Chapter Seven
A ConYuu Fan-fiction
By: Ami
Beta-reader: ProudSnapist a.k.a Sherlockian Slytherin
Alternate Universe. No spoilers.
Standard disclaimers apply.
XXX
When the clouds broke and the bright sunrays penetrated through the window of the big chamber, Maou Yuuri slowly came to his senses. The first thing that registered in his mind was…
-GROWL-
"…Hungry…"
As he sat up, he lazily rubbed his sleepy eyes and tried to stretch his cramped muscles. Although he had just slept for about ten hours, he felt like he had slept through a whole day. His head was a bit dizzy, his legs felt numb, and his sight was blurry.
-GROWL-
…And the stinging feeling in his stomach… it was killing him.
…What's wrong with me?
Ignoring the pain, he sorely climbed down his bed and reached for his dresser, still wondering why he was feeling so starved. He wasn't supposed to feel so ravenous. Not after all the food he had eaten the night before during his birthday party.
…What's wrong with me?
He closed his eyes again at the sudden sting in his chest. It felt so painful that he thought he was going to die.
What's wrong with me?
Yuuri tried to keep his balance, slowly making his way forward although he was unsure where he was heading. Everything looked blurred around him.
He collapsed just as Wolfram entered the room.
XXX
"You caught a cold. You should take a full-time rest today." Gisela ended her explanations, "I'm glad it's not a serious illness, Heika. Wolfram and the others looked so terrified. I seriously thought of various bad things that might have happened to you."
Yuuri could only smile weakly in response.
"You said that you felt a great pain in your chest?" Gisela asked again.
Yuuri nodded, "Yes, it was really painful."
Gisela smiled reassuringly, "I'm not sure what the cause may be, but I'll perform further examinations to find out. Don't worry."
Yuuri nodded again, although he wasn't really interested in finding out anymore. He was just glad that the pain was over.
"Then, let's call it a day. I'll leave you alone here to rest." Gisela collected her medical equipment, "Once more, please take care of yourself, Heika. You're getting me into trouble by collapsing like that while Sir Conrad is away."
The statement struck Yuuri. She was right. Wolfram had come to wake him up instead of Conrad. It meant that the older half-mazoku had been gone early in the morning.
"…Where did he go to?" he asked silently.
"Huh?" Gisela was perplexed, "I heard that he had an errand to run in the town. He'll come back in the evening. Didn't he tell you about it?"
Yuuri shook his head glumly.
"Oh… well… he was supposed to inform you about this yesterday…" Gisela looked unsure how to respond as her king looked quite disappointed about it.
Yuuri quickly recovered his smile as he realized how childish his reaction was. Of course, although Conrad had vowed to protect him with everything, it didn't mean that he would, literally, always stay by his side. Perhaps the sudden immature thought that Conrad should never leave him without telling him was caused by the fever.
"Umm… Gisela-san…" Yuuri muttered weakly. His throat still felt sore. "Can you… ask Wolfram to come here? I need to talk to him."
Yes, he didn't need rest. He needed someone to keep him company. Without the presence of Conrad, Wolfram was the only one he could think of. He also planned to ask Wolfram about Conrad in more detail.
After waiting anxiously for a few moments, the blond finally arrived at his room, looking concerned.
"How're you feeling, wimp?" He asked.
Yuuri wasn't exactly listening to him. Wolfram's long blond hair was still as captivating as the first time Yuuri had seen it.
"Just don't let it happen again, okay? I thought my heart was going to stop." Wolfram, not noticing Yuuri's stare, pulled a chair by Yuuri's bed and sat down, "hey, answer me. Don't scare me like that."
"Yeah… I'm feeling okay now… in some way…" Yuuri smiled, "Hey, Wolfram, what errand is Conrad running at the town?"
Yuuri thought that Wolfram would be annoyed that he was dragged there only to answer his questions about Conrad. But it didn't seem like it. In fact, he was smiling amusedly at the question.
"I wonder," he shrugged, "that man keeps everything to himself. But we can already guess what he's up to."
Yuuri became even more puzzled than before, "What do you mean?"
This time, Wolfram chuckled, as if Yuuri had said something really funny, "You don't have to worry about it. Well, I can understand that you're vexed… since his taste is… singular. Anyway, I suggest you be prepared and be nice when he comes back. He must have worked quite hard for it."
More question tags appeared above Yuuri's head. He still didn't get it at all. What might Conrad be doing (that apparently had something to do with his 'singular' taste) that would make him both worried and have to be nice? The more he tried to figure it out, the more confused he became.
