Chapter 29

Wolfram found himself sitting in a field of flowers. They were splotched red and orange with five petals and thick green stems. The fragrance was soft, fine, and lilting. It hung on the wind and, just as quickly, disappeared with it.

There were rolling hills and thick clouds that hovered over—casting inky patches on the ground. He could feel the sun shine on his face, but it lacked the warmth that he was used to. And he found himself able to look directly at the burning orb without squinting.

"Do you like it?"

Wolfram's head snapped in the direction of the voice. It came from the person sitting beside him.

"How did you…?"

"How did I do that?" Shinou asked, his head tilted to one side with a smug grin on his face. The blond king was in his usual garb with a cape hanging off of his shoulder. He was sitting Indian style next to the younger man, practically elbow to elbow.

Wolfram shook his head and soft blond hair fell into his face, brushing his cheeks.

"That's because…you aren't really here."

The younger blond looked at him incredulously. "How…? I mean…" He reached out for a flower, stroked it and then picked it. "But this feels so…"

"Real," Shinou finished for him. "Yes, I know." He leaned over and watched Wolfram's face a little and then turned his gaze on the blazing, floral field. "I know it seems that way, but this isn't where you are. Well, to tell the truth, it isn't where your body happens to be at the moment."

Did I die? Wolfram thought, turning his gaze back to the flowers. Absently, he twirled the one he still had between his fingers and thumb. Then, where did they bury me? Certainly, not in the royal mausoleum where they bury the maous and their spouses. We never got married. I'm probably in the family grave back in Bielefeld territory. The blond tilted his head back and closed his eyes. Even in death, I can't be beside Yuuri. Loving him was hopeless after all.

Wolfram brushed the flower against his cheek. He would have cried, but the tears wouldn't come. If I can, I'll find Yuuri's ancestors and we'll watch over him. More than that, I will protect him…and, when he moves on and forgets me, I'll watch over the person he chooses to marry. Whoever he wants, I'll accept. Yuuri deserves love…even if it doesn't come from me. I don't want him to live out the rest of his life alone. I did that for far too long. Waiting to be loved. He deserves better than that.

"Don't you want to know where you are?" Shinou asked. The silence confused him. Then again, most of what Wolfram did was confusing. In Shinou's opinion, he seemed to be the descendent who inherited many of the worst traits from both himself and Rufus. The young man was fiery, impulsive, opinionated, loud…annoying. The list could go on and on.

Emerald eyes looked at him sincerely. "I suppose…I died…"

Shinou cocked his head to the side again and regarded him for a minute. "Not just yet."

"Eh?" Wolfram glanced around him. "Then, where is this?"

"Ah, finally an intelligent question."

That got the former king a sour look.

"To be honest, my dear Wolfram, this place is a memory."

"Eh?" Wolfram racked his brains trying to remember actually being in this place before. "I can't see how it's possible. I don't recall…"

Shinou pointed to the far left with an index finger. Wolfram's eyes caught a couple sitting in the field, sharing a bottle of wine and talking quietly. It was the Original Sage and Shinou himself. "This memory is mine." He raked his hair with his fingers and said, "This was a day. It was just an ordinary day. But it was also a moment….like magic, I suppose." The couple laughed softly over a joke and the sage gave the king a friendly slap on the shoulder. The Shinou of the past, wearing a casual dark green shirt and brown trousers, rested his elbow on his knee and placed his face in his palm. There was boyish shrug at something the sage was complaining about, based on the gestures. They both laughed again softly, the way adults often do.

"I visit this memory when I need a rest."

Wolfram nodded. It sounded like Yuuri's weird and somewhat confusing explanation of a "happy place." Though, Yuuri's "place" seemed to be either a baseball game where the Hanshin Tigers were winning or an island paradise out in the middle of nowhere. Of course, Wolfram always frowned at the latter and threatened him that his "happy island" had better not have beautiful women or men on it. He had a fiancé, and it would be better to focus on that.

"You have one, too, you know."

Wolfram crossed his arms defensively. It seemed ridiculous. He had no need for silly fantasies.

"Don't believe me?" Shinou said in his ear.

The younger blond cut his eyes in the king's direction.

"I thought so." He laughed and the scene melted away into a darkened room. Wolfram was standing in the king's chambers. He stood in one spot, waiting for his eyes to adjust. When they did, he noticed the four poster canopy bed. Yuuri was asleep, soft dark hair on the pillow, and Greta was next to him making little babyish snores. Wolfram could see "himself" coming through the door. He stepped aside to let himself pass. It was odd to watch another "Wolfram" from this vantage point. The blond noticed that he was exhausted—moving wearily, taking effort in all that he did. The man he saw undressed himself and placed his uniform carelessly on the chair next to the closet. Practically naked now, he reached for the pink, frilly nightie and frowned at it. Was he tired of wearing it? Or was he tired of this whole situation? He sighed and pulled on the gown with rough, callused fingers from sword fighting.

