Prompt: #4 Imagination
Summary: Maybe he was just a fool and this was all in his head. But it looked like reality was stranger than his imagination.
A/N: This continues the story introduced in Chapter 35: Caecus for the #20 Prompt, Glare. Part 2/4.
Somnio is Latin for "imagine foolishly".
Somnio
Ashamed. That's what he's been. He was ashamed for running away from Captain. He was ashamed of … maybe just that. Oh, that and managing to get himself caught again! He was definitely not living up to his namesake that day. By noon the following morning he had managed to get himself caught by Nihil soldiers in a ravine. A mouse would not have walked through a flippin' ravine when they were being hunted. There was no place to hide and there was no place to run! So it'd been rather pathetic and he'd been so beat up from running most of the night that he hadn't given them much of a fight. He'd found himself tied up, again. Then he'd been hefted up on a more normal looking horse, nothing to Horsie, behind a Nihil shoulder out of sight from Captain. Captain who had been approaching while those sleazy bastards waited in hiding A trap for Captain! Did they think he was going to let them get to Captain! No way!
Captain seemed to be unaware of the threat that was so close by but there was no real way to tell for sure. He'd put his money on the fact that he had, but still came this way. Noble, brave knight that he was. He'd probably tracked them all down and was coming after him. Guh, to be used as bait against a great man like Captain. A mouse really was an abused creature. Well, they were getting what was coming to them. They'd tied his hands but not as good as Captain had and it hadn't taken him long at all, to untie his hands and bonk the soldier in front of him in the head. He made sure to make enough noise so that Captain was alerted.
In between running and dodging and trying not to make too much of a nuisance of himself, he didn't really have much of a chance to pay attention to anyone else. There weren't very many soldiers waiting in ambush and he did do his fair share in helping Captain. So he was pretty confident that Captain would be good on his own. Horsie and Hawk were much better at helping him anyway. He'd just needed to get himself out of their way and wait it out. He'd just made a spectacular dive behind a rock just in time to look up and see one of the soldiers fire an arrow at Hawk. It struck Hawk right in the chest, hear the heart. He wasn't sure who cried out louder, Hawk or Captain. His eyes had flown to Captain then and saw that Captain had been struck with an arrow and in almost the exact same spot as Hawk. Not that Captain had looked at all worried about himself. It looked as if the cry Captain had given was for the sake of his bird and not his own pain. Captain's eyes stayed locked on Hawk as it descended to the ground to make sure he knew where it was before he turned his attention back to the fighting. Mouse did not envy the soldier. Horsie devoured the one who'd shot the arrow at Hawk and Captain had looked murderous when he'd stabbed the soldier who'd shot him with the very arrow that had been stuck in his chest. After that, it was all over.
Not even bothering to savor their victory, because to him it looked like defeat mixed with denial. Captain had mounted Horsie and shot off the short distance it took to get to Hawk. He'd run after the pair as fast as his short legs could carry him and caught up just in time to see Captain kneel down beside Hawk.
"Sssssh. There, there. It is all right. It will be all right," Captain whispered soothingly to the injured bird. "You are going to be just fine, dear one."
Captain must have known he was there because his head jerked in his direction. "Get me a small cloth from my bag!"
The order jolted him so fast he was running towards Captain with the cloth in no time. He watched almost bewildered at the amount of care and attention Captain took in wrapping Hawk up and cradling it in his arms. Then Captain looked up at the sky as if debating something and his eyes narrowed in frustrated desperation. It was just a bird!
"There is an old, decrepit mountain castle a few miles that way," motioned Captain in the direction of one of the mountains. "When you get there, there will be a priest. He will know what to do." With that he offered the wounded animal to him.
"What? Me? I can't run that fast!" he protested, shaking his head and wave his arms for added emphasis. "You take her."
"You are going to ride, my horse," answered Captain with barely suppressed anger. "I cannot take her in my condition."
"On him? He'll shove me right off!"