Yuuri was about to ask more when a knock at the door distracted both of them. Wolfram looked like he knew who it was.
"Sir Wolfram, Sir Gwendal demands your presence right away."
Wolfram sighed, "I have to go now. Just sleep. I'll come back as soon as possible."
Yuuri didn't favor the idea of being left alone, but nodded anyway.
"As soon as possible, okay?"
Wolfram held back a wide smile, "Stop acting like a baby, old man."
Yuuri turned his face away sheepishly. He knew that he was acting like a spoiled child. He wished he had known why. Once more, he blamed his fever for that.
"I'll come back in about half an hour. Refrain from weeping until then." Wolfram remarked for the last time before shutting the door. And Yuuri was once more engulfed within the silence of his huge chamber.
Trying to ignore his loneliness, he pulled his blanket up and tried to relax. It was harder than he had imagined. Although he had tried various positions to loosen up his muscles, his heart refused to cooperate. It was pounding so hard, as if it was expecting something. After a few minutes of struggling, Yuuri finally decided to get up. He thought that maybe he'd forget about his anxiety when he had something to do.
It turned out that what he wanted to do was just as difficult. When he tried to stand up, his legs shook and he ended up falling back down on his bed.
Yuuri moaned as he rested his head back on to the mattress. He had never felt so helpless in his entire life. His wobbly emotions also felt quite disturbing. His whole body felt so sore that he couldn't think straight. He couldn't stop thinking about Wolfram's words, and also why Conrad hadn't asked for his permission for leaving him that day, the day when he needed him the most.
Yuuri closed his eyes tightly, trying to bring back his old cool-self. He was never a sensitive person to begin with, so where could have the girly delicacy come from? He just had no clue.
Yuuri glanced down at his useless legs and decided to give them another chance. He carefully brought his legs down and tried to stand up again. This time, with more determination, he made it.
Satisfied with the result, he continued by lifting up one foot and tried to step forward. After the third step, everything had seemed to go well. But as he made the move for the fourth, he lost his balance and fell backward. That time, there was no mattress to save him from the floor. He closed his eyes tightly, getting prepared for the pain. But it never came. Someone was supporting him from behind.
"You shouldn't have pushed it, Shibuya."
Yuuri carefully opened his eyes at the familiar voice. For a moment, he thought that Conrad had returned. But then he realized that it wasn't Conrad's voice.
"Thanks…" he muttered weakly as he carefully sat down on the carpeted floor. He didn't have enough power to stand up anymore.
"Sorry, I never expected your condition to be this bad… I should have come to visit you earlier…"
"It's okay. I'm just…" Yuuri lifted up his face to see who his lifesaver was. But his double bed was all he could see in front of him. There was nobody else there. "…exhausted…"
Yuuri was struck speechless for a moment. Then he turned around and scanned the whole room for another presence. Still, he couldn't see anyone else there. For the first time in his life, Yuuri considered that he might have gone insane.
Calm down… calm down, Yuuri… there's only one reasonable explanation for this… It's just a dream… yes… everything that has happened since the morning did not truly happen… I'm just dreaming right now… I must be dreaming… it can't be real…
"Huh? Why are you staying silent? Does it hurt again?"
Yuuri gaped. After getting transferred to Shin Makoku and encountering various weird events, he had learned that nothing was impossible, like turning from an ordinary schoolboy in to a demon king. He had also once thought that he had seen every single weird thing in Shin Makoku. But perhaps he had also been wrong about that. He hadn't seen them all. Most probably, he still had a long way to go.
"How are you feeling?" The voice rang again, sounding concerned and friendly. But Yuuri wasn't completely reassured.
While telling himself that the voice was just one of the one hundred thousand and one wonders of Shin Makoku, he tried to regain his voice, "Who are you?"
"What? Oh, right… you can't see me. Wait a minute."
Yuuri kept his eyes open as a bluish glow came to his view. The glow slowly got bigger and bigger, shining brighter and brighter. At the peak, its shine became so blinding that Yuuri was forced to close his eyes and wait until everything passed. And by the time he recovered his vision, the glow had been replaced by a human-like creature, dressed in a high school uniform. It looked exactly like a normal teenager, except it was floating in the air, fist-sized, had a holy ring floating above his head and had a pair of transparent wings attached onto his back.
Actually, Yuuri wasn't quite surprised with it. Since dragons and flying skeletons existed, it should be no big deal that other fantasy creatures also existed in Shin Makoku. Like mermaids, like fairies. Yuuri was just staring because the fairy's face… looked exactly like his friend, Murata.
