So... I'm sorry for leaving this story for so long. With stories, if I think about them too long and I'm not writing it well (or something like that), I get bored and start on another idea. I'm trying to write several fanfics at once now so... =/
Anyways, it had been a while, so I read over this and... urgh... My writing is horrible. So my style is probably gonna change from now on. And I'm just gonna leave the last few chapters written the way it is.
I do apologise. =/
"Arthur! Oh, Arthur, where are you?" sang the voice of his prince.
The young man sighed. What did he want this time? Softly, he closed his book and placed it on the bench beside him. Reminding himself to count to ten if he became to irritated, he rounded the tree which obscured his view, the blossom dancing around him. "Yes, sire?" he asked with a blank look.
Smiling playfully, the prince approached him, his blonde hair flowing behind him in the gentle breeze. "I was just testing you," he said in a sing-song voice.
"I see," said Arthur, taking a breath. "Well, if you will excuse me, I have some reading to do." He turned to retreat back to his sanctuary.
"Would you really do anything for me?" asked the prince, smiling mischievously.
Arthur stiffened, wondering what the royal would request. "Yes, sire?"
Suddenly, the taller blonde was standing very close to Arthur, breathing down his neck. "You will protect me with your life. This you have already established. But can I not tempt you to do much, much more for me...?" Hands lightly touched Arthur's hips and he scowled.
"Whatever your majesty requests," he said, glancing around the garden. Positive no-one was around he craned his neck backwards and frowned at his charge. "But if you ask me to do the things you have asked other girls to do, I'll run you through with my sword, Francis."
Merely chuckling, Francis shook his head. "I am only being friendly. Besides, I only wanted to know if you would like to play chess with me."
"You want me to play with you?" asked Arthur, turning around. "Why me? You always play with Kiku..."
"Oui," said Prince Francis, a small smile on his face. "But it has been a few weeks and I am still no closer to understanding you – and you are my guardian, after all."
Considering his options, Arthur sighed. "Fine-"
When he came to his senses, Arthur felt groggy. His head was spinning and he wasn't quite sure if he wanted to open his eyes. A small noise in the back of his throat alerted the others in the room, however, and he heard someone speak.
"Ah, he is awake at last," came Françoise's voice. Sighing, Arthur decided to keep his eyes shut. He didn't care to see the situation he was in. "Come now, open your eyes. Your sister is here, after all."
Clicking his tongue, Arthur reluctantly obliged. He was in a living room by the looks of things. With Japanese teacups and pot on a nearby table, Arthur surmised he was in Sakura's flat. There was not much else by way of trinkets, however, and there only seemed to be the table and the chair he had once again been secured to.
"I prefer to be asked on dates first," said Arthur, haughtily, shooting a glare at his three captors. Alice stood with arms folded, scowling. Her hair had been tied with black ribbons and her long, traditional-looking dress matched them. Sakura was wearing a black kimono. Françoise, meanwhile, had a much more stylish black dress on, a long slit up the side revealing her leg.
With a roll of her eyes, Alice shook her head. "Who would want to date you?" she said, snidely.
"Now, now," said Françoise, soothingly. "Do not start an argument right now. We have lots of things to do."
"Like kidnap people?" snapped Arthur, his eyes narrowing further.
"You don't exist in this world," said Alice, fighting to remain calm. "By all accounts, we haven't done anything wrong."
"Why have I been surrounded by insane people?" sighed Arthur, snapping his head around and staring resolutely at the wall opposite. He had to get out of here – but how? This time, they had handcuffed him to the wooden chair he was upon. Besides, they were watching him. It seemed he would need help.
But not from that French git!
"We're not insane!" yelled Alice. There was a silence as she huffed in a few breaths. Clearly her earlier failure had made her mood foul. Arthur glanced at them, unable to believe that all three had hurt him in some way today. "We're not insane," she said, quietly. "You just don't remember."
"Yes, yes," said Arthur dismissively. "I've had all this before. But there is no concrete evidence. Why should I believe you?"
"You-!" began Alice but Sakura placed a hand on her arm.
"There is no need to explain to him. His memories are buried. We can take them and we can go home," she said, softly, reassuringly. Alice took a breath and a step back, still glaring at Arthur.
"My memories?" asked Arthur, frowning.
"Hai," said Sakura. "We will take your memories. If you do this for us, give us something hidden from our world, we can reverse the spell and go home." Before Arthur could question her, she added, "Everyone else retained their memories – you are the only one with such powerful ones being repressed."
