdered. Mater Chaoji's are orange. While I count, the animals have the chance to run and hide and do whatever is possible to avoid being hit by the arrows. Any questions?"
He was answered by a sea of glares from Komui's servants and a light "Che" from Prince Kanda.
"On the count of three then," Krory called, as Komui walked behind Kanda and Chaoji, readying to remove the clothes. "One!"
The servants scattered and fled to different areas of the playing field.
"Two!"
Kanda anxiously rubbed his boots into the ground, hands gripping his bow tight.
"Three!"
Komui removed the folds, and instantly, Kanda was shooting off at the targets, hitting three within the first 30 seconds of the game. Chaoji was having difficulty getting his arrows to align with his bow, much to Johnny's amusement as the shorted man chuckled and taunted him. Reever in the mean time was contemplating what he would do to Komui if he wasn't a lowly servant and had the power to make his King's life miserable. Then those thoughts seemed insignificant when Kanda aimed to fire a few bull's eye's at him.
***
"Time!" Krory finally called ten minutes later.
Komui beamed at his tattered and disgruntled attendants as they made their way back into the clearing, all of them covered in blue spots from head to toe. Kanda looked quite smug as Komui began to count off the points.
"299!" declared the eccentric Prince.
"Well done, your majesty," Krory smiled.
"Che."
"Ok, now, and Chaoji," Komui scanned the group again. "Zero."
Chaoji, who had suddenly gone from looking clumsy and moronic, now smiled and shook his head, pointing to where Johnny was lined up and smiled. The small man sported three orange marks on his head and torso. "The White Rabbit is worth 100 points per shot? I believe I earned 300, King Komui."
Krory blinked, then glared. "There's no way you could have beaten Prince Kanda. You can't even hit a target when it's still. How'd you manage to get three shots at Johnny? He's pretty quick."
Chaoji shrugged. "Guess I'm better then you all thought."
"More like you cheated," coughed Johnny.
Kanda, who had not reacted to the news, merely smirked, "You may want to add another 100 points to my score."
"Huh?" Chaoji scratched his head while Komui motioned for Johnny to turn around. A large blue spot was smacked dab on his behind, earning Kanda a total of 399 to Choaji's 300.
"The winner is Prince Kanda!" King Komui announced, smiling at the servants. "Thank you all, and please take the rest of the day off. My treat!"
"And our bonuses?" Reever muttered, wiping his face with a cloth.
"Right the bonuses!" Komui laughed cheerfully. "I shall add them! …Eventually!"
A collective groan came form the servants as they hobbled and limped back toward the castle.
Chaoji scampered up to Kanda and proceeded to blubber about how amazing he was and how he could only dream of becoming as great as he, all of which went ignored by the dark haired prince as he picked up his sword and reattached it to his belt.
"But you know, Prince Kanda? I do have one thing that can make me as good as you someday!"
"Do share," muttered Krory, rolling his eyes. "We're ever so anxious to hear."
"I have courage!"
Komui, over hearing the one-sided conversation, pushed his spectacles up with a sinister glint and walked up to Chaoji and Kanda. "Well then! Since we're feeling so brave, how about a quick game of Catch and Fire?"
"C-c-c-c-c-c-c-catch and F-fire?" Chaoji paled while Kanda folded his arms and raised his brow in interest. "You want me to play that?"
"Well, you're the only one with enough c-c-c-c-c-c-courage to do it," Komui grinned maliciously.
Chaoji gulped.
***
A little while later, in another part of the palace grounds, Kanda adjusted his shield on his back. Behind him, Chaoji was shaking and rattling in his suit of armor as Krory tied an apple to the top pf his head. Komui observed the scene with delight.
"Are you sure you're ok there Chaoji?" Komui asked.
"Ah, m-me? I-I'm fine, thank y-you, your m-m-majes-s-sty."
"If you say so," chuckled the king.
"Oi! Are you ready back there?!" Kanda yelled back impatiently.
Chaoji tried to say he was, but stuttered so hard that Krory and Komui both answered for him. "He's ready."
"Now remember, Master Chaoji," Krory stared at him seriously. "Aim for the heart. Any higher or lower and you may injure his worship."
This information only seemed to make Chaoji shake harder. Krory walked over to observe with King Komui form the sidelines, biting his nails as the archer continued to whimper with a shaky aim, "Oh please oh please oh please, don't hit him."
Kanda stood his ground, growling softly to himself, "Come on, you idiot. Just hold it steady…"
"Ohpleaseohpleaseohplease…. Oh, no no NOOOO!"
The arrow was fired, miraculously with precision, and Kanda whirled around in time to catch it. The Prince then fired it back at Chaoji, slicing the apple on top of his head in half. One piece of the fruit flew into Komui's hand, and Chaoji fainted on the spot.
"Excellent job, Prince Kanda!" Krory clapped. "A perfect shot!"
Kanda paid them no mind, grunting and turning to stare up at the darkening sky. "Don't you or Lenalee lose hope on us, idiot. Where ever you are, Bean Sprout, I'm going to find you."
With that, the Prince turned and walked back into the palace, leaving Komui and Krory to try and wake the still passed out Chaoji from the ground. He headed for the library in hopes that Lavi would have some good news this time.
The Earl and the Noah were a nice change of pace. Don't get me wrong. I love the good guys and all, but villains are usually very interesting to explore. Plus the Noah family? They are all sorts of crazy and that makes for some funny comments.
And ah, Chaoji… I really dislike him XD It's fairly obvious that he's sort of an idiot in this fic, but then again, Bromley was an idiot in the movie, so it works! It's all about fitting the characters in… yes…
Hope you guys liked this and see you next week, I hope!