Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Disclaimer: I don't own Kyou Kara Maou or make money from this.
Gwendal watched Yozak scout the area before him and release a bird sound to catch Conrad's attention. It was time they joined the two groups back together. A silence spread for a couple of minutes before another bird sound sounded through the air. The reddish spy got a big grin on his face and turned to the king. "They're not far." Yuuri gave him a small smile of his own before they continued through the woods. Yozak let the bird sound three more times before they successfully found Conrad.
"Good to see you." The spy pounced on his husband in the middle of his greeting and a short kiss was shared before the brown haired half demon pushed him off. "Heika," Conrad turned to Yuuri, who smiled and his godfather immediately knew something had happened. Straight away his eyes moved over the soldiers and stopped on Raphael. Next he frowned and turned back to the double black. "What happened?" Yuuri grimaced. He had been unsuccessful in hiding his distress and sighed.
"Wolfram…" One word that said enough and the half demon's face hardened.
"He followed us, didn't he?" A nod gave the answer and Yozak grabbed his husband's hand to have it clenched tightly. "What was he thinking? He should be protecting the children."
"Greta is with them." The spy tried to pacify his husband, but clearly it wasn't working.
"She's not a trained soldier. She can flee and hide yes, but a full on confrontation she can't win."
"Conrad!" Yuuri and Gwendal said at the same time and shared a look before the oldest brother addressed the middle. "Focus, we're planning an attack." The half demon's face tightened before he nodded. The Maou gave him a last look and received another nod before he turned to address the mass. They had lost enough time.
"The camp is near; I'm going to assign the posts now!" The king started and the others turned to him. "We need to split in three groups. One will take out the lab, another will stop the waste from being dumped in the volcano and the last will take out the rest." Heika turned to Gwendal and Raphael. "You will lead the group – including Raphael – that takes down the lab," he turned to Adalbert, "you'll take the volcano and Yozak and I will make certain the others won't be bothering you." The others nodded and the rest of the soldiers started splitting up into three groups. "Conrad," the Maou turned to his godfather, "this is hard for me, but I want you to return to the Blood Pledge Castle to watch over our children." Yozak and Adalbert had also heard him and watched their conversation like hawks.
"Heika, you need me here…" The brown haired half demon said what was expected of him, but the glint in his eyes told them he was more than glad to accept the mission.
"We'll be fine. Besides you'll be distracted, won't you?" Conrad nodded reluctantly. It was hard to admit his performance as a soldier would be compromised, but the thought of his boys being at the castle nearly unprotected, kept disturbing his concentration. "Please Conrad, without Wolfram and Günter at home I'm worried like hell. There is a change the humans are more spread than just at the canal and the camp. The castle is our weak spot at the moment." The half demon appreciated that his godson let out his own worries to make him feel better and he nodded.
"You're going over every option like a Maou should. I'll be leaving immediately." He gave Yuuri a reassuring smile before letting his husband pull him apart.
"Great," the double black turned back to the others and found three groups waiting on him, "team Gwendal and team Adalbert will attack at the same time and only then my team will attack." The king looked every soldier of team Yuuri in the eye. "We need to make certain that the humans - occupying the lab and the volcano - don't get alert to our presence, giving the other teams the change they need, hence the reason we wait." The soldiers nodded. "Great," the Maou straightened himself before speaking to his people once more, "good luck, and let's show them the united power of humans and demons!" He raised his voice, but not to high as to not alert the humans, who were near.
-Sthic-
"He has really become good at boosting the soldiers' mood, hasn't he?" Wolfram whispered almost dreamingly before his face turned into a nightmare. "If only he knew how to boost my mood!" Günter kept his answer at rolling his eyes.
'If only that mood of yours didn't change every second!' He shook his head and directed his attention to the three groups. "Our best option is to stay near Heika." He chose to address the problem at hand; namely, which group were they going to attach themselves too? The blond nodded as Yuuri exchanged a short conversation with Conrad before the half demon turned away from him.