"It wasn't just a spell..." muttered Alice, darkly, glaring at Arthur all the more. He wondered what he had done to deserve this. From his dreams, he had thought he got on quite well with Alice.
"We should do it now, oui?" said Françoise, glancing along the hall.
"Chigau..." said Sakura, almost apologetically. "The conditions are not correct. We must wait..."
"If we wait much longer, his friends will come," said Françoise. Then a smirk spread across her face. "Including his precious princess." Arthur sat up straighter at these words, shooting the witches a puzzled look. Françoise laughed coldly. "Ah, he is excited by the prospect."
As he blushed, Arthur scowled at her. "It makes no difference to my predicament," he assured her. "You are all just as bad as each other."
"Mais... The princess has been important to you for as long as you remember, non?" goaded Françoise.
"That is entirely personal and I shall not discuss it any further!" Arthur snapped.
"Usually it is the princess who needs rescuing – I wager he'll be the one rescuing you."
"Françoise!" admonished Alice. "Quiet! If he remembers before the ritual is completed..."
"He...?" breathed Arthur, not listening to Alice's outburst. "What... do you... mean?"
"Your precious princess is not a girl," said Françoise, seemingly unable to stop herself. "Though, I am assured, the prince dressed in flowing tunics when he was young so I can see how you would become confused."
"Françoise!" snapped Alice, grabbing her wrist. "Shut up, you idiot!"
"I have to agree with Alice," mumbled Sakura, ducking under their linked arms. "It is dangerous to talk to him more. Please stop..."
"But he is so fun to tease! And imagine my brother's face when he faces that fury!" Françoise gestured gleefully to Arthur who was seething his chair.
Francis was the princess. That was why he was so familiar. If that had been the case, why did he not just tell him? He didn't care – actually, now that he thought about it, he did care. The princess from his dreams had been kind and gentle. He had wished nothing more to be with her. And now he had discovered that his dream or memory was wrong, that he had felt so attached to someone who was actually Francis. He felt cheated.
"You did that just for the amusement?" sighed Alice. "Please try to resist the urge."
"If you can glare at your brother, I can humiliate and emotionally cripple mine," said Françoise with a smirk.
"Just quit it," said Alice but without much force behind her words.
Annoyed at everyone around him, Arthur tried to carefully pull his hand free from the handcuffs. Unfortunately, it only served to puncture the women's conversation with a rattle. All three stopped and stared at him.
"Non, non, non," said Françoise, advancing on him. "You must not try to escape just yet..." Grinning, she leaned over and tightened the restraints as far as they would go. They bit into Arthur's wrists and he resisted the urge to grunt in pain. "Better?" she asked him, her voice positively dripping with sarcasm.
"Absolutely," Arthur replied with another glare.
"Bien. We should do this more often."
"I'd really rather not."
"What was that?" asked Alice suddenly.
"Quoi?" said Françoise, turning towards her companions.
"I thought I heard a noise at the front door..." said Alice, sounding unsure.
"Shall I check?" asked Sakura.
"Let us all go check. Remember to lock the room," said Françoise as she made her way towards them. They exited and left Arthur alone, the click echoing in the sudden silence. Arthur wriggled uncomfortably, wondering just how long he would have to sit there for.
Noises reached him abruptly and he frowned, listening intently. There were bangs and thuds. It sounded as though a scuffle had broken out. Arthur glanced at the window but dismissed it. He was thirteen floors up, after all. Trying to find something to help him, he peered around the bare room.
A crashing noise startled Arthur and he gaped as the window shattered. He peered outside, noticing what appeared to be a couple of ropes. Should he move closer, he wondered. Or were more people trying to kill him?
However, when the two men who had been dangling on ropes had clambered into the room, he recognised them. Ivan and Alfred had arrived and, since Francis seemed to be trying to tell Arthur he was a friend, he felt relatively safer. They moved into the room with rifles of some sort, gazing around. Realising they were looking for some sort of danger, Arthur rolled his eyes.
"They're a little preoccupied at the moment, you know. And could you kindly hurry – these handcuffs are beginning to cut into me," he said, rather pointedly.
"Dude," sighed Alfred. "You never change." The American moved towards him, letting his gun hang on the strap. Arthur eyed it before Alfred moved behind him.
"Yes..." said Arthur. "I believe I have heard that far too many times in the past few days. And may I inquire as to the nature you acquired such guns?"
Alfred finally discarded the handcuffs and moved round to help Arthur up. He grinned at the Brit sheepishly. "Oh, y'know. We made them. After all, we had to be prepared for when the witches turned up again."