"No, he will not," reassured Captain, trying to hand him the bird again. "You must take her to the priest."
"Why go through so much trouble, Captain? The poor thing's done for."
He'd almost wished the words back from the sudden flash of rage on Captain's face at that. He grabbed him by the cuff with his strong hands and brought his face to his.
"Don't you dare even think that!" Captain shouted in his face. It took several quick breathes for Captain to find his calm again. "You will do this," Captain ordered and he had a look in his eyes that promised excruciating retribution if he didn't obey him.
"Uh, okay fine," he mumbled, walking hesitantly backwards towards Horsie on shaking legs. Captain could be frightening.
He saw Captain whisper a few words in Horsie's ear before he jerked his head at him to mount. Horsie didn't even move while he tried his very best to stay seated on his massive back. It'd taken him a moment to get his balance. Captain walked slowly towards him and handed him the bird very gently. The poor thing sounded strangled. The arrow was still embedded in its chest and he doubted there was any hope of saving it. But he sure as heck wasn't going to say that to Captain.
"Hurry and if you do not this for me and she dies, I will find you and you will regret the day you ever escaped Nihilsomno," vowed Captain heatedly and there was no doubt in his mind that he would.
So he carefully lifted Hawk in his arms like a baby and he was shooting off. He felt like a genuine jackass for not even considering that since Captain was also wounded, he should have been more agreeable at the very beginning. So he'd clicked at Horsie and whipped his reins to get the monster to move faster under his feet to visit this priest in a mangled castle. It was getting dark by the time he caught a flash of the white stones of a really badly kept castle. Hawk had started screaming by then. Screaming so badly that when he tried to coo at it, it bit him.
"Yaouch! You ingrate!" he shouted at it resentfully, as they approached the castle walls. Of everything, the walls had ironically been the only things kept intact. "Hello! HELLO! Is there anyone there!"
"What is it!" shouted a gruff, impatient voice back. "What is that awful screeching noise!"
He saw a fuzzy white headed, head peek out but he couldn't see a face with the setting sun in his face.
"I've a bird here that's been injured!" he answered.
"Oh lovely!" came a more welcoming shout. "Hurry and bring it in. I've a fire here. We can roast it together!"
"We can't eat it!" he protested so fast his voice squeaked.
"Why the blazes not?"
"It belongs to…," er since he did not know Captain's real name this was going to be tricky.
"Who does it belong to?" challenged the gruffy voice.
"A man named, 'Captain'," he replied lamely and he expected a mocking laugh in response. When he looked up he realized that the fuzzy white head had gotten really stiff.
"Captain?" the fuzzy head of white asked in a disbelieving. "GET IN HERE!"
He was not sure what that was all about but he was more than a little convinced that 'Captain' was definitely a code word for something important. The gate unlocked and the fuzzy head was now attached to a body that was clothed in a white robe that was dashing precariously towards him down a rather steep incline.
"Let me see! Hurry up and let me see!" the figure was even more impatient than before.
"Are you the priest?"
"Are you an idiot? Why do you think I'm wearing these robes?" mocked the not so friendly priest. He peered into his arms and caught sight of Hawk and the arrow protruding from its chest. "Oh no…," the priest's voice went down to a low whisper. Dread clear in his scratchy voice. He took Hawk from him and held it gently to him. like it was something precious. Just like Captain had. Then he whirled around and ran back towards the castle without another word to him. He'd heard the priest rambling to himself the whole way.
"Hey wait!" he shouted running after him. For an old guy the man was spry! Before he could catch up, Priest had locked himself in a room.
The sky was already dark when the storm clouds moved in. So he hadn't actually seen when the sun had finally set. Not that he would have noticed anyway because he'd been a little distracted trying to figure out what the blazes was going on with this picture. It wasn't raining just yet, but he could smell the water in the air. The billowing thunder of a fierce shower followed a flash of lightning as he waited impatiently outside until Priest emerged again, rumbling the whole time and locked the door again before rushing off to who cared where. Locks. HA! Priest obviously didn't know who he was dealing with! It wasn't even a complicated lock either and he had picked it in no time at all before rushing into the room to figure out why the heck a bird was so special. He'd just made sure that the door was nicely closed behind him before he whirled around and almost fell over from shock at the sight that was waiting for him inside.