"Murata?" he tried, narrowing his eyes to take a better look. It still looked like his friend to him, "What are you doing here? Did you get sucked up in the toilet too?"
"No, Shibuya. I'm not your friend Murata." chibi-Murata replied. Yuuri confirmed that it definitely was Murata's voice.
"What are you saying? It's you!" Yuuri suddenly regained his strength and stood up, before stepping forward to approach the floating creature, "What happened? What are you doing here?"
"Well," chibi-Murata dodged just in time before Yuuri had the chance to grab him, "I'm unnamed anyway. You can call me Murata if it makes you feel better."
Yuuri wasn't listening to him. He was too preoccupied with the sight of his best friend's miniature. It had never occurred to him before that Murata would look so cute at the scale of 1/20. And before he realized it, he was already chasing after the small creature, who was having a hard time evading him around the chamber.
"Shibuya! I'm no toy! Stop chasing me!"
Realizing that the king was delusional and wasn't listening to him, chibi-Murata decided to attempt the last resort, which was also the thing he hated the most: violence.
THUMP!
XXX
By the time Yuuri regained his senses, he was already back on his bed. He didn't know why, but he had felt much healthier than before. His mind was clear and his chest had slowed its pounding.
The room was still as silent as he remembered, but he could sense the other presence there. Somehow, he just knew who it was.
"…Murata?"
"Welcome back, Shibuya."
Yuuri turned to his side and saw Murata. This time, it was not his chibi version. It was the big Murata, who looked exactly like his best friend. The only thing that made the difference was probably the glowing holy ring he had above his head. But the wings and the glow around his body had been completely out of sight.
"How are you feeling?" Murata asked.
"Uh… a bit dizzy… but much better… I guess…" Yuuri slowly sat up.
"Sorry that I had to smack you with my holy wand. It was purely self-defense." Murata smiled apologetically, bowing his head down. Yuuri could see the holy wand he was holding.
"Yeah… it's okay… I'm the one who should apologize for acting so strange before…" Yuuri brought his hand up, rubbing the aching spot with a cringe, "you said you're not Murata. Then who are you? You look exactly like him. Especially since you're his size now."
Yuuri watched in curiosity as Murata sat down on Wolfram's chair and stared back at him, "Listen to me carefully, Shibuya. I'm not allowed to repeat."
Yuuri wondered who was the one who had prohibited him to repeat his explanations, but Murata started before he had the chance to ask.
"I don't know how to start this… but I guess I'll start by telling you that you're dreaming right now."
The king was struck speechless for a moment, not knowing how to respond. It was true that everything felt a bit weirder, but it was still hard for Yuuri to accept that he had been dreaming all along. That all the things he had experienced weren't real.
"…What?"
Murata nodded, "Well, you're not exactly sleeping. Perhaps the term 'unconscious' would be more appropriate."
Yuuri remained silent, staring down at the other's eyes in puzzlement.
"Don't you remember what happened last time?" Murata narrowed his eyes, "…You went to the town, attacked by the bandits at the bridge, then…"
"YUURI!"
Yuuri felt a stab in his chest. He remembered now. He remembered what had happened at the time.
"Conrad…" he murmured softly, "…what… have I done…"
Murata sighed, "Sir Weller is…"
"He protected me! We jumped together in to the river to dodge the arrows! He was sheltering me all the time!" Yuuri exclaimed, "How's he! How is he now? Tell me!"
"Wait, Shibuya. Listen to me first. He is…"
"I wanna see him right now!" Yuuri tried to stand up and ran, but his legs still felt weak. He fell back down as soon as he got onto his feet.
Yuuri tried again, and failed for the second time. It also happened with the third, fourth, and fifth time. Yuuri didn't remember how many times he had attempted to stand, but all of them failed. Murata didn't try to stop him. He just waited until the persistent king exhausted himself and gave up.
As Yuuri stubbornly started to crawl his way to the door, Murata made his move to stop him.
"…It's no use. He isn't here. After all, it's just your dream."
"Nonsense!" Yuuri cried, "He's here! I saw him yesterday at my birthday party! I met him! I talked to him!"
Murata just let out another sympathetic smile and shook his head, "…We both know that the person you met isn't real. Nothing's real here. Not even me. Or you."
Yuuri glared at the boy, breathing heavily. His dark-colored eyes looked glassy.
"…Does it mean that there's nothing I can do here?" He asked hoarsely.
Murata shook his head again.
It was all the answer Yuuri needed. He obediently let Murata take him back to his bed.
"It can't be real…" Yuuri whimpered silently, "…it can't be real…"
Murata understandingly sat down and chose to stay silent. He intended to wait until the king recovered from the shock. But Yuuri wasn't willing to wait for too long. He wanted to know about everything that he had missed as soon as possible.
