Authors: Xan and Vallen
Rating: PG-13 (R later on)
Warnings: This story involves Marth and Roy in a relationship with one another, and other yaoi/slash/shounen ai themes. So if you have a problem with that, violence or torture, go read another fic. Also, we highly suggest that you read the first Fubuki no Kaen before starting this.
Disclaimer: The characters of Marth and Roy, plus "Altea," do not belong to us. We just use them for our pleasure.
Feedback: Yes. (That means we would love to hear from you and what you think.)
Notes:
Thanks to all of you who wished Xan a happy birthday! *hug*
Xan: Yeah yeah, I know a lot of you didn't like the last chapter horribly much so I hope you'll like this one better. Still not much action (just wait a bit for that), but more interesting developments. PLUS we get to see Roy again! ^^
Vallen: Yes… Jeez, this is for all the people who asked for Roy. Just calm down and hold your horses!
Thanks To: rex16 (Of COURSE it's leading up to something- It would be pointless if it didn't.), Slifer (Roy is here! One question: Is your sn from Yu gi oh? If so, you rock!), PikaPower (Wow, what a feat! I must say that it is addicting… If you like it, you can't stop reading! At least, that's what I've heard… ^^ Glad you found us.), LilFilipinoGurl (Awesome! One person who loved the Marth parts…), LiL PriNCeSs Me (Bwahaha, we make everyone shiver with antici…… pation. ß Rocky horror picture show joke), Pichu*Star (Yeah, zombies are a definite EW, but where Marth and Roy are concerned, they're yummy. We'll get back to you on that torture thing….), YoshiMars (We've been busy too! We're cooking up some really really bad stuffs… ^^V), Dark Comet (You liked the letters? Yay! The N-mancer is quite polite, actually.), Ged (Thanks for the compliment. A lot of people are "freaked out" too, so don't dwell on that too long.), Sinnatious (*blushblushblush* Your welcome anyway. You pointed out all the important things in the chapter, which made me very happy. You're paying very close attention to everything!), Nataku (Well… There's going to be a zombie war here pretty soon, so just wait it out. As far as the High Seas goes… Um, yes it is on pause…), Rayestar Ikina (I wrote you an e-mail, but you never replied… *disappointed*), Spryte Andolini (Meh-heh. So does that mean that we 0wn you too? :3), bladegryphon ( Yeah, that was a long time in between chapters… Sorry 'bout that! We'll try to not let it happen again!), Jennie ( Bloody and battered is your guess? Hm… Just look and see. *gives Roy a huge hug* There we go. Now he's off to be tortured some more.), Kevin C (We are the masters of twists… I thought you had realized that by now! ^^V And we love our job.), MysticalWoodElf ( Here, here! Don't be confused any more! Read and be cured!), Curious Dream Weaver (Yes, another person who liked the letters! Thanks for the great compliments- They mean a lot.), MinyDreams7 (Marth must go rushing off to save his general and get into trouble- It just works out that way. According to us…), Moiras (Sorry, if we didn't have suspense, the chapters would be 20 pages long at least! Gah!), chibi fairy (Yes, yes… You've got it now! *cheers for reader figuring things out*), pannybaby123 (Here we are! This is what happened… Now go and read it… Roy is quite… different now.), tikimoof (That's okay! Oh, and the letter from "Jorn" was the Necromancer… *cough*), Persian Kittie (Altea is going to be… *cough* Hm… In a lot of trouble.) and roxi (I know, isn't he adorable? He's my cute little Roy-chan…).
"King Marth is coming to us, Roy. Don't you want to look nice for his arrival?" The voice Roy had come to obey said sharply.
Roy's eyes brightened from their murky Prussian color at that name, but he was instantly reprimanded with a shock of pain.
"No, you are not happy to see him. Go dress yourself."
The auburn-haired teen nodded and stood up from the grand banquet table he was seated at. He went to his chambers and dressed in his finest clothing: black breeches, a black tunic with a red shirt underneath and a black cape with a dark blue lining. With a glance towards the decorated shackles around his wrists, he was almost reminded of a time when he had been with the King of Altea, living with him happily. But no, that life had been forgotten and replaced by a gold circlet upon his head.
Now his life was in Pharae, serving his Lord and Master faithfully and without question. He could remember nothing of doing anything else.
Roy (he wasn't even sure that was his name anymore – The master called him that, so he had automatically assumed it) went to the sprawling marble steps of the front of the castle. He saw the King of Altea approach, led by a group of patrolling soldiers. The general could sense that the king had been wounded, so he would probably have to heal him later. He stood on the steps and waited for them to come closer, staring blankly.
