Author's Notes; Mythological/Royalty AU. Shounen-Ai. Violence. Some drama towards the end. Now you've done it, Wily..Here we go with some more plot..and I apologize again, my muse and liege, but I at least don't let you stay dead..and this is the 10th chapter, meaning the pace of this story is kinda slow..but on this note, it will pass 10..Ending the story on 10 in this case would make no fucking sense, although the rate of production will be slowed down again because of the start of the first of these two summer math classes..Please enjoy..
It had snowed heavily since their arrival in Russia. X had never seen so much snow before. Most of it was about a third of the way up the doors of nearby homes. Zero hadn't seen snow but a few times. The glare of it hurt his darkness-piercing eyes, but he remained curious about it.
A while after breakfast, X put on warm clothes and a heavy coat. Zero watched him and waited patiently on the bed. His armor shielded him from extreme heat and extreme cold so he wouldn't need any extra layers. X remembered that the snow's glare hurt Zero's eyes so when he was bundled up, he got a pair of sunglasses from his dresser. "Try these on." Zero looked at the sunglasses. "What is this device and what purpose doth it serve?" "These are called sunglasses. They reduce the glare of the sun for the wearer. They'll help you see through the glare of the snow." X told him. The redhead kept his eyes on the glasses as X put them on him. He then looked outside at the blanket of snow. "Hmm, so it doth indeed. Thank thee." X smiled when Zero looked back to him, reaching for his left hand. "Its funny. People regard the left hand as filthy, yet yours heals and helps growth." Zero chuckled, letting X take his hand and pull him up. "The beliefs and nature of the Netherworld art under no obligation to adhere to those of the surface world."
X excitedly led Zero outside the palace and into the snow, walking carefully. In some spots, it was slick and slippery. One might slip while the other caught him by the waist to help him regain balance. Zero looked around curiously at the snowy town. He'd never seen so much white before, only darkness at home and some light on the surface.
He was so intrigued with this new sight and exploration that he had dropped his guard. His usually ever-alert instincts were silenced and focused on X and all the snow. This allowed a white clad figure, a spy sent from Wily's kingdom to track Light, to take up position around a building in front of the boys. The spy pointed a sniper rifle in their direction. Zero's armor made him an easy target in such a brightly lit area.
After a few more steps, X was surprised by hearing a gunshot and the sound of glass shattering. He felt Zero's grasp of his hand slip away and saw the sunglasses drop to the ground. The spy had swiftly left the scene as the redhead's body dropped to the ground, his wings sprawled out, and his eyes were already closed. Tears raced down X's cheeks upon the realization of what had happened. He held Zero's limp body close, letting his tears drip onto his face. "No, please, don't leave me, Zero!" X wailed, not caring who saw anymore.
Having sensed Zero's vanishing lifeforce, Shani and the Grim Reaper arrived to see what had occurred. During the first minute, they were silent, Shani shaking her head in disappointment at whoever the culprit was. The Reaper then broke the silence with a loud angry but ghastly wail. This proved that regardless of the incident on the ship, he still cared about his son. He screamed away in a black veil, tracking down the killer. Shani stayed with X and looked at her dead son, noticing something strange. "His soul hath not departed from his body. Instead, it hath hewn itself to thine. Very peculiar." X sniffled and looked at her. "What does that mean?" He wasn't aware that there was a small flickering of purple energy coming from where Zero had bit him. "When a mortal dies, the soul leaves the body. His soul is refusing to budge from his body because it hath managed to weave itself together with thine. This speaks beyond miles of thy bond." "Is it possible to save him then?" X asked sadly. "His soul is residing in a useless body at this point. If his pierced heart is mended and his powers reintroduced into his body, he may live once more. Alas, it would take time for him to recover." Shani answered. "How?" X asked. At this, Shani grinned a little. "Thy neck glows with traces of power. This tells me that he hath passed some of his power to thee when he immortalized thee and when thou allow him to feed from thee under a full moon." She removed Zero's spiked collar and slid down the underarmor on his neck. "Do as he hath unto thee. Bite his neck and breathe into the wound." X did as he was told, gently biting Zero's neck and breathing into his wound, noticing the purple flickers of power going into Zero's body. Shani saw the bullet lodged in Zero's heart get forced out and the wound healing as she mended the broken chest lens of his armor.