"…Do you know what happened after I passed out?" Yuuri asked quietly.
"…First of all, I'd like to tell you that I'm just a part of your dream. That's why I can't tell you anything about Sir Weller's condition now. He's out of my reach." Replied Murata, not keeping his eyes off the king.
Yuuri nodded, "Go on."
"And now… I'm going to introduce myself to you."
"Huh?"
Yuuri was forced to close his eyes again as Murata emitted another blinding ray with his wand. When he opened his eyes, the big Murata had been resized in to chibi Murata.
"I was unnamed, then you, my creator, referred to me as Murata. Therefore, my name is Murata now." Murata explained, "The appearance that I have right now were taken randomly from your memories. It was purely coincidental that I took Murata, your best friend's figure. That's the reason why I am identical to him."
Yuuri nodded again. He was starting to get the picture.
"My role here is to guide you throughout your unconscious state. My job will be over when you can finally regain your consciousness." Murata continued, "you might be wondering: why do you need my guidance in your own dream? I can explain that."
"Although you're now inside your own dream, it doesn't guarantee your safety. You can easily get lost here and lose your chance to regain your consciousness. That's why you need me. I'll tell you which places you should avoid, what actions you should take, and the things that you can and can't do. It's indispensable to always stick to the rules. There are many rules, but I'll tell you the important ones."
Yuuri was starting to feel weary. Even in his own dream he couldn't be free. It just felt unfair.
"Rule number one, you mustn't attempt anything to change the storyline of your dream. Of course, you can do it, since you're the owner of this dream, but it's forbidden. You must stick with the existing conditions without complaining."
It sounded easy enough for Yuuri.
"Number two, don't tell anybody other than me in this dream that you're the owner. Things can get really rough if you do, and you might not be able to return. Be careful with your words."
This rule didn't really bother Yuuri too. It's not like he wanted them to know.
"Number three, don't cause permanent damage here, such as killing."
This rule wasn't hard to obey, but it made Yuuri wonder why he couldn't kill someone in his dream. No matter how real it felt, it was still a mere dream.
"You're a Maou. That's why this rule becomes quite important." Murata had seemed to sense Yuuri's confusion, "You don't know whether it's just a common dream, or everybody's future."
Yuuri blinked, "What do you---"
"Conrad, do you think dreams can be continued on different days?"
"I suppose… it's possible."
"…Since you're a Maou, the dream might be a sign of something."
"Sign? Like foretelling?"
"…I understand." Yuuri sighed, "I'll be careful."
Murata smiled and nodded approvingly.
"Those are the three fundamental rules. I'll explain the others later. Now I'll move on to your conditions."
"I'm sure that your morning was horrible. I can explain the reason for the temporary changes that happened to you."
It was one of the things that Yuuri really wanted to know.
"First, your weakened physical condition and your unnatural hunger. It was caused by the pain and the hunger that your actual body felt. You can imagine how many bandages are wrapped around your body now. Common people are usually not sensitive enough to feel it, but since you're a Maou, your senses are more receptive than most people. That's why you felt so much pain."
"And second, the changes in your personality. It's kind of complicated, but I'll try my best to explain."
"Being unconscious can do funny things to your hormones and your mind. Especially since you're quite receptive. It rarely happens, but sometimes, the person who stays by your side for a long time when you are sleeping can influence you, and you will start to impersonate him."
"You mean, if it's Gunter who stays by my bed while I'm unconscious, I'll become him, and so on?"
"Not that extreme. But you'll at least feel what he feels, and think the same way he does."
Yuuri cringed. It was definitely Gunter's personality that he had impersonated before.
"I have taken care of both of the problems. As long as I'm by your side, you'll not have to experience them again."
Yuuri sighed in relief for that, "Then, what's next?"
Murata hesitated for a few moments. Yuuri quickly learned that he could easily read the small creature's mind by looking at his holy ring. A yellow glow meant that he was happy, a blue one meant that he was in a calm mood, and perhaps, what he was seeing at the time, a pink one, meant that he was trying to hide something.
Yuuri was silently enjoying his role as the owner of the dream.
"Hey, wimp, are you awake?"
Yuuri turned his eyes to the door. As usual, Wolfram never bothered to knock or wait for a reply. He just barged in and approached him, seemingly cheerful for some reason.
"Hey, you're still awake. I told you to take a rest." He commented casually as he got back to his favorite chair and sat down.
