A Royal Winter Chapter Eleven
Who thought that the last chapter was too fluffy? Or do you like the fluff after all of the serious things Fran's had to go through? Huh.
Fran: Stop asking questions and get to the story. Me: Hai. OHBUTWAIT! IF YOU HAVE NOT READ 'A ROYAL MEETING,' PLEASE DO SO~! I give spoilers to it in this chap, so if you haven't read it...
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"Alright, I'll untie the boat, so you get on."
"Mm'kay... *yawn*."
Fran stepped into the wooden craft he and Mammon had made, and hugged his knees close. "It's even colder out today," he protested.
"It'll be warming up soon enough," Mammon sighed, untying the rope that tethered the boat to the low tree branch and hopping into the boat just as it began to move down the current.
"Man, it's not much fun to just sit in a boat all day," Fran protested, leaning back against the edge of the boat.
"Well, it's either this, or break a few bones trying to survive in other conditions," Mammon growled. "What do you suppose everyone's doing right now?" he asked Fran.
"Master's probably back in prison," Fran murmured, "and Hibari's probably working on the plan Ken, Chikusa, him and I were developing before all this. I'll bet Bel's busy turning the Varia headquarters into a house filled with traps- he seems to have the wierdest obsession with seeing people fall for his pranks."
"Heh, that's true. One time, he decided to try a trapdoor on me. He was dumfounded when he found out I could float."
Fran laughed lightly, "I can just see that look on his face- I think I've actually seen it before when I've made a few smart remarks."
"Hm? As far as I know, Bel doesn't get affected by what others say," Mammon said.
"On our first assignment together, I slapped myself because I was thinking how cool it was that Bel could track down a victim with whatever information was provided, and when he asked me why Froggy slapped himself, I replied 'To make sure he's not dreaming and that the fake-prince is actually doing something right for once,'" Fran recalled, remembering how much he'd freaked out around Bel during their early relationship.
"Oh, Bel must've hated that. Did you always call him fake prince?" Mammon asked.
"Fake, fallen, idiotic, psychotic, insane, stupid, I was pretty mean to him," Fran chuckled.
"Huh. So I suppose you just started calling him 'Bel-senpai' after a while," Mammon inquired.
"Yep. Though I still call him fake or fallen when he gets on my nerves," Fran said.
Mammon gave a deep chuckle. "Bel IS a pretty crazy guy," he commented.
"I doubt he's changed much over the years- maybe a bit taller, a little more unkept; have you seen his hair?"
"I don't think he bothers to brush it anymore," Mammon laughed. The two shared a moment in the humor of their imaginations, before Fran suddenly quieted. "Is something wrong?" Mammon asked. Fran was looking at him oddly.
"No... I guess not," Fran whispered, "it's just... I didn't think we'd be able to get along so well."
"Yeah, you're right," Mammon agreed, "Maybe it's because... We both know Bel, we're both Mist, we were both members of the Varia, we're very similar."
"That's true, we even have the same markings under our eyes," Fran added, indicating to the light purple triangles that appeared just beneath his eyelids.
"Do you possibly think... we're somehow related?" Mammon asked.
"No," Fran said, "I know for a fact that I have no blood relatives alive."
"... Is there a particular reason for that?" Mammon questioned quietly. Fran shook his head once more.
"I don't remember what happened. ... Can we actually... stop talking about it...?" he murmured.
"Yeah, sorry," the phantom whispered, "Anything else you want to talk about?"
"... Uh... How about what we'll do when we get back?" Fran suggested, "We'll need to explain to Bel that you aren't going to be... like you were a while ago."
"Mm... I suppose so," the older illusionist agreed, "He'll probably freak out over you first though- I doubt he'll even notice me."
"Right... well, you should go in first then," Fran said.
"Woah, absolutely not!" Mammon refused instantly, "When I was still thinking about whether or not to kill you, I realized just how angry Bel would get if I came into the Varia headquarters after killing you- did you know that Bel can smell blood?"
"Oh yes," Fran breathed, recalling how the prince had used a trail of bloody knives to find his way back from the kitchen when they were in the Vongola base.
"Well, he'd be able to tell if I'd killed someone. And it wouldn't take long for him to realize that I killed you. Now, at this point, we've been close, without a doubt, he'd be able to detect your scent on me and he'd jump to the wrong conclusion. I tell you, that prince is very sensitive to smells- as wierd as it sounds- One time, he thought that I'd gone out and killed a cow, but I really just stole steak from bossu," Mammon rambled.
"Oh, he didn't find out, did he?"
"Bossu? Oh, he didn't find out. He thought that we just had low stock, Squalo took the fall for that," the ghost explained between chuckles.
"Poor long-haired commander," Fran commented.
"Huh. He didn't mind, he likes it when Xanxus yells at him, though he disguises that very well," Mammon laughed.
"Oh, he doesn't bother to hide that anymore, didn't you know? Xanxus actually confessed to Squalo in the Vongola base- they're lovers now."
"Hm? It's about time the boss chose someone, I was almost scared that he'd choose Levi."
"Levi? Huh, Levi's... not... exactly..."
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Mammon agreed. "Anyway, we're off topic. How do we explain all this to-"
"Ah- Mammon!" yelped Fran, realizing that they were approaching a few rocks.