"I remember this night," Wolfram said to himself. Then, he felt self-conscious as he realized that Shinou was coming up behind him.

"You should. It wasn't all that long ago."

"The night before I was hit with the arrow…" Wolfram nodded as he said it and watched himself approach the window—pulling the curtain back and staring out at the night scene below. Everything was dark and beautiful, full of midnight blues and blacks. The moon gave a gentle glow as a whisp of clouds caressed it.

Wolfram unlatched the window before him. He opened it a crack and the breeze picked up the hem of the nightie. Not caring in the slightest, the blond leaned against the wall and continued to stare with lonely eyes. "Why am I here?"

"Because you sneak into my room every night," Yuuri said, sitting up in bed and squinting at his accidental fiancé with sleepy, onyx eyes. He covered a yawn.

"Yuuri, you're awake."

"Yeah, I kind of heard you coming in." He yawned again and gave his raven hair a good scratch.

"Oh." It was all that Wolfram could think to say. He turned his back to Yuuri and stared out the window again. Lightly, his fingers traced a pattern on a pane of glass.

"Wolfram?"

"Hm?" His hand froze. He turned, still touching the glass. And what he didn't notice at the time was that Yuuri's expression had changed to one of concern.

"Wolfram, I…"

"Hmmm?" Slowly, the blond shifted his body to look at him with hands resting on his hips.

"Never mind… Come to bed, Wolfram."

"I'm keeping you awake," he said with a sigh, dropping the tough act, and trudging over to his side of the bed. "I shouldn't…I mean… I shouldn't have bothered you." He added a shrug to end his sentence.

"No, you're not," Yuuri assured him with a smile in his voice.

"Right." Though, Wolfram's voice was more of a sigh.

"No, seriously," he reassured him. Then, he reached over, across Greta, and took the blond's hand.

Wolfram's eyes shot to Yuuri with a flicker of hope in them.

The double black gave a slight chuckle and closed his eyes. "G'night."

"Same to you, Yuuri."

The two of them held hands all night long with their palms resting softly on their daughter's heart.

"This is your happiest memory, Wolfram," Shinou said behind him.

"Yes, it is."

"Good," the former king said, turning Wolfram by the forearm to face him. "So, when the situation gets bad…really bad…I'm going to send you to these two memories. Relive them as often as you like. And, in return, you will allow me to borrow your body."

Emerald eyes narrowed at him suspiciously. This made absolutely no sense. "Why do this now? You've possessed me…"

"I think 'taken over' is more preferable…" Shinou had one finger up in the air with an annoyed grimace, like a teacher correcting his worst pupil who simply wasn't getting it no matter how hard he tried.

"Whatever…" There was an impatient huff from the shorter, blond male. "Okay… Fine… You've taken over before without my permission." Wolfram folded his arms defensively across his chest. "Though a better question would be 'Why ask now?' I suppose."

Shinou frowned back, almost hesitant—which was odd for him. "Because this time, and I really hate to phrase it this way, the pain is going to be excruciating. And I need to see what is going on without the threat of being kicked out of your body."

"So, all this time, I only needed to be in pain to get rid of you."

Shinou frowned at that. For a second, he felt like a king who had his favorite falcon peck him hard just before the hunt.

"Pain?" he sniped back placing a not so friendly hand on Wolfram's shoulder. "Have you ever taken a good look at your own soul? Talk about scars. You're more messed up than I am."


Yozak could hear them laughing at Wolfram, tied up as he was by his wrists.

"That's it, guys," the elder said, ending his statement with the kind of rumbling chuckle that only tobacco smokers could do.

Yozak could just make out the upper torso of the elder. From this vantage point, it seemed as though the unshaven man was peering down at something. Unfortunately, there were a couple of tables with junk on them that the spy couldn't see past. Nonetheless, he kept his blue eyes on the elder and cringed as he watched the man shift his weight onto one foot to kick Wolfram. The taut rope that led down was now swinging and shaking awkwardly with the weight of something tied to the end of it. And there was no mistaking it in Yozak's mind. Conrad's brother, whether conscious or not, was at the other end.

Another kick.

This time, Yozak could hear a groan. He cringed at it.

"Oi," the elder said to Marelda, who had just entered the room again. "I think he's coming to."

"Wonderful," she said while slipping a necklace around the blond's neck and resting it against his chest. Immediately, Wolfram let out a yelp as the burning sensation seeped through the cloth and into his skin.

Several feet away, Yozak's body jerked at the sound. His eyes were searching frantically and he lifted his head to see if there was anything that could possibly help them.