It wasn't a bird that lay beside the fire. It was not a bird wrapped in warm black fur rugs before a fire. It was most definitely not a bird with an arrow protruding from its chest. It was her. Blinking rapidly and listening to his flight instinct, he was prepared to scram out of there screeching like a loon, when she made a strangled sound that stopped him.
"Noctis! Is he…?" she cried out to him desperately.
He doesn't know how the heck he knew who she was talking about but it made him stop his escape and turn his head towards her.
"He's fine," he'd answered so candidly that there was no room for her to doubt. He chanced a glance at her and caught the relief as it washed over her entire body with that knowledge. She even sighed in contentment, though it was clear that she was in her own agony.
"Am I dreaming again? he asked her, hesitantly trying to get a little closer. "Are you part of my imagination?"
She didn't look at him but clutched the edges of her skin that held the arrow. "I am sorrow." Tears rolled out of her eyes and he felt just as depressed as she looked. There was sad resignation in her features. She didn't expect to survive the night but it didn't look like she minded as long as Captain aka Noctis, was all right.
He'd been about to ask her something else when the door opened and Priest entered behind him.
"How the he…?" he started to growl at him until he realized that she was lying there as a human (which he thought was still highly debatable as she'd looked as stunning as she had when he'd first laid eyes on her a couple nights before) and not a bird. Priest looked as entranced as he did and moved to stand in front of him. "Get out of here boy. I have work to do."
"But I…,"
"Get out!" Priest shouted before whirling around and shoving him out the door. Then slammed them shut behind him for good measure.
Not that he had been too tempted to stay in there anyway. They all knew what Priest had to do and he didn't envy the crabby guy at all for being the one stuck with the duty. Even if it did mean that he'd be in the room with her like that. It had been too confusing! Captain was Noctis. Noctis was Captain. Captain was Prince Noctis! The missing prince that had disappeared so long ago. He was alive! There was hope! But, who was she? What had happened? Why.. how did he get himself into this mess? His head felt like it was going to explode so he crouched on the floor and clutched his head between his knees. He could feel the tension and he almost wanted to scream so that he didn't have to hear what he knew was coming soon. The thunder and lightning were deafening but he still heard her scream when Priest finally pulled the arrow from her chest. Her scream of indescribable pain had cut him to the heart. Just as she screamed, an agonized howl responded to her from the distance and he found himself on the edge of tears. This was all a nightmare. A living nightmare. The question was, if it were his nightmare of if it was their nightmare.
Priest came to find him much later, when the storms had gone and everything was pretty quiet. Except for the occasional howl of a wolf not so far away and the crackling of the fire. As close as he had been sitting in front of the fire, he hadn't felt the least bit warm. Instead he was wracked with shivers running up and down his back, making him shudder in dread and fear and sympathy for the two people that had obviously been placed in a never ending, bizarre horror picture. Priest had been more composed when he sat beside him and offered him a glass of ale to help calm his nerves. Mouse didn't usually drink but he sure had needed a drink then. Maybe then everything would make bloody sense.
"That's him, isn't it?" he asked, even though he already knew the answer. "That's him howling out there."
"You've stumbled across a very tragic tale, my boy," answered Priest with a heavy sigh.
"I need to hear it all."
Priest gave a long sigh as they both continued to stare at the fiery flames. After awhile Mouse had the impression that he wasn't going to tell him anything.
"I keep thinking this is all my overactive imagination playing tricks on me," he commented.
"If only it was that simple," sighed Priest again. "Just some bedtime story."
"I like bedtime stories," he encouraged.
Priest seemed to steel himself before starting the awful tale.
