At some point, Kakyoin stopped crying and put away all the supplies from the chest. He had no idea how long he had stayed on the floor, but it had been long enough. He sighed as he stood up, and it finally hit him just how exhausted he was. Granted he hadn't gotten a lot of sleep. Well, now there was nothing else to do but sleep.
Kakyoin walked over to the bed, crawled into the covers, and waited for sleep to come. If only it was that easy. He wanted to sleep. He really did, but he just couldn't. He tossed and turned, trying to get into a comfortable position. When he finally found one, he shut his eyes and remained still. Kakyoin groaned as his eyes flashed open and he sat up. He didn't know why this was so difficult. He was tired, so why couldn't he sleep?
Most days he can control his temper, but today was not one of them. In a small fit of rage, he kicked the blankets and covers off the bed, and threw a couple of pillows across the room. The outburst didn't last very long though, and in a few seconds, he was calm again. Maybe the empty bed would help him sleep. Nope.
"Damn it." Well, it looked like sleeping wasn't an option. So what could he do now? He could read those books he found or maybe do something with the art supplies. Did he really want to though? Not right now. He would save those for later.
He slumped back onto one of the remaining pillows and gazed over at the door the Demon had used to exit. Perhaps, he could explore the rest of the castle. Unless the door was locked, which was extremely likely. Well, only one way to find out.
Kakyoin pushed himself up and practically jumped out of the bed. He approached the door and slowly turned the handle. To his surprise, it was unlocked. Curious, he poked his head outside the door. No guards either. No one to watch him, and more importantly, no one to prevent him from escaping.
Kakyoin smiled and started to search for a way out of his prison. This place looked different from the entrance. It wasn't as gaudy. The walls were mahogany and had a few gas lamps lighting the hallway. There were a couple of paintings on the wall; some were generic pieces and others were portraits from centuries ago. They were all quite impressive. In any other situation, Kakyoin would've taken a moment to admire them, but he knew it would only be a matter of time before someone found him.
He could try to find the front door, but that would probably be too risky. That's where someone would expect him to go, so that was out of the question. There had to be another way out of here. Then he saw it, a giant double door set at the end of the hall. Surely that had to be an exit. He quietly ran to the door and pulled. Locked.
"Shit," He gritted through his teeth as attempted again. It wouldn't budge. He kept yanking on the doors, mostly out of frustration at this point, hoping they would just open. He stopped trying and started turning around to try to find another way.
"I didn't expect to see you up and about yet." Kakyoin froze. Well, there went that plan. Thankfully, the Demon was not the one who caught him.
"Well, I can't exactly stay in that room forever," Kakyoin replied and turned around to face the man, who gave him a kind smile.
"I suppose not." This man was nothing like the Demon. He was definitely nicer. But he had a familiar voice. He was probably one of the men who were whispering in the hallway last night.
"You're Momo, right?" Suddenly, the man's face contorted into confusion, and then his eyes widened. Was he blushing?
"It's Mohammed Avdol actually," He corrected. "That is just a special nickname."
"Oh! I'm so sorry." Kakyoin grimaced and looked to the side. He should've simply asked for the man's name instead of guessing like that. Maybe the lack of sleep is finally getting to him. After all, he knew how he felt when people he wasn't comfortable with called him Noriaki.
"It's quite all right." Avdol's soft smile returned as he recovered from embarrassment. "I'm just curious to know your name."
"Noriaki Kakyoin," he answered. He still was flustered from his previous statement.
"Well, it is a pleasure to meet you, Kakyoin." Avdol bowed his head slightly.
"Likewise." Kakyoin returned the gesture.
"Now," Avdol began, "Why were you trying so hard to open those specific doors?"
"Um." He had to think of something and fast. He could feel the nervous sweat starting to form on his forehead and hands. "I was just curious as to what was behind them."
"Really?" Avdol cocked an eyebrow. "Is that all?" Crap. He's onto him.
"Yeah," Kakyoin lied. "I thought I should explore the castle since I couldn't sleep. I mean I should probably get to know my surroundings considering-" He couldn't say it. He didn't want to admit his fate aloud.
"That sounds like an excellent idea." Kakyoin silently thanked Avdol for understanding. "Would you like me to show you around? I know it might be easy to get lost in this giant castle,"
"Sure," he replied. There would be a time to escape. Just not at the moment. For now, he had to make the most of his situation. Besides, Avdol seemed friendly enough. "So," he awkwardly started, "What is behind those doors?"
