A New Life to Live

Disclaimer: See chapter 1

Warnings: This story is shonen-ai, so if the idea of guy/guy relationships irks you, then DON'T READ!

Chapter 2

King Milliardo was beside himself. It had been a day since his son, Quatre, had disappeared and his guards showed no signs of even coming close to finding him. His worry was slowly boiling into anger, anger at his son, who was only doing this for attention. He still felt he was right about what he did to Quatre. A strong ruler needed a Queen to rule by his side and therefore this marriage was right for the kingdom. There was no need for worry though, he tried to tell himself, this would all blow over and Quatre would be back. However Quatre's absence was causing rumours throughout the kingdom…The royal mages had had no luck scrying for him; he seemed to be blocking it somehow, which was absurd because he showed no promise at practising magic before…

xXx

Quatre felt magic gathering in the direction of the palace so he disguised his energy signature. He felt the magic brush over him so he held his breath until it passed over, dismissing him.

I can feel the mages scrying for me. Good thing Anis taught me all he knew about magic before he was sold. It's a good thing I decided to hide this gift from my father as well or this would have been a lot harder. Anyway, I need to find some place to stay; I can't very well stay on the streets.

Soon enough he came across an inn, so he stepped inside. He was immediately assaulted by the foul stenches that the building itself seem to give off. There was a yellow substance on the walls and something green growing in the corner. The ceiling was jet black and the floor seemed awfully sticky underneath his shoes. But Quatre pushed forward, only breathing shallowly to avoid taking in that horrible smell in the air, cloying in its stench, because he needed a room and he was dog-tired.

Well, beggars can't be choosers…

He went up to who he presumed was the owner and asked for a room. Luckily the rooms were cheap – though it would have been absurd for the seedy rooms to be expensive. Drained, Quatre trudged his way upstairs to his room, got changed into a shirt and boxers, and climbed into bed. He closed his eyes, trying to succumb to the darkness that came with sleep, so he could forget. Forget his father; what happened today; his life. Everything…

xXx

Quatre awoke the next morning to find that his room had been ransacked. Clothes were strewn all over the place his bag slumped against the wall in the position he didn't leave it in. Half of his clothes were missing and his royal sword was gone as well. Only a few gold coins were left and that was only because he'd used a concealment spell on it when he'd left the palace (as to avoid getting mugged).

Great, just bloody great. I have nothing left except for a few gold coins and another change of clothes.

Instead of whining about it though, he packed up what was left, got washed and dressed, and set off on his journey again with a firmer resolve.

xXx

The day was drawing to a close and Quatre was dreading it because he knew he hadn't enough money for a stay in an inn. So Quatre kept going, till it was pitch black and he only had the stars as his source of light. All of a sudden he bumped into something hard and fell on his rear. He looked up to apologise but his apology caught in his throat when saw it was a group of men all leering at him. Fear coursed through his veins because he knew these men weren't going to let him go.

"Well lookie here. What's a little kid like you doing in a dangerous town like this, huh?" The biggest one sneered, "Are you missing your daddy?" And the whole group erupted into laughter, throwing jeers in, like: 'Aww poor baby, are you lost?' and 'This kid's so scared he's about to wet himself!' Quatre didn't speak; he couldn't even if he wanted to. His fear had lodged itself in his throat and his tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth. His palms were sweaty and his heart was thumping in his chest, so loud he thought that even they could hear it. Then the 'leader' spoke again "Well don't worry! You're good friend Eikichi will look after you!" Suddenly a large meaty arm enclosed round his throat and a filthy hand round his mouth. That's when Quatre's brain kicked in. He twisted and wriggled, and kicked back with his legs. But alas that had no effect.

He was eventually dragged into an alley at the side of the local pub where he was dumped unceremoniously on the dirty floor. Quatre scrambled to his feet and gathered his power at his finger tips, ready to fight back. He figured that magic wasn't that easy to learn on the streets so he'd have a chance. He let loose a bolt of energy to test how strong their wards were, and to his horror found that his attack had just glanced off of their wards and dissipated. He realised that they must all be putting their energy into one shield and it was almost impenetrable. Quatre grit his teeth and drew all of his power to his hands for one destructive blast. But just as he released it, 'Eikichi' muttered something and waved his hand in the air. A blue screen appeared just as the blast hit it…and bounced off it straight back at Quatre. There was no way he could dodge that and it hit him, tearing through his wards and throwing him against the wall. He lay there unmoving except for the rapid rising and falling of his chest. Just as darkness was falling over his vision he thought he saw a figure in the entrance way to the alley.

But that was just wishful thinking.

xXx

Yay I finished another chapter. So what do you think? Huh? Huh? HUH? I can't hear you. Just fill out a review and tell me!

Ja ne minna-san!