"Five years ago, an envoy arrived with a small entourage in Nihilsomno."
"The capital?"
"Yes," Priest replied patiently. They both knew how rare it was that an envoy from any outside country got into the boundaries of Nihilsomno. "Among the delegates was a beautiful creature of blonde hair and blue eyes. Blue eyes like…"
"Those of a jewel that seemed to sear right through your heart," Mouse finished.
Priest turned to him with a knowing grin. "Ah, you too eh?"
Mouse nodded. No use in denying that.
"She was among the envoy's party. When the Overlord saw her, he knew he had to have her."
Okay, he had never actually seen the Overlord in person before, but he could easily say that the guy looked old enough to be her father! Nobody actually wanted to ever see him because that meant you weren't going to be living much longer. The man looked like one of those old mafia bosses with black and white tightly slicked back hair and a full beard and moustache. Menacing to the core! A man that looked like he could kill you with a glare. Talk about creepy! That was even creepier than how Creepy Farmer had made him feel. It was kinda revolting even though, there was a part of him that understood too. Being a fella himself and looking at Priest, who looked almost as old as the Overlord, she was just that type of woman that any man found himself falling in love with. She was undeniably a superior creature that mortal men could not resist.
"He became obsessed with her and vowed to have her," continued Priest. "But there were two things that he did not know. The first being that she was the Princess of Tenebrae who had come in secret to meet with the high council of Nihilsomno for her country. The second was that she was already in love."
He could feel that darkening sense of foreboding build up inside again and he suddenly got very cold. Wrapping his arms around himself, he tried to keep from shivering and sat closer to the fire. Priest obliged him by tossing another log onto the fire.
"Not only was she in love, she was in love with the Prince of Nihilsomno."
"Prince Noctis," he said distantly, thinking about the man he had known as Captain. How he had always pictured him as a tragic hero and how on the money he'd been. He could see the two of them together and happy. There'd never be another couple like'em and he getting more than a little pissed off realizing that someone had purposely ripped them apart from each other. What a tragedy. That was exactly what Captain, er, Prince Noctis was. He was a tragic hero. A hero who didn't deserve any of this. Neither one of them did and he finally understood why, even as striking as she still was, there had never been any joy in her eyes when he'd gotten a chance to look at her. There'd always been a haunted look. A haunted look that he saw whenever he looked into Captain's face.
"Because the Overlord had no knowledge of what she was exactly, he pursued her relentlessly," Priest's voice had turned into a growl as the memory angered him. "He wrote her love letters, sent her gifts, did everything he possibly could to entice her, but she returned everything unopened and unread. All the while she fell deeper and deeper in love with the Prince. Their love had been kept a secret to avoid anyone questioning her true lineage. At first the Princess had even kept the unwelcomed advances of the Overlord a secret from the Prince for fear of igniting a conflict and how right she was to fear. Once she did, terrible things followed."
"What terrible things?" and even though he'd seen those terrible things first hand, he wanted an explanation.
"It had been the last meeting of the envoy with the High Council when she exposed her true identity," continued Priest. "The ambassador that she had come with had used that opportunity to expose the lovers too. He did it in a tirade of accusations. A treaty had to have been reached by the end of that trip as that was its sole purpose for coming but no one in Tenebrae wanted a marriage alliance for their beloved princess. Both sides were so heated they almost started a war in those very chambers. The ambassador strictly forbade the love and any chances of a treaty had shattered."
That sounded like a major understatement but he wasn't going to comment on that.
"Prince Noctis stood his ground and announced that he would be marrying Princess Stella no matter what they tried to stand in their way."
He almost didn't want to hear what was coming next. How could the prince have known such a terrible thing would happen to them?
"That night," continued Priest in a chilling tone. "The Overlord went into the depths of the temple of Etro and made a wicked pact with the goddess for vengeance upon the Prince and Princess. In his utter madness and jealousy he contrived a deal that would keep them forever apart and forever banish them from both their kingdoms. He threw everything away for the slight of his unrequited lust for Princess Stella."