-Sthic-
Gwendal couldn't help himself and glanced backwards. He knew his love and his little brother were somewhere hiding in that direction. Not finding a trace of them, a part of him was glad they were such good soldiers, while another part worried. 'If anything happens, Wolfram will make sure we know.' He told himself, while at the back of his head a voice told him that the Prince Consort would sacrifice himself for his king if need be. So, his eyes moved again to the forest behind him.
"You're worrying too much, they're trained soldiers." Conrad laid a hand on his shoulder and with a gruff expression on his face he agreed with a short nod. The half demon gave his older brother a smile before departing into the wood. 'At least now I don't have to worry about the little ones.'
-Sthic-
"What's Conrad doing?!" Wolfram hissed angry as the brown haired half demon ran passed Günter and him. The silver haired demon chose not to answer but the Prince Consort wasn't done yet. "He's retreating! Can you believe it?!" Gritting his teeth together, the librarian turned to the blond.
"Heika must have given him a mission." The younger demon gave him a disbelieving look.
"Yuuri would never send one of his best men away from a battle!" He stated matter-of-fact and Günter's patience broke.
"Maybe he's returning to the Blood Pledge Castle to protect the little ones!" He hissed angry and Wolfram pouted as guilt flashed through his eyes.
"He better be…" The blond mumbled with less venom in his voice. The other rolled his violet eyes and shifted his attention to a more pleasant view than the hormonal brat beside him. Again he noted how Gwendal glanced backwards at the trees to the left of them. He couldn't help a small smile breaking through.
-Sthic-
"Alright men," Adalbert turned to the soldiers joining him, "we'll move around the camp until we reach the volcano and wait till the Commander's team is also in place." He shared a look with Gwendal who nodded and continued his own instructions. "Let's move out!" His eyes moved to Yuuri to let the king know they were departing. Swiftly, they moved through the wood only to stop when they reached the spot that got the former Aristocrat's approval. From here they could see the camp and the building, which stood on top of the volcano, while being covered by the trees. Observing the situation Adalbert signaled to one of his men. "The two of us will get a closer look." The soldier nodded and together they sneaked closer. The former Aristocrat signaled for the other to get a scoop on the left side of the building before crawling on his hands and feet to the bushes at his side of the building.
-Sthic-
"Adalbert and his men should be in position by now." Gwendal whispered as he observed the camp from his hiding place. Nothing had changed since the last time he had his eyes on it. "We'll sneak inside through that window." He pointed to the frame he had used to get a look inside the building the last time. "Be careful as previous the room was filled with smoke and heat from the cauldrons." His eyes slid from the building to his men, who nodded. "Carlen, you'll have the job of taking out the men at the door. Make sure they can't call for help." The dark blue soldier nodded to him and indigo eyes moved to Raphael. "You'll keep an eye on the surroundings until Carlen has completed his job. Then you'll join us."
"Okay." The boy answered and Gwendal's eyes turned back to the camp.
'Time for the signal!'
-Sthic-
Slowly, Adalbert sneaked back to his men, meeting his co-scout in the middle. Once together again, they went over the situation. "The dumping side of the volcano is on the left side of the building." The scout told them his observations and the former Aristocrat nodded. He had also noted they would have to infiltrate through the right side.
"Still, I want two of you to enter through the left side. We'll attack the right side first, the humans will move towards the left and we'll have them surrounded." The men nodded and a sudden loud bird sound filled the air. "There's our sign." He smirked and pointed to the building as sign for the start of the attack.
-Sthic-
Gwendal moved like a snake – fluently and unseen – to the window and checked the premises before waving over the others. They took in their positions and Gwendal whistled. One of the humans inside had heard him and glanced at a scientist, who shrugged before turning his back on the other. The human wasn't convinced it was nothing and moved to the window. Signaling everyone to stick to the wall, Gwendal waited for the human to come close enough before locking his arms around the unexpected enemy's neck and with one powerful pull, the human was tumbling forward out of the window – hitting his head on the window frame – before landing unconscious in front of the commander. 'One down.' Quickly, Gwendal checked if he really was unconscious before signaling the others to enter the building.