"Oh, it's fine," muttered Mammon, casting an illusion to make the rocks lift up into the air and hang there, suspended. After they'd passed the area, Mammon lowered them back down, and turned back to Fran. "There's a turn coming up too, we'll have to do a bit of work to keep this thing on track." Fran nodded and looked forward. It was a turn that headed for the tracks.
"Uhm... M-mammon...?" Fran whispered, "You see where it's turning, right?"
"See, this is what happens when you have your eyes glued to a book during a train ride," the phantom hissed, "it goes under the tracks and turns left again so we'll be able to stay on track."
"O-okay," Fran managed, before waiting for the turn. It wasn't much work to get the boat to turn with the river, especially with Mammon's assistance. Soon, they were centered in the river again. Mammon sighed and leaned back.
(A/N: 'A ROYAL MEETING' SPOILER AHEAD!)
"Remember when I cast that illusion on Mukuro when he kissed you... I made him look like Bel, so you were kissing him back... heh... I was so jealous..."
"You sure were," Fran sighed, "Wrecked my relationship with both. Mukuro thought I was just kissing him, but I thought he was Bel, then Bel saw when you lifted the illusion, Bel freaked and ran away, I chased after him after yelling at Mukuro, then Hibari and Mukuro hooked up, you and Bel... sort of... I was so bummed for a while, but then Hibari told me what had happened, blah blah blah, you ran away," he ranted. (A/N: Spoiiiilerrrrr...)
"Huh, you should've sensed the illusion anyway," Mammon muttered.
"Love is blind," Fran said, before adding under his breath, "I hate cliche phrases..."
"So do I," chuckled the phantom. "Off topic again. What do we tell the Bel?"
"Ding," answered Fran with a smirk.
"Uh, no." Fran gave an almost Lussuria-worthy giggle, winced at himself, and said, "Alright, uhh... I'm not sure... We should probably wait for his reaction."
"Maybe so."
A week later...
"Damn it," cursed Mammon, punching a nearby tree and getting even more frustrated when he failed to leave a mark.
"It's alright," said Fran, "We've gotten pretty far, and we should be able to walk the rest of the way." Even as he spoke, he didn't look up from the sunken boat.
"I should have realized that there was a leak," Mammon growled.
"There wasn't when we went in yesterday, it probably occured overnight," Fran tried to reason with the former Arcobaleno. "Come on, it's a sunny day, the snow's starting to melt, the river would overflow soon anyway."
"I guess so...," Mammon murmured, "but after so many failed attempts, it's so frustrating that the one that worked just gave way like this."
"It's fine, Mammon, we have food, we have shelt- oh... wait a minute... if the snow melts..."
"Oh, come on!" wailed Mammon, sinking to the ground, "and now we can't get ourselves somewhere safe at night!"
"Drama queen," muttered Fran, "We can go without sleep."
Mammon looked at him like he was crazy. "No sleep? You're mortal, Fran, you will not survive like that!"
Fran looked at him seriously. "I'll do anything to get back at this point."
"..." Mammon just looked tensely into the younger boy's eyes, and soon sighed with defeat, "I'll help you if your body gives out."
"Huh. Thanks for that," Fran said with a smile.
"You come highly recommended by one of the Six Funeral Wreaths, so I hope that you work hard, Leo-kun."
"I'll do my best, Lord Byakuran, though I'm really not THAT amazing."
"Now now, don't be shy, if Sho-chan's intrested, I'm all for it. Now why don't we get to know each other a bit?"
"B-but bossu! I want to get back to Bel, he must be so devastated! I doubt he's even talking to Chrome!"
"No, Sun trash, if we have to prolong our assignment in order to get it done, we'll do that. Go heal someone."
"Voi, Xanxus, Luss is right, we need to get back before that kid loses his Varia quality!"
"I said NO, shark trash!"
"... Xanxus..."
"...Sorry... I didn't mean to snap, I know our situation, and I know my Storm Gaurdian's. This is more important. We need to find out information about the Millefiore more than we need to make a sad prince happy."
"Maybe we should send him and Chrome an assignment- killing is the best way to cheer up Bel."
"Hm... Alright, next time I get a mission for that prince trash, I'll send it to him."
-End Chapter
WEEEEEEEEEEEEEE~! So, sorry if you didn't read 'A Royal Meeting' after all, but as this is the sequel, I'm allowed to talk about it~!
Fran: Why 'wee'?
Me: I dunno, it seems fitting.
Byakuran: I'm so happyyyy~!
Me: Okay, now don't get to worked up, this is only the beginning... kufufu...
Mukuro: Don't imitate me!
Me: Whoops, sorry, the 'kufufu' is starting to stick, I've been doing it often lately.
Lussuria: *strikes feminine pose* Tell them about the 'kuafuhahashishi' that you did!
Me: *sighs* Yeah, I giggled (like Lussuria), shi'd, and kufufu'd, all at the same time. It was... strange...
Hibari: Add in a 'hn' for me next time.
Me: That would be even wierder!
Hibari: Well, whatever. REVIEW OR BE... hm... wait, let me think... Bel: *whisper whisper*
Hibari: Fine. OR I'LL TEAR YOU TO PIECES!
Me: Uhm... o...kay...
Fran: You may stop writing.
Me: Mm... sure.