X removed his mouth from Zero's neck. The wound healed quickly and disappeared when a blue rose appeared in its stead, a symbol that Zero had finally been marked by X. He felt Zero's neck for a pulse and he felt a faint one before pulling up the underarmor on his neck and fastened Zero's collar again. The brunette hugged the redhead's body gently, thrilled that he would be at his side again. Shani soon had the broken armor and chest lens fixed. "We shalt get him to shelter. It will take him time to fully recover." X nodded, picking up the sunglasses Zero had worn before and placing them in his coat pocket before lifting and carrying Zero's still limp body bridal style back to the palace, keeping Zero's head close to his.
Cossack had noticed that the plant Zero had demonstrated on earlier had begun to wilt, finding it strange. His suspicion that something must've happened was proven when X came into the palace carrying Zero in his arms and Shani following close behind. Light was surprised when he saw them. "X, what happened to him? Is he ok?" Before X could answer, the Reaper screamed in with Zero's assassin, clutching him by the neck, making the man struggle. The Reaper couldn't understand much English, so he told Cossack what had happened in Russian. Shani knew Russian too, adding that Zero was saved by X and was recovering. Cossack let the Reaper do as he wanted with the spy. This act had sparked friction between him and Wily. With all that had happened lately with Light and Wily's abandoning of his old friends for selfish reasons, he was ready to declare war on Wily. X took Zero to his room, gently lying him on the bed before crawling to his side, removing his coat and snuggling into his chest lens which now gently flickered red, indicating Zero's currently poor health. Shani sat down next to the bed, watching them and grinning to herself when a scream of pain was heard from Zero's killer.
X fell asleep from worry an hour later. He didn't register or feel Zero's body begin to move slightly. Zero's blue and yellow eyes opened. His vision was blurry, but he could make out X's form on top of him. He grinned weakly and pulled X closer to his head, gently snuggling him before his eyes closed again. Shani saw the whole thing and grinned, relaxing a little in her chair. When X woke and found that Zero had moved him a little closer, he began to cry a little. Zero opened his eyes, feeling his tears, and shifted him closer. "Zero..." X managed sadly. The redhead picked up his left arm slowly and wiped away X's tears. He could see a little more clearly now. "If I knew there was a killer on the loose, we would've stayed in." X said sadly. "Silence...my dear...This was not...thy fault in any way..." Zero managed, his vocal echo seemed weak. "I am...with thee again...That is...all that matters..." X hugged Zero tightly and nodded.
After a while, screams from the dungeon stopped. The Reaper had tortured the spy and sent him to the Netherworld to wither away what life he had left at this point. Cossack and Light interrogated the spy during the Reaper's torture, learning that he had tracked Light to Russia ever since they stopped at the boundary of Wily's territory in their travels. Wily had seen Zero as a threat and wanted him dead before going for Light, leaving a defenseless X for last and wiping out any trace of Light. The Reaper seeped into the room to visit Zero. He still wasn't sure if he liked seeing X on top of him. He came closer to Zero and the redhead spotted him. In the cursed tongue, the Reaper urged Zero to come home for the sake of his safety. This made Shani sigh and before Zero could respond, Shani escorted the Reaper outside the room and closed the door where bickering was soon heard. X looked back to Zero. "What did he say?" Zero sighed. "He said...that I need to go to the Netherworld...that its not safe for me anymore here..." X hugged him tightly. "I still don't want you to go." "I will only go where thou do...I am not going anywhere..." Zero insisted. X snuggled him and gently slid down the underarmor on Zero's neck, moving his collar up. Zero grew curious. "What art thou doing?" X grinned and showed Zero a small mirror. In it, Zero saw the blue rose on the left side of his neck where X had bit and breathed into a now hidden wound. "Did...Was this thy doing?" X nodded. "Your mother told me what to do, but I don't know how I did the blue rose..." Zero looked back to the brunette. "Thou hath touched me, X...I knew not what to mark thee with, but thou hath given me an idea." X looked at him curiously as Zero slowly moved his head to the bite marks on X's neck, moving X's collar down. He gently breathed onto the marks, which created a black and red rose which effectively hid the bite marks. He then showed X in the mirror. X looked at the mirror and smiled seeing the rose. "You're so sweet." Zero blushed, setting the mirror aside and pulling X back down on top of him. X blushed too, relaxing on Zero's body and resting with him.