-Sthic-
Picking two soldiers, Adalbert pointed to the left of the building before guiding the rest with him to the right. Suddenly, his eyes widened and with one movement everyone was glued to the wall. 'Where did those two came from?' He wondered as he sneaked a peek around the corner to the two humans guarding the front. Frowning, his brain did over time and he glanced upwards. 'The roof!' Motioning the others to stay, he moved to the back of the building and started climbing. Staying close to the roof panels, he slid forward until he stood above the two humans. Calculating his jump he pulled out two knives and took one deep breath before jumping. The knives penetrated the skin at the back of the humans' necks and destroyed their air pipes. The humans died suffocating on their own blood. Quickly, two demons were beside Adalbert and moved the humans inside.
-Sthic-
"How much longer do we wait?" Yozak asked at they counted the seconds after the signal had been given. Yuuri held out his hand as he continued counting until he reached sixty.
"Now!" He shouted and jumped up. From every side of the camp demons suddenly showed themselves and the Maou charged head on as Morgif cried in his hand.
"Feisty!" Yozak chuckled before running after his king.
-Sthic-
Taking the last scientist hostage, Gwendal moved through the laboratory and shut off all the heating sources. "Keep them under surveillance!" He ordered to two of his men before taking a look at the situation outside. "Heika needs our help now!" His feet carried him outside and immediately saved one of their own from being slashed in the head. With a quick reflex, he turned the attacker's arm out of its socket before trusting his sword inside the man's chest. Twirling around, his eyes met Raphael, who was looking shocked at him and the commander realized this would be the first time he had taken a life in front of the boy. 'We're at war, we can't play nice.' He told himself as he turned to help the other demons.
-Sthic-
The heat radiating on him had him hypnotized. 'This could destroy so many lives.' Adalbert thought as he stared into the black pit that led straight to the magma inside the volcano. He could hear it streaming underneath his feet and the realization of how vulnerable they were hit him hard. 'We need to stop them no matter what.' Turning around he ignored the bodies of the - dead or unconscious – humans and moved outside.
-Sthic-
Yuuri was on top of his game. He seemed to dance from one human to another, blocking one sword after another. His water danced with him, trapping most of the enemies. Once again a water prison formed and he turned to another enemy to suddenly hear the water behind him burst. 'Shit!' His mind yelled, already having the knowledge he didn't have the time to turn around. Morgif swung above his head in an attempt to minimize the damage he was going to get from the human's sword, but instead of steel penetrating his skin, it burned. Surprised he turned around and found the man burning. Without thinking he used his water the ease the man's pain before twirling around until he found a fuming Wolfram. Günter stood beside the blond, keeping the humans away from his charge as the Prince Consort kept shooting fireballs towards anyone who came close to his husband. Yuuri glared at him for being disobeying before his attention moved back to the humans.
-Sthic-
"How dare they!" Wolfram fumed and Günter would have rolled his eyes if he wasn't busy protecting the damn brat. "Nobody touches what's mine!" The blond screamed and now the librarian did roll his eyes.
'And not a minute ago he was saying he should get hurt to learn his lesson.' Shaking his head, he turned back to two humans, who had chosen to put all of their effort into defeating him. Swiftly, he moved between them and aimed his sword to bring the final blow to the one left of him, when suddenly he got knocked to the ground by air. 'I should have known!' He berated himself. 'An Esoteric stone!' With a push of his elbow, his body rolled around and vaguely he wondered why the humans hadn't struck him down yet. His answer arrived with the view of a fireball flying over him and hitting one of the humans in the chest.
"Get up!" Wolfram appeared beside him and he quickly crawled up.
"Thanks." He mumbled and positioned his sword back into a fight stance. His eyes scanned their surroundings for the one with the Esoteric stone. He found a man hiding behind three of his mates and aiming the stone towards Yuuri. 'Oh no, you're not!' Günter called for his Maryoku and concentrated on the earth beneath the human when his view got suddenly disrupted by smoke.