"What exactly is happening?" he demanded angrily.
"During the day, Princess Stella is a beautiful Hawk that soars as a beam of light through the sky. At night, as you hear now, Prince Noctis is the black wolf that stalks in the darkness."
As if on cue, the sad cry of a wolf sounded outside the walls and he shuddered again.
"Forever together but eternally apart," Mouse said and he didn't even know why he knew to say that.
Priest nods sadly and turned to the fire again.
"What part do you play in all of this?" he asked.
There was a long silence and he'd seen the guilt as it drained the color from Priest's face.
"I was the ambassador that she came with on that fateful visit and I am the man who gave the Overlord a perfect opportunity to exact his revenge," confessed Priest with so much shame Mouse almost felt sorry for him. "If it weren't for my temper and my prejudice, none of this would have ever happened."
"Is there anyway to break this curse?" Mouse asked as he'd fought the urge to be angry at the other man for the Prince and Princess' sake. "There has to be a way!"
"There is," answered Priest, but he didn't sound very hopeful. "They must both stand in front of the Overlord as human beings together. That is the only way to break it."
Okay, now that was a huge problem. That meant that they not only had to break into Nihilsomno, which was pretty impossible by itself, they had to stand in front of the Overlord as humans before his minions killed them both. They'd also be running the risk that the Overlord might trap the Princess and keep her as a prisoner to his lusts. Good gracious! That made him sick! And what would happen to Captain when this happened? The Overlord would kill him without even blinking an eyelash. Captain was good but he wasn't that good and as cunning and protective as a hawk was, they wouldn't be able to do it together. Not even with Horsie's help. Heck, he couldn't even help that much either and he doubted Priest was much better. He might be able to get them inside but he sure couldn't help them defend themselves against the army of Nihilsomno. Then he remembered the Prince's plan.
"Priest!" he shouted, turning to him and grabbing onto his white robe. "Prince Noctis wants me to take him to Nihilsomno so he can kill the Overlord."
Priest's face widened in shock. "If he kills the Overlord the curse will never be broken."
"I think he's realized that but it's not going to stop him."
Priest shook his head. "Does Princess Stella know?"
"I don't know. She might," he answered grimly. "She is going to be all right, isn't she?"
"She is well on the mend," reassured the Priest. "Now get some sleep."
Yeah, like that was going to happen when his brain was going a mile a minute. How in the heck was he supposed to sleep when he had so many different theories and suggestions racing through his head at once?
Well, he had never been one of those intellectual thinkers who could think and think all day long. So it shouldn't have surprised him when he jerked awake a few hours later, just before dawn, when there'd been banging on the castle wall.
"What is it!" shouted Priest. As welcoming as he was to him the day before.
"Open in the name of the Overlord!" shouted a man. Sounded like a soldier to his sensitive ears. Had to be soldiers and how they had managed to find this place was amazing.
"I know the Overlord and you don't look like him!" retorted Priest smartly.
He thinks he likes Priest a lot now. Not that he had enough time to dwell on liking anything since he was running as fast as he could towards the room he knows the Princess is in. He doesn't bother knocking because this just wasn't the time to keep with manners.
"My Lady, you must wake," he said shaking her gently on her uninjured side.
"Hmm?" she answered sleepily and he had to fight the urge to stop and stare as her blue eyes looked into his in question. "What is it?"
"Guards! We gotta go!"
Her eyes went immediately into alert and she got up as quickly as she could. He didn't know where they were going since there was no other exit except where the guards were now. The only way to go was up the tower and hope that they didn't go up there to look. So he grabbed her hand and ran towards it. She was fast but sluggish and he was sure her arm was hurting like a mother, but she didn't complain. They'd reached the top quickly and he was so out of breathe as he shoved at the top hatch leading to the very top of the watchtower and helped her climb up, through it. He could hear the rush of the guards as they ran up the stairs after them. Quickly, he'd climbed up and slammed the door in their faces and slide the bolt in place.
