Shiro - Before
Humans did not understand time.
And really, how could they? When they occupied the world for such a little space of it? Shiro could never fault them for their lack of understanding. It had never been in his nature to blame a child for ignorance. His view on most humans was much the same. They just didn't know – couldn't know.
They had their version of forever. And he had his.
They had their clocks and years and calendars and minutes and they had made it all so complicated, when time lived was really nothing more than one's perception of it. It was why time could pass so differently between worlds. Why a hundred years in Faerie meant little more than an hour in the mortal world, or the other way around.
Un-aging as his kind were, he couldn't have said how long he had been trapped in the Unseelie court, or what the reflection of that time was on the other side. Chained to Honerva – Haggar? – as he was, his perception was lacking. Human forever was as much of time as their minds could perceive. His forever was being without Adam – without his angel. It mattered little how many of her allies, enemies, and prisoners the Unseelie queen forced him to fight, fuck, or kill his way through. He was only miserable in this forever because he was apart from his love. Sometimes the only thing that kept him going was the knowledge that Adam was still free – still free and upholding his promise to Krolia to keep her son safe.
"Are you with me in there, my dark champion?" Haggar's voice pierced his thoughts, drawing him from his inner musings and into the present moment. Unfortunately, that also drew him into the pain of the queen's new favorite pastime – draining away his essence, piece by piece. He wasn't sure what she planned to use it for, but he had his theories. He also imagined he had a great deal more being than even she had anticipated. It would take time, but he was certainly not going to make it easy for her. His only response was to glare up at her from his bonds, holding back as much of himself as he could manage.
"Heh, it's been so long since you've really looked at me, Takashi...with those eyes so full of hate," she said, trailing a single finger down the side of his face, then down onto his chest, her hand splaying across the bare skin. "How they burn with hate. Tell me how you hate me, my knight," she hissed, hands moving to grip his hips, draining even more away from him.
There was much he could have said, much he would've liked to say to her, but he kept his accusations simple, staring into those hollowed out eyes as he spoke.
"You're a murderer...and a liar...and the things you've done are unforgivable," he said, slowly, deliberately.
There was no worse insult among the fey than to be called a liar, but the queen was clearly long past concerning herself with that. She gripped him a little tighter as she drew even more power from him.
"I don't need to be forgiven. All I need is to get back what was taken."
"At what cost, o queen?" he pressed. "Your brother? Your niece? Your own son? Is this what Zarkon would want? What you and Lotor did to Allura was-"
"How different are you from me?" she interrupted him with a glare, physical and mental talons digging all the deeper into him. "They called you a being of light once, but you have just as much dark power and intent coiled in those veins as I do. Believe me, o Living Flame, if you were to lose your precious angel, you would be no better than I. In fact, I think you would serve me quite willingly."
"Never," he hissed, the taste of ash and flame in his mouth barely enough to mask just how much like a lie the word tasted on his tongue. He was no fairy, of course, but her words came a little to close to truth for his comfort. He had been a god once, a benevolent guardian. What monster might he become if he were to lose Adam?
Many years later, when he was free of the Unseelie, he often found himself thinking he didn't truly mind all the things Haggar had taken from him. Maybe he no longer had his wings, but he still had his beloved archangel to hold him at night – to chase away the fear that he might be little better than the one who had done this to him.