Marth saw Roy before he sensed him and that disturbed him more than anything about the general's appearance. Normally, he should have been able to feel Roy's unique magical and mental signature from miles away. But he had felt nothing. It was as if Roy was no longer there.
Marth stopped abruptly in his tracks as razor sharp icicle spikes grew from his shoulders and arms. A thick sheet of ice spread out from his feet, covering the ground and engulfing the zombie-warriors lightening fast. It even crept up the steps, leaving a circle around Roy.
'What have you done to him?!' Marth poured so much force into his mindspeech that it would have deafened any normal human. 'Answer me, Necromancer! I know you can hear me – I can sense your presence!'
Roy glanced up at Marth and his now icy surroundings with mild curiosity, his dull eyes boring into the king's.
"Welcome, King Marth of Altea. We will pardon your rude entrance, but see to it that you do not display such impertinence in our company again. Come with me please," the auburn-haired general said politely, gesturing Marth into the castle. His facial expression, or lack thereof, had not changed.
The spikes retreated, but the ice on the ground and encasing the two zombies did not. Marth's eyes filled with a new understanding as he removed Falcion from one of their brittle hands and once again buckled it around his waist. He then turned to Roy and bowed politely, as one ruler does to another.
"Forgive my previous behavior. I come as a monarch to speak to your master in regards to the note which I received. My temper has been worn short by recent events – I'm sure you understand." He straightened and stepped to follow Roy. "Your welcome is appreciated."
Roy turned and began to walk up the steps,
"I understand that you would probably have liked to speak with the King, but he has been… detained. You'll have to settle for me instead, someone who is much more alive – well, more or less."
He led Marth down a series of confusing, intricate hallways and corridors, knowing them all by heart. At the end of the maze, Roy stopped at one door, opening it with a key. He went in.
It had a bed, a closet and was modestly decorated. The teen went to the closet and got out some clean clothes, then motioned to a chair.
"Sit here while I heal your arm. Looks like the guards got you – there's a large bloodstain on your shirt."
Marth sat in the chair that "Roy" had indicated and removed his shirt. The wound was shallow, but fairly serious. Marth had numbed it so that he would not be hindered by the pain, but in turn, he had lost partial control of that arm, but luckily no one seemed to have noticed. He held his arm out so "Roy" could heal it. He was silent. What was there to say?
Roy held the arm in his hands and concentrated on his power. As fiery mist surrounded the wound, Roy's face began to bead with sweat, his brow furrowed. It wasn't so easy to heal anymore.
Once the wound had healed up, he pulled away abruptly with a cry of pain. Trembling, he reached up to wipe his face and straighten himself up as he turned away. No, he couldn't be weak.
"E-Excuse me for a moment…" Roy said hoarsely, adjusting the circlet upon his head. He remembered when he had healed ten people at a time, so why was it so hard now?
"Now… You wished to speak with someone about a letter?"
Marth touched the golden circlet on his lover's head, focusing his gaze on Roy's blue eyes, so familiar and yet so different.
"That circlet is new. It suits you, Roy. Where did it come from?"
The teen took a sudden step backwards, his miscolored eyes narrowed at Marth. It was quite clear that he was confused and angered by the King's simple touch.
"Who are you to touch me in that manner?" He asked, clenching his jaw tightly. "And small talk is not on our agenda, Your Highness."
"Then what is on the agenda, Roy?" Marth gazed at Roy calmly, unsurprised by the edgy reaction. He was systematically testing his former general for weaknesses in the barrier, trying to figure out exactly what the Necromancer had done to his mind.
"I reiterate: You wanted to talk about the letter, correct? I'm sure you know what's going on here, unless you are as dense as I expected. You came here to surrender, right?"
"No." Marth tossed his hair, eying the clean clothes that Roy still held. "Are those intended for me?"
Roy's face darkened. He glared intently at the King of Altea, stepping back and placing the clothes on the bed. He walked stiffly over to the door, opened it, and stood in the doorway.
"Face it, your power is not your own anymore while you are in this castle. If you had plans to escape, I strongly suggest that you rethink them. You may call for me when you're ready to negotiate your surrender, but in the meantime, I have a war to wage."
"I don't wish to negotiate my terms with you, little pawn." Marth raised a brow at Roy, obviously amused by the notion that he would discuss affairs of state with a commonborn. "My business is with he to whom I would be surrendering. So tell me when he is ready to speak with me." Marth turned, giving Roy and obvious dismissal.
Roy's face changed completely and he turned away with a hiss. A voice completely unlike his own came from his mouth, more deep, dark, and sinister.
"Arrogant little thing." The mind-controlled teen gave Marth one last snarl before he left, slamming the door and locking it.