The bolt wasn't going to hold for very long and he started running around the small space of the top of the tower to see where they could go next. But of course, they were at the top of a freakin' tower! There was no where to go and there was no way in heck they were going to be able to climb down.
"Mouse, they only want me. Just save yourself," she said to him.
"Don't flatter yourself," he said as he kept trying to find an escape route.
The guards began slamming against the hatch and the bolt slipped off, causing it to fly open. On reflex, he had leapt onto the hatch in order to close it again. He knew he wasn't really heavy but he was just enough to lock the hatch again. He had been moving with a different sense at that moment. Yes, his flight instincts were kicking in but most importantly, his protective instincts were at their peak. More than anything, he wanted to protect the Princess rather than to protect himself. Before he knew it, the guards had thrust a sword through the boards of the hatch while he'd still been on it and he'd leapt away from it to avoid being stabbed. Which was not a good idea because he crashed right into the Princess and she flew over the edge of the tower. She gave a short cry and he leaned over to see that she'd managed to get hold of a protruding stone. Holding onto the edge, he reached over and grabbed her hand before she lost her grip.
The hand that she had managed to grab, was her left. The same side that had been wounded by the arrow. She gave a weak cry of pain but she didn't let go of his hand. Blood poured out of her shoulder and into the white gown that she was wearing as he tried to pull her back up to no avail.
"My grip is slipping!" she cried her fingers started gliding through his.
"Hold on!" he shouted, but he knew within that moment that he couldn't save her. "NO!" Despite it all, her fingers slowly slipped from his grasp. His stomach plummeted as he watched her fall towards the ground. She screamed as she fell and his world seemed like it was narrowed to terrifying, slow motion.
It was then that he realized that the sun was rising and its rays struck her falling form. As soon as the light hit her body, he saw her start to change. White skin turned to fluffy feathers and her bright blue eyes widened into yellow. He was too scared to even breathe as he watched her morph into the hawk and flew away, just in time to avoid smashing into the gravel below. Safe and gone and the guards weren't going to get her afterall. He hadn't even realized he'd started crying in relief until he felt the wetness on his face. He wanted to thank anything and everything for saving her. The cry of the hawk had been the most welcomed sound he'd ever received in his life.
His relief of course, was a little short lived considering the guards were still trying to break through the lock on the hatch and he still had no where to go. But he took comfort in the fact that at least the Princess was safe and there was still a chance of her and Captain. Since there was no where to run to, he'd ended up plopped down on the edge and staring off see the rest of the sunrise. The latch blew open and he heard the soldiers climb up quickly.
"You there!" shouted one of them. He remembered the voice from the one that Priest had been yelling at earlier. He hoped Priest was all right. "Where is the woman!"
"She flew away," he answered, because it was the truth!
"Don't lie to me you runt!" snarled the guard, threatening him with his sword. "Where did she go?"
"I swear she flew away!" he cried, covering his head with his arms in a vain effort to protect himself.
"Why you little…," but the voice was cut off with a strangled choking sound and he could feel a body fall past him over the edge. Another body fell with a thud behind him and when he mustered enough bravery to look, he saw they were all dead. His eyes flew back to the horizon and saw Captain, Prince Noctis, standing there and looking at him with his crossbow in his hands.
A huge sigh of relief blew out of his mouth and he'd been crying all over again like a sap. But who cared because he was alive and they were alive and everyone that mattered was alive. He didn't think he'd ever been that glad to see anyone like he had when looking at Captain, standing there after so gallantly saving him from so long a distance. He could have even danced like a jester and shimmied, he was so relieved. Captain might have even smirked at him cause he's sure he must've seen the stupid grin slapped onto his face. He was officially Captain's No. One Biggest Fanboy!
"Must try to tell the truth more," he said to himself with a nod. He walked around the body of the dead soldier to walk back down the tower to meet Captain at the gates.
TBC
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