"This is actually one of my favorite rooms." Avdol pulled out a ring of gold keys from his robe and put the smallest one in the lock. After a faint click, Avdol pushed open the double doors to reveal an enormous library. Kakyoin's jaw dropped. It probably had thousands-no-maybe millions of books on shelves that seemed to go on forever. He could see why this was Avdol's favorite room.
"Welcome to the castle library," Avdol said with a small smirk. Kakyoin studied the room, trying to take it all in. He even had to crane his neck to see the topmost shelves. There was a large rug and a couple of armchairs in the middle of the room near the unlit fireplace on the wall. He would definitely spend a lot of time there later. Like every room in the castle, the library was lit by many gas lamps, but they were all out or dim. The fireplace seemed to be the favored light source. He was still awestruck by how many books there were. The library back home had a large selection, but it was minuscule compared to this. What he wouldn't give to just stay in this room forever, getting lost in the labyrinth of shelves and reading till his heart's content. Technically given his current predicament, that was an unfortunate possibility. He shook his head, he could mull over his fate later. Right now, he wanted to escape this world and lose himself in a good book.
"May I?" He asked while gaping at the books. He waited with bated breath. He wasn't exactly sure what prisoners were allowed to do in this castle.
"Of course," Avdol laughed. Kakyoin couldn't wait for another second and ran to the nearest bookcase. He started picking books off the shelf at random and moved to the next when he was satisfied. When his hands got full, he carried the books over to the rug and placed them by the armchair closest to the fireplace. He then hurried to get more to add to the growing pile. He probably had gone through ten shelves when he decided he had enough. There must have been at least fifty books in the various stacks, if not more. Avdol stood in the corner not saying a word. But he watched Kakyoin with an amused grin.
Kakyoin sat on the rug to examine the books, just to see his current options. He went through each book one by one and cased aside any book that didn't seem like something he'd like or understand. Some were written in different languages, so those were out of the question. He would put everything in the no-pile back later, but he was trying to organize his new personal reading stash for now. After maybe thirty minutes of sorting, he had ten books that would work in the meantime; a couple of adventure novels, some nonfiction history, a few trashy romance novels (which he would never admit he liked to anyone), and even a book written in his first language. He would thoroughly enjoy that one. He rarely got to read, let alone speak Japanese anymore, so he was quite thrilled for that read.
After putting the rest in their proper place, Kakyoin settled down in the armchair, picked up the book on top, and started reading. Not long after, Avdol sat in the other chair across from Kakyoin with his own book. Kakyoin glanced up and stared in awe as Avdol lit the fireplace with a small flame from his hand.
"How did you?" Kakyoin gazed at the fireplace, and back at Avdol.
"A magician never reveals his secrets." Avdol winked as he blew the fire on his finger out. Kakyoin's eyes widened as he went back to reading. Apparently, there was more to the castle and its residents than initially met the eye.
They sat reading in silence for what felt like hours. Neither of them even bothered to move from their designated spot. It reminded Kakyoin a lot of home. Some nights if he and Hol Horse had nothing to do, they would just bask in each other's company in the living room without saying a word. It didn't matter what they did. Kakyoin could be reading or playing a video game, and Hol Horse could be watching the news on TV or cooking a meal in the kitchen. They were still spending time together. Those were always some of Kakyoin's favorite nights. Now it only hurt to think about. He noticed the words were starting to blur on the page. Damn it. He absolutely didn't want to cry in front of Avdol, though his sniffs seemed to have already ruined that plan. Avdol was already gazing at him with concerned eyes.
"I'm fine," he lied as he tried to blink the tears away. He then felt a cold chill and noticed the goosebumps on his arms. He was in a t-shirt after all, and the fire only helped so much. "I'm just starting to get cold-" His stomach growled. "And maybe a little hungry," Kakyoin added a smile for good measure, but Avdol didn't seem convinced that was the real issue.
"Come, we can go get something from the kitchen and maybe retrieve a jacket from your room." Avdol began to stand and reached out to help Kakyoin up from his chair. He accepted Avdol's gesture and left the book he was reading in the chair. He would come back for it later.
"Would you still like the tour?" Avdol offered when they both got to the doors.
"Please." Kakyoin followed him out and bid farewell to the library for the moment. Though he knew he would certainly be back.
Okay, I did not think I would be gone for five months, so sorry about that. Life has been very hectic. I will try my best to update more frequently, but I can't guarantee anything. In other news, happy one-year anniversary to A Tale of Stars and Cherries. I did not expect to still be writing this, but I'm glad I still am. My little side project grew into something I love, which I did not expect. Thank you all so much for sticking with me and for all your support. It has been one heck of a year.