"Hell no!" Wolfram cursed with a hitch in his voice from beside him and violet eyes immediately widened in understanding. He twirled around in search of the one the Prince Consort had wanted to attack and blocked a sword just in time. His other hand formed a fist and slammed right on the attacker's nose. Glancing backwards he found the blond standing back to back with him, holding his sword in a shivering hand. "Günter!" A tremble underlined Wolfram's voice.
"Don't worry; I'll make certain nothing happens to the both of you!" He reassured the Prince Consort.
"Maybe it was a fluke?" The blond whispered back and held his hand up to summing a fireball. The librarian kept his eyes on that hand and saw a couple of flames spark but mostly smoke got formed.
"You need to calm down!" Günter hissed blocking a sword before again aiming his Maryoku towards the earth underneath the human with the Esoteric stone.
"I am calm!" Wolfram squeaked back as the human tried not the fall with the shifting rocks under his feet, but he dropped the stone and Günter made the earth claim its price. A smirk pulled at his lips, but disappeared rapidly again when a sword cut him in the shoulder. The blond heard his cry of pain and twirled around to stab the human in the side. "I thought you were going to protect us?" Wolfram tried to joke as the librarian switched his sword to his other hand.
"I am!" He bit back, making the other laugh as he ignored the throbbing pain in his shoulder. "We need to get closer to Heika!" He added, knowing his skill was limited with the use of his other hand. Back to back they danced between the humans and demons. Yuuri had already seen them making their way towards them and tried to close the gap between them himself. They reached one of the buildings and a sudden airwave made Günter look up. Just in time he saw a human coming down on them with a sword positioned at the Prince Consort back. Not thinking he pushed Wolfram down and tried to block the sword, but failed. He couldn't put enough strength on his own steel at the angle he was holding it and the human's sword brushed passed his. An ear deafening scream filled the air, which was quickly joined with another one, but this time he could clearly hear the blond's name. Before he could react, water burst out of the earth and captured both him and the attacker. Unable to move he could only watch as Yuuri ran towards Wolfram and pulled him into his lap. The king pulled the shirt of the other's wound and a deep cut was seen in the Prince Consort's side. Teary black eyes suddenly turned to him to have the orbs fill with surprise. Just as sudden as the water had come, it disappeared around him and he fell to his knees gasping.
"I'm sorry Günter, but Wolfram...!" Yuuri sobbed as he pressed a bloody hand to the wound. Catching his breath the librarian immediately let his eyes roam over the Prince Consort's body and noted it shook with panic as Wolfram pressed a hand to his stomach.
'The baby!' He remembered himself and ignoring his own pain, he raised both his hands over the cut, pouring his Maryoku into it. "It didn't get anywhere near your uterus." He tried to calm Wolfram down as stress wasn't going to help the blond's condition. Emerald green eyes moved towards him and a sob left the Prince Consort's lips. Having healed the wound the best he could, Günter finally noted the silence around them. Confused he turned his head and his eyes widened as his mouth fell open in surprise. Everyone was imprisoned in water. "Heika!" He called out astonished and Yuuri followed his gaze, finally noticing what he had done.
"Wow," he mumbled as he pated the blond's hair against his chest, "I need to release... everyone." He turned back to Günter and without words exchanged he moved the blond into the librarian's arms. "I'll go find Gwendal and the others." He mumbled and pressed a kiss to Wolfram's forehead before jumping up and moving between water prisons from the others' view.
-Sthic-
Gwendal stared surprised at the human in front of him. His sword only a centimetre away from the man's eye had the human bathing in fear. 'Something bad must have happened for Heika to do this.' He decided and hoped the king would quickly appear. He was worried. As on cue, Yuuri suddenly came into view and after a sign of recognition in the black eyes the water around the commander disappeared. "Gwendal, Wolfram needs help!" Indigo eyes immediately widened.
"What happened?" He asked, but the king was already pulling him along. Only now did the commander get a good view of the rampage the Maou had caused. His eye fell on Yozak, who was trying to get them to notice him with only the penetrating stare of his eyes. "Heika!" Gwendal stopped Yuuri and pointed to the spy.