Marth changed into the clean clothes, keeping his face carefully neutral. The icy king was a great actor. If he could convince his enemies that he felt nothing whatsoever towards Roy, even as his heart was full of pain at the sight of his altered lover, then there was still hope. His hand reached for the gem around his neck unconsciously, then stopped. No, that would give him away. He sat on his bed and slipped into a mindspeaking trance.
'Rowen.'
'Where have you been?! You have no idea how worried I was! I looked all over for you… I thought you had taken this Roy thing a bit too hard and… Where are you?!' The weather-mage's mind voice exploded into a thousand questions. Worry and apprehension flooded, unbridled and furious, into Marth's head.
Marth allowed Rowen's barrage to blast him for a moment before answering. He knew that he had played a cruel trick on Rowen and Gwen, not to mention abandoning his duties as king, but it was what he had to do.
'Rowen, calm down. My mother has been dead for a long time and I don't need another. I'm sorry I worried you – I hope you and Gwen can forgive me.' He paused and then decided to tell his mentor the truth. 'I'm in Pharae.'
'No…' Rowen stumbled with his words, something that he did not do often. 'Marth, you didn't… Oh no… It's suicide!"
The mage spoke in such a finalized tone that it seemed as if he had given up. He sounded so… useless.
'Rowen!' Marth said sharply, giving the mage a mental smack. 'I need you to pull together! Listen to me; the Necromancer has Roy under his power – it's based in this circlet that he wears. I need you to find out how to counter or block that magic, if there is a way.'
There was a long pause from Rowen's end.
'Mind control… And I don't doubt that it's leeching Roy's power as well. You could probably destroy the item, but if it's connected to Roy's magic, you might not want to risk it. Or…' Rowen sounded uncomfortable. 'Are you sure that it's really Roy in there? The Necromancer could be using his body, as a shell, as something to confuse you with.'
The king clenched his fists and felt his nails make small crescent wounds in his palms. Blood dripped onto the bed.
'What would he do with Roy's mind then?'
'Throw it to the underworld or simply keep it somewhere else. I doubt Roy would be easily subjected to mind control, if I know him, so… I… I don't know what to tell you, Marth. Is there any way you could talk with the Necromancer directly, face to face, before they decide to kill you?'
'Perhaps, but not now… Tomorrow.' The Mage-King forced himself to relax. 'The Necromancer has made Roy his High General and they're going to attack the country soon. How soon can our army rally?'
'Soon, but… They're already here. They're laying siege upon the capital. I've tried creating some weather obstacles, but the armies are already dead. Nothing can stop them – only slow them down. I remember you saying that fire can destroy them, so we've been experimenting with that. They haven't actually attacked yet, but… I guess we're both bearers of bad news.'
'We need more mages…' Marth thought hopelessly. 'Keep doing what you can. I want you to not use your powers for the next few days and build them up. I have a plan. Tell the people that I'm negotiating with him. I'll contact you later.'
Marth severed the connection between his master and himself and stood, pacing a bit. Maybe he could help his country even from this distance. As long as he remained strong, there was still hope for the future. He broke the lock on the door with Falcion (ever since Gaimen's death, he had refused to stay in a room that he could not exit from at will) and curled up on the bed, falling into a deep sleep.
"He is not what I expected him to be, Lord," Roy said dully, seating himself in a chair quietly. He was not allowed to be down here often – these were the Master's chambers.
"Quite boring on the outside, right? It's the inside that the most interesting." The voice answered.
A figure walked up from the darkness and Roy stood hurriedly with a deep bow.
"Forgive me, I did not know that I would be in your presence…" The general apologized profusely.
The figure in the dark green cloak (almost black) nodded, keeping the top half of his face covered. A shock of blond hair was visible, framing what was shown of his face. The Necromancer waved a hand.
"No matter. You may sit." There was a pause. "So he strongly wishes to see me?"
"Yes… The King of Altea dismissed me in a way that was rude and not-so-rude. It was frustrating." Roy replied. "May I leave to go join the army in Altea? I have no desire to stay here any longer."
"Just wait a little more."
"But why? What is your purpose?" Roy asked.
"Hush. You'll see," the Necromancer replied, silencing his pawn. "When he wakes, tell him that I'll meet with him."
Roy walked off, something in the back of his mind complaining about having to do such menial tasks.
To be continued…
Xan: I like the Necromancer, he's a fun guy to write. I also like the way Marth and Roy's personalities bounce off each other in this chapter… Makes for fun conflict. *grin* I also liked how Rowen's trying to be Marth's "mom." That amused me. I'll try to get the next one out quicker you guys!
Vallen: Uh-huh, I like the Necromancer too… Bwahaha, Roy's a zombie...