Turning around abruptly, Marelda sashayed out saying, "I need to get something and I'll be right back." She disappeared through the door and never heard the boss say to his men, "I hate that bitch."


Conrad stayed by Yuuri as they rode along. Even though a part of him was doing it to reassure himself that his king and godson was fine, another part needed the company and companionship even if he couldn't admit it out loud.

"Ouch," Yuuri grumbled.

"Problem, Shibuya?" Murata asked before Conrad could say anything.

"Nope…just tired. But we all are."

"Hey, just don't fall off," the sage joked quietly.

The horse galloped on and Conrad cut his eyes to Yuuri again. Fall off? Yes, he does look tired. But he's worried, too. In the dark, maybe no one would notice. Still, Conrad struggled to hide his concern. His godson's safety meant everything to him now that Wolfram was gone. Not that one was a substitute for the other. Far from it. But, he just needed to feel protective. And Yuuri allowed that cold comfort.

"Heika?" Conrad began.

Still sitting behind Murata, Yuuri gave a small smile at him from on his horse. "Let me save you the trouble." Onyx eyes looked at Conrad's brown ones sincerely. "You just said 'heika," and I'm going to say 'Call me Yuuri. After all, you're the one who named me.' And, then, you are going to say 'Fine, Yuuri.' Am I right?"

Conrad chuckled. Yes, that was the script that the two of them had developed over the years.

"Do you know why I never really get tired of that?" Yuuri asked. There was a thread of mirth in his voice.

"Why?"

"Because, after all of these years, it's still nice to hear it."

Yuuri held on tight as his horse leaped over a piece of broken branch in the road. Then, he turned back to his godfather. "And I know that I've been kind of selfish for awhile now. I'm worried about Wolfram, yes, but he's your brother…" Then, Yuuri's look seemed far away. "We've both watched him grow up, you know? He means something to us. And we'll get him back. I know we will."

Murata turned down a narrow trail.

Conrad shook his head. All doubts gone now. "This is exactly the way we head to the Meiger Farm."

Murata turned his face to Conrad and pushed his glasses up on his face with a finger. "Tell me, do they have something that looks like a workshop?"

"Workshop?" Yuuri parroted, confused as to why the sage would suddenly bring up something like that.

"You know…like a blacksmith's shop?" He focused his mind's eye on the visions. The setting seemed to be the interior of some kind of soot-covered blacksmith's shop.

Conrad nodded darkly. "They do. It's around the side of the main house." He seemed to search the sage's face for something. "But, how would you…?"

"Then, we've got to ride and ride hard!" Murata cut him off.

"We're about an hour away if we go at top speed," Conrad said with alacrity.

"You lead the way. We'll follow!" Yuuri said. He had hope in his voice. And, once again, it spread to the others traveling with them.

The horses rode away into the darkness.


The lithe body was tied up, arms over head. The rest slumped piteously down towards the floor. Pain floated in from somewhere. Slowly, emerald eyes opened. His ribs were hurting like mad and each breath ached terribly. Maybe, he'd fallen down, but some part of him felt like he'd been struck with something.

"Where…?" he groaned.

With some effort, Wolfram tried to move his legs only to discover that they were bound tightly together with a thin rope. He was kneeling—wearing only his white, long sleeved shirt and blue breeches. Around Wolfram's neck was a thin beaded necklace made of hundreds of polished hoseki stones. The back of his neck burned from the touch. There was a leather strand tied around his wrists with more hoseki stones dangling from it like a charm bracelet. Wolfram peered at these—knowing the purpose all too well. And when he tested out the rope, the charms swung and stung his wrists like a grease burn. He gritted his teeth together at the feeling.

Hoseki stones…damn… How strong are these?

To test them, Wolfram concentrated and tried to make a flame. Instead, he made a bright spark—which should not have been possible at all. He knew it. And, then, he thought about it a little more.

Shinou, he called in his mind, are you still with me?

Yes.

Then, tell me what to do. There was a pause.

Endure.

Wolfram's eyes shot open at the feeling of his new shirt being ripped and spread apart in the back. He tried to prepare himself for what was to come. But, there really was no way he could do it.

The figure circled around and stared down.

"You!" Wolfram growled angrily with clinched teeth.

"Remember me?" she asked in a mocking tone.

"Who could forget?" Wolfram spat back, making only a weak lunge in her direction thanks to the stones sapping his strength. His body swung on the rope a bit, giving rope burns. He was breathing hard and his head hung down. "My father's old concubine." He bit out the words. "I wondered what happened to you, Marelda." He narrowed his green eyes and forced his face up to meet her. "Of course, my mother kicked you out with the rest of the trash. She made such a show of it, too. I knew I could never forget the face of the woman who broke up her marriage."