"Oh," said Arthur, staring at him blankly, wondering how knights from another world could make guns of all things. As he was hurried to the window, Arthur was astonished to find that he was beginning to believe all of the nonsense Francis and the three women had spouted at him. Which only made him feel even more cheated that Francis was his princess.
Then he realised that Alfred was basically shoving him out of a window thirteen floors up and he was brought back to the present. "Are you kidding me?!" cried Arthur, starting to resist.
"Dude. Remain calm. We'll hook you up and then you can abseil down!"
"You like that word a little too much," said Ivan, staring at Alfred in displeasure.
"I know, dude! I totally love it!"
"Excuse me... Still here," said Arthur, icily.
"Okay, okay! Don't get your knickers in a twist!" With that being stated, Alfred hooked Arthur by his belt to the rope. "There y'go! All set!"
"Surely there is more to it than this..." began Arthur, his eyes narrowed.
For a moment, Alfred looked confused. Then he shrugged. "Nope!" And he pushed Arthur out of the window.
Arthur's eyes widened and he desperately grabbed a rope. It halted his fall, hurting his already sore arms. Deciding that he hated Alfred and was going to push him out of the next window he came across, he clung on as he swung back to the side of the building.
"Just walk down!" called Alfred, cheerily.
"I'm going to rip that smile off your face," grumbled Arthur but obliged. It was very slow going. He had only managed to get down one floor when Ivan went past, pushing himself off he building and letting himself fall slightly before he swung back to the side of the building and stopped. Arthur grew alarmed and clung to his own rope for safety, wishing the Russian hadn't gone by so quickly.
Taking a breath, Arthur began to descend once again. When the rope beside him stopped moving, he glanced down to see that Ivan was already at the bottom. Arthur, meanwhile, had only gone down two floors. Eleven more to go...
"Dude!" exclaimed Alfred, suddenly beside him. "You're taking way too long!" Arthur barely had time to look round before Alfred was attaching something else to his belt. With a frown, he glanced down and barely had time to register that the annoying man had attached a line between them.
"Wai-!" began Arthur, frantic, as he realised what he was about to do. It was too late, however, and Arthur was detached from his rope. He dropped a few inches before he jerked to a stop. Alfred grabbed his shirt and held onto him as he dangled before dropping himself. Arthur didn't know whether to yell as they headed straight down, the ground getting closer impossibly fast. Screwing his eyes shut, Arthur waited for the inevitable to happen. Finally, all movement stopped and he was set gently on the ground. Catching his breath, he opened his eyes again and glared at his 'rescuers'. Next time, he thought, I'm staying in the room till they get a ladder.
"C'mon!" said Alfred, still grinning. "We'd better get you somewhere safe, huh?" He held out his hand to help Arthur but the smaller man swatted his hand away.
"You seem to be enjoying yourself," he growled as he stood, still staring daggers at the bespectacled man.
For a moment, Alfred looked startled. Then his grin returned. "Well, it's not every day I get to save my grumpy mentor, is it?"
Arthur frowned. What did that mean?
The room was silent despite Alfred obviously wishing he could make some noise. He was constantly swallowing and glancing at Arthur who was staring moodily at the door. Apparently he couldn't help himself any more and said, "Um..."
With a quick flicker of his eyes towards him, Arthur returned to watching the door, scowling. His seat was in the perfect position to watch for the return of Francis and Kiku. Of course, he had vehemently refused to sit on 'his' chair and had, instead, dropped down into the seat meant for Francis.
"Hey..." Alfred tried again, hesitantly. The others seated at the table shifted uncomfortably, seemingly knowing that whatever was about to happen would not be good.
"Whose attention are you seeking?" asked Arthur, primly, not looking away.
"Well... Yours... Why are you in such a bad mood?"
For a moment, everyone held their breath as Arthur eyed Alfred. Then the Brit smiled sweetly. "Well, let's see shall we?" he began and several of the gathered knights flinched. "I woke up rather confused, got told I had a sister. That sister then tried to kill me. After that, I was told the most ridiculous story about being from another world. Someone broke into my flat and hit me over the head – twice. I woke up tied to a chair and, when I managed to get away, I was tricked into accompanying a girl to her flat where she drugged me and tied me to another chair."
"But we rescued you!" said Alfred, brightly.
Arthur scowled. "Oh, yes. Then two men crashed through the window only to throw me out of a window, thirteen storeys up. Thank you, ever so much."