Yuuri repeatedly turned his eyes to Wolfram, then to Murata. Murata seemed to notice Wolfram's presence and stayed silently at his place, but Wolfram didn't seem to do the same.
"Sorry I was late. Brother made me do so much work. He didn't know that you were waiting for me here." He explained, "You look a bit healthier. How do you feel?"
"Well…" Yuuri turned his eyes to Murata, who was signaling him to ignore his presence and keep the conversation going, "I'm feeling a lot better now."
"That's good." Wolfram smiled, "You looked horribly sick this morning. I was thinking of dragging you to Ulrike-sama's place to get examined. But I guess it's not necessary now. And oh, have you heard about this? Yozak told me that there's a new Maou toy that is quite popular at the town now. The creator said that it took him years to create it, and it's…"
While Wolfram was talking, Yuuri couldn't take his eyes off the blond. The only thing that was different from the dream Wolfram and the actual Wolfram was probably his hair. For some reason, dream Wolfram's hair was long. Although it was just a dream, it felt strange for him to find Wolfram with long hair, since the neat mazoku had never grown his hair long before.
Yuuri remembered, when he had jokingly told Wolfram to grow his hair, the boy had looked so offended and had given him the cold-shoulder treatment for three days in a row. It seemed that his mother's bragging about how similar they looked had really troubled him. Wolfram had probably been terrified that he'd look like his mother's clone with long hair.
Yuuri just had to chuckle at the memory. Wolfram could be quite silly when it came to his mother.
In fact, now that Yuuri had seen him with long hair, Wolfram didn't look like Cheri at all. It suited him and made him look a bit manlier. Perhaps, when he woke up, he'd suggest the hairstyle to the real Wolfram.
"Hey, are you listening to me?"
"O… oh, yeah. Sure." Yuuri was snapped out of his thoughts, "So, how's the toy? Ask Yozak to buy some for me later. I'd like to see it."
Wolfram chuckled, "I knew you'd like this one. It's really cute."
Yuuri wondered if all the people in the dream were created based on his ideal. Wolfram was more pleasant, Conrad was more… well… affectionate and forward, Gunter was caring, Cheri and Anissina were more cheerful than usual, and Gwendal had also become a bit more sociable.
Although the new Wolfram was a lot more friendly, Yuuri had to admit that he missed the times when he was quarreling with the blond.
Yuuri looked down at his legs and tried to move them. It seemed that his body had been fully recovered. He didn't want to stay in bed all day. He wanted to explore the world of his dream. Perhaps he could find a way to return to the real world.
"Wolfram, how about going for a walk in the town?" He asked.
Murata didn't seem to object the idea. He gave his permission by nodding when Yuuri turned his eyes to him.
"Are you sure it's okay? Gisela told me that you should take a full-time rest today." Wolfram frowned.
"It's okay. I'm feeling much better now. See?" Yuuri climbed down his bed and went straight to get his clothes from the dresser. It felt great to have his strength again.
Wolfram still looked unsure, but nodded in the end after seeing Yuuri's reverted spirit. After all, he didn't think that Yuuri would be happy to stay in bed all day. If it was going to cheer the king up, he'd do it.
"We'll go to the town, but you must ride with me on my horse. I'm not sure that you can ride well." Wolfram said as he turned around and made his way to the door, "but don't tell brother about this. He's going to reprimand me for always following your stupid ideas."
Yuuri laughed, "It's because you think that it's a good idea."
Wolfram scoffed, "I won't take the responsibility if Brother Conrad hears about this. Go and explain your actions yourself."
"Then, I'll be waiting at the front gate. Be quick."
As Wolfram shut the door, Yuuri was reminded about his previous anxiety. He still didn't know if Conrad was okay. Conrad's condition must be worse than his, since Conrad had been sheltering him during the fall. Suddenly, Yuuri felt so heart-broken. What would he do if when he returned, Conrad had already… Yuuri didn't want to think about it. He didn't even know what he'd do if it really happened.
"…There's one thing that I was going to tell you before…"
Yuuri turned to chibi Murata, who was now floating on his side.
"What is it?"
"Sir Weller might still be alive."
Yuuri felt a jump inside his chest at the statement. Still, he wanted to confirm it. "He's alive? How do you know? You told me that…"
"Yes, I told you that as a part of your dream, my knowledge is limited." Murata still looked uncertain, "but I think I can remember it… faintly… I can remember hearing the maids' conversation about it… they said that Sir Weller was in a critical condition, just like you. But he's still alive."
Yuuri kept silent, frowning.
"That's why… I hope you won't give up. You must return to your consciousness and see him again. Can you promise me?"
Yuuri nodded.
XXX
TBC