Marelda only smiled at that.

"You know, you look a lot like your mother, Wolfie." She stroked his face with the palm of her hand in a kindly fashion. She was going to enjoy this immensely.

He kept his face set, determined not to cringe at the nickname. She still knew it after all of these years. Then again, of course she would. Everyone knew.

"So, this is going to be pretty easy. I'll do you and…think about her."

"My mother kicking your ass out of the castle is what I'll think about," Wolfram quipped. But forcing the words took effort. He was tired already.

Marelda walked up to Wolfram with the dark brown leather whip in her hand. She lifted his chin with the end of it to let him feel the texture. "You know, I only use this when I help drive the cattle," she said with a smile. "Of course, I'd never use this on one of my animals. It's just to scare them. If I actually did…," she said with a thunderous crack against Wolfram's waist. His body swung on the suspended rope, which creaked deeply, and it took all of his energy to hold back a scream. Instead, with a sharply inhaled breath, he stared defiantly with shiny eyes that begged to cry. "As I said, if I actually used this on one of my cattle, it would ruin the hide." She circled around and, once again, a long ripping sound soon followed. The shirt was practically torn in two in the back—attached to the collar.

Several feet away, Yozak's ears perked up.

No…oh, Wolfram…no…this can't be…

Very quickly, Marelda pulled the pieces of Wolfram's shredded white shirt away to reveal smooth, porcelain skin. "This is what you get," Marelda said taunting him, "for not being reasonable and dying in the first place when the arrow hit you."

Whack.

"You were always such a brat."

Wolfram flinched and tried to breathe through the pain. The initial sting was nothing to the pulsing agony that quickly followed. He could feel his flesh slicing open. Passing out almost seemed preferable.

The orange haired man struggled against his bonds again and bit on his gag. He fought them and twisted hard—feeling the ropes give a little until he realized that he was merely tightening his own knot.

Nothing…there's nothing I can do…

Feeling exhausted now, he shook his head angrily in defeat as he could hear the sound of the whip striking Wolfram and the blond's desperate attempt to suppress his screams.

Whack.

There was blood on the floor. Each time his body sagged, he could see large splotches of it around his knees.

Whack.

Wolfram was aching, starting to cry. Loud sobs coming from him and tears striking the dirt floor, mixing with the blood. She hit the place where the arrowhead had penetrated his skin and a hellish victim's scream soon followed.

Yozak struggled again, rubbing his wrists raw with the effort to free himself. Nothing. In desperation, he looked over to see that the rope was pulled tight. The body must have collapsed upon itself.

Then, Yozak caught Marelda's words: "You're all alone. You've always been alone. No one's coming for you." Then, kneeling down in front of him—close enough to kiss—she whispered the name against his tear-stained lips, 'Wolfram the Undesirable'."

Whack.

Yozak's eyes widened at that. Wolfram was passed out when he got here. He thinks that he's all alone—that nobody knows he's here. The determined look on his face marked his decision. Yes, there was something he could do after all, but if Marelda retaliated, it could possibly be the end of him. For Conrad and Wolfram…I'll do this…

"WuhhhhRammm!" Yozak lifted his chin and called from where he was. The gag muffled a lot, but if he screamed as loud as he could, the sound would travel. And, hopefully, the blond soldier could hear it.

Wolfram's eyes shot open at that. "Yozak," he breathed. "He's here. You have Yozak here." Then his body collapsed again, hanging off the rope. And he did something unexpected. The sound was soft, but it was there. He laughed. He laughed again, and it was bitter because he knew it would piss off Marelda. "There's no hope for you now." Shaking with effort, he turned his face up, which was soft with tears. "Conrad will come for him…you fool."

Yozak could hear Wolfram's taunts and he rolled his eyes at it. Idiot… Why do you believe that your own brother wouldn't come for you, too? He cares about us both.

"What?!" She slapped him hard, splitting his lip, but it didn't matter. Wolfram smiled up at her with blood in his teeth. She hit him again, but this time with the whip. It hit the top of this head and left his cheek slashed open. Wolfram screamed before he could stop himself. His body crumbled.

Interesting, Wolfram could hear inside his head, but everything felt too hazy and disjointed for him to care. Shinou's comment, on the other hand, was cold and detached. Then, he shivered. The young blond could feel arms holding him, caressing his face and back without pressure. An odd numbing sensation washing over him. His body felt heavy.

Shinou… W-What…?

Something changed. It's going to be different now.

Wolfram found the darkness coming to him—like a portrait splashed with black ink. Colors were fading and he was fine with it because his back felt raw, warm, and wet.

How different?

It's my turn, Shinou told him. Just enjoy the flowers and the bed with Yuuri Heika.