"No problem!"
"I was being sarcastic!" snapped Arthur.
"Oh..." said Alfred. He fished around for something to say for a moment then looked back to Arthur, grinning. "Sounds like a pretty rough day."
Sighing, Arthur rolled his eyes and went back to watching the door. "I hate you all," he muttered, darkly.
At that moment, the door opened to reveal Kiku escorting Francis in. The Frenchman looked up at Arthur with a smile but it faltered as he glared back. Francis tried to make light of it. "Now, cher. You are sitting in the wrong chair again."
"Does it really matter?" asked Arthur, much more calmly than he felt.
"Oui. Un peu," replied Francis with a small smile. It faded when Arthur only gazed back, unimpressed. "I did warn you, ma-" He broke off, eyeing the angry blonde.
"Are you really the one I thought was a princess?" asked Arthur, his cheeks reddening in embarrassment despite his fury.
Francis' lips twitched into a smile despite the glaring. "Well, oui. It was rather a surprise to find that you thought I was girl, all those years ago."
"It's not funny!" hissed Arthur.
"Do you remember?" asked Francis.
"I remember nothing!" snapped Arthur. Seeing the shock on Francis' face, he scowled and looked away. "Only the images from my dreams."
"Us... Do you remember anything about us?"
"What?" asked Arthur, looking back with a frown.
Francis paused. "Do you remember how you used to protect me?"
"Hm, no. Not really," said Arthur, dismissively. "But it was my job and my duty – according to my dreams. Since I like to work my hardest, I am sure that I did a satisfactory job."
Looking rather put out, Francis nodded. "Well, now that you know-"
"I beg your pardon?" said Arthur, icily.
"Quoi...?"
"You presume that I believe you, don't you? All I know is that there are people after me – and you lot seem to be the less insane ones. At least, you aren't trying to kill me," Arthur pointed out. He crossed his arms and glared at the supposed prince.
There was a brief pause as Francis gazed at him, gauging him. A sad smile slowly spread across his face before he spoke. "You are upset that your precious princess has been taken away and replaced by a prince."
Arthur's cheeks grew hot once again and he scowled. "That was not what I said!"
"But that is what you think, oui?"
"It's none of your business what I think! Just concentrate on what I said!"
Francis hesitated for a moment before walking towards the table. "You need rest, Arthur," he told him, kindly, catching the Englishman off guard. "We have bedrooms here so I will take you to one. There you can think on all you've learned today."
Narrowing his eyes, suspicious of his intentions, Arthur nodded reluctantly. "Fine."
"Will this suffice?" asked Francis, tiredly. They had already been in a few rooms and none were to Arthur's liking. Now they were in a ground floor room. It had a simple bed, no pictures and a wardrobe but no other furniture. Orange street light filtered through the window, making it possible to see in the dusk. Another door led to a small toilet, a shower cubicle present instead of a bath.
Arthur gazed around the room before giving a quick nod. "Yes. This will be fine." He paused. "I suppose."
"Your taste in things of elegance has not waned since you have been in this world," commented Francis.
"Shut up," said Arthur without thinking.
"It always irked me to hear you say that," said Francis, following Arthur into the room. "Now, however, it makes me relieved. Merci."
"Didn't I tell you to shut up? And have you any nightwear or do I need to sleep in what I'm wearing?"
"There are clothes in the wardrobe, I believe," said Francis.
"Good. Now, I do not intend to entertain you any more tonight. Leave me alone." Arthur glared up at Francis who only smiled back down to him in amusement.
With a sigh, Francis suddenly crossed the space between them and gathered Arthur into his arms. Too shocked to do anything, Arthur froze as Francis spoke quietly into his ear. "Ah, how I have missed this..."
Beginning to struggle, Arthur pushed at him and finally managed to pull away. His face was burning and he clenched his fists. "What the hell was that all about?! Don't touch me!"
"Desolé, desolé," muttered Francis, a smile dancing on his lips. "I will take my leave. Bonne nuit, Arthur. Sleep well." With that he retreated from the room, shutting the door behind him.
Yeah, so... In my head, when I thought up the rescue, Ivan and Al were gonna burst through the window into the kitchen where Arthur was being held. However, I had no idea why the girls would move Arthur to the kitchen. So... I kinda had to invent the abseiling bit since they were 13 floors up...
Alfred was not originally going to play a big part in this story but he just kinda popped up - I mean, he got more lines than I thought he would.
I think that's all I have to say except that I really need to stop knocking Artie out...
