"Where is Sir Bruno?" Princess Trish asked at the breakfast table as she ate a piece of cracker dipped in strawberry marmalade. She was hoping to welcome the day together with her husband but it seemed that the knight had been held up with alliance business along with Prince Giorno. "Is he back from the Joestar's yet? I still don't understand why we left in such a rush last night."
In the background, King Diavolo entered the dining room and took a seat by the head of the table to join his family for breakfast.
The Queen mother was currently massaging her neck as it was stiff from the long carriage ride to and from the Joestar estate, she sipped on her warm cup of breakfast tea. "I believe Sir Bruno is back my sweet, I saw his horse outside the courtyard earlier this morning."
King Diavolo immediately interjected. "That's impossible." He locked eyes with his wife and wondered if she'd seen anything that had happened.
"I'm certain that I saw Giorno's Gold Experience by the courtyard this morning, I got up to use the loo," She smiled. "I had way too much to drink last night and as I walked back to our chamber I saw the horse." She popped a strawberry jam cracker in her mouth and licked her fingers.
King Diavolo seemed uneasy. "You must have imagined it. You were drunk." He stated as if he knew for a fact.
"I suppose it's possible, but I saw Giorno's golden horse scampering away to the back of the castle… If Sir Bruno came back, it would be in Prince Giorno's horse, would he not?" She looked back at her husband sitting next to her at the table.
Diavolo looked relieved as he saw the look of doubt in Donatella's eyes, it seemed that was all she had seen only the horse, he looked back at his daughter and she looked impossibly worried. She was sure to pester him about the Knight if he didn't throw off her suspicion. "Yes, but I believe you must have imagined it Donatella… You have a habit of imagining things as of lately."
The Queen furrowed her eyebrows at her husband. "What do you mean? I don't imagine things. What on earth are you talking about, Diavolo?" She had stopped drinking her tea.
The King and Queen looked at each other at the head of the breakfast table, making everyone pause and stare.
"Why just the other day you claimed to have seen a big bear over by the entrance of the castle. Did you not?" Diavolo planted the thought in her head. It was a blatant lie, but he wanted her to question reality.
"I did not!" She defended, she was certain she'd never made such a claim.
King Diavolo turned to his younger brother for aid. "Doppio, didn't Donatella claimed she had seen a big bear right outside the courtyard?"
Doppio looked at King Diavolo and Diavolo looked at him fully expecting him to agree with him. Doppio blinked a couple of times trying to read the situation, but without hesitation looked at Donatella and nodded, "You did."
Princess Trish furrowed her eyebrows at the men sitting across from her, she put down her fork and questioned the exchange happening before her eyes. "Father, don't you think if my mother had seen a bear… something so notoriously big, she would have told me about it?!" Princess Trish always questioned her father and this was a very strange conversation he was having with her mother, implying that Donatella was suffering from delusions. Her uncle Doppio had no credibility of his own, for as far she could tell Doppio was her father's shadow.
"Exactly!" The Queen shouted. She'd had enough of Diavolo's nonsense. "I saw no bear."
King Diavolo pursed his lips. "That's the thing darling, you say these things and then you forget the next minute… I'm worried about you. You said you saw a bear, then you forgot all about it… Now you say you saw a horse by the courtyard. I will call Doctor Ciocollata to come and examine you."
The Queen quickly shook her head no. "I don't like that man, he makes my skin crawl." She then cleaned the corners of her lips with a towel and decided to go lay down. "I've lost my appetite, I'm going to rest."
King Diavolo took a bite out of his bacon with satisfaction. "I agree, you are ill. You should get some rest."
Then Princess Trish followed by getting up from her seat. "I'm going to make a basket for when Sir Bruno returns. We are going on a picnic… And there will be no more business talk when he gets back, alright father? Do I need to kidnap my own husband to be able to spend time with him?" She huffed.
King Diavolo looked at his daughter in annoyment. "Little bird, little bird, you are nothing but a pretty little bird. A decorative thing and nothing else arent you? Such trivial things you worry about." He hated when his daughter pestered him.
"I'm not stupid or vapid father, I know that's what you are implying." After all the years, King Diavolo's lack of affection for her still made her angry. "I have my own dreams you know? Actual dreams which can change the lives of many if only you'd let me. I could make Passione a place for people to come and flourish."
The King quickly dismissed her by rolling his eyes and looking outside the window, as if whatever was going on in the courtyard was more important than whatever his daughter was going on and on about. "Oh, here we go with this nonsense. You want to give away money to the poor, just like the Joestars... they've brainwashed you. I should have forbidden you from going over there when you were young." Diavolo had serious hatred towards the Joestars and the fact that his daughter was so in line with their ideologies irritated him.
Trish grabbed the corners of her chair and curled her fingers around the edges, frustrated. "Father you cannot forbid anything from me anymore. I'm a married woman now and when I tell Sir Bruno about my dream of opening up a nursing school for girls he will support me! I know it in my heart!" Princess Trish cried with passion.
Diavolo smiled knowing the true whereabouts of Sir Bruno. "I believe it. Sir Bruno turned out to be an even bigger buffoon than you are…" King Diavolo smiled with satisfaction knowing that the princess spoke of an impossible future. It gave him pleasure knowing how sad she would be to find out she was stuck being his daughter forever. "Nevertheless, you are the blood of my blood, if Sir Bruno supports your dreams then there is nothing I can do." He chuckled, knowing it was an empty promise.
Princess Trish looked at her father with suspicion. "You will?" She raised an eyebrow, he'd never agreed with her on the matter before. Maybe things were going to change for her now that she had married Sir Bruno. "Thank you, Father… That's the nicest thing you've ever done for