"Yozak!" The double black called out and quickly released the reddish soldier before pulling the commander with him again. They ran around the corner of the building that host the lab and Gwendal's eyes instantly fell on Günter. His eyes got pulled to the wounded shoulder and he winced at the way the silver haired demon was tightening his muscles.
'That must hurt.' His indigo orbs moved further to his little brother, who was curled into a ball between his love's arms. "What happened?!" He called out as Yuuri released him before dropping beside the two others. As answer the king raised Wolfram's shirt and again the commander winced as he crouched down.
"He was releasing smoke." Günter said as he pressed his hand to the wound trying to heal the cut some more, but clearly his abilities were limited.
"Smoke?" Gwendal needed a moment to catch up before his eyes widened. 'No way, he's pregnant?!' "'Someone hurt?" Yozak caught up with them and the commander briskly turned to him.
"Take Heika and find a Medical Mazoku, preferable one who has knowledge of pregnancies." Blue eyes widened in surprise before the spy nodded and pulled the king with him. The commander turned back to his little brother and his love.
"The baby should be safe." Günter mumbled, but his hand didn't move from the wound. A frown settled Gwendal's forehead as he observed the unresponsive way the blond was pressing his hands to his stomach.
'He needs to get out of this... shock state.' His mind went in overdrive and he leaned forward to his brother's ear. "Now, you're wishing you listened to Heika, aren't you?" He whispered and suddenly the emerald green eyes turned to him, glaring him to death. "Glad to see you're still with us." The older brother let his intention be known and Wolfram's eyes lost some of their heat.
"We found one!" Yuuri called from behind him and three pair of legs dropped around them.
"Your Excellency, I need to ask you to lie down on your other side." The Medical Mazoku immediately had his hands on the blond, helping him into the new position. A whimper of pain escaped Wolfram's lips and Yuuri leaned forward but Gwendal stopped him.
"You need to start releasing people." The king glanced from the commander to his hubby, who nodded at him and he took a step backwards.
"Yozak, you're with me. Gwendal and Günter – you're hurt!" The Maou suddenly exclaimed as he looked at the librarian.
"Thank you for your concern, but it is nothing, Heika." Günter smiled reassuringly, but Yuuri clearly didn't believe him.
"Gwendal take care of Günter!" He ordered and briskly turned around walking to the closest water prison. The commander turned to his love and raised his hand to the wounded shoulder.
"That must hurt." He stated and noted the violet eyes lingering on his little brother.
"It's..."
"Don't say it's nothing!" he raised his voice and surprised the librarian turned to him. Seeing his lover's stern face, Günter produced a small thankful smile.
"I'll live." Gwendal raised an eyebrow at that and grabbed the ends of the cut fabric before ripping it open. A hiss left the silver haired man's mouth and the commander gave him a look.
"The sooner it's treated, the sooner you can use a sword with your good hand again." Indigo eyes observed the damage and a frown appeared above them. "It's deep, you better heal it quickly." Günter raised his hand at that and started giving first aid to himself.
"Commander!" Someone suddenly yelled from behind them and Gwendal turned around to see a soldier running towards them.
"Moritz?" The librarian mumbled and the frown on the commander's forehead deepened.
"What's wrong, soldier Moritz?" Carlen's boyfriend stopped before them panting hard.
"I came from communication... they've sent a message during the attack!"
"What?!" Adalbert appeared behind Moritz.
"They've sent a message!" The soldier repeated.
"Who would they...?" Günter wondered as Gwendal and the former Aristocrat shared a look.
"We need to get back to the Blood Pledge Castle, right now."
Stephke23: Little explanation: In the heat of the battle, Wolfram tapped into the Maryoku of the fetus he's carrying, which is water (I haven't decided if Jürgen will also have fire like Yaelle). Fire and water = smoke. When he was pregnant with Yaelle this also happened and with Wolfram having full control over his fire, the smoke is an indicator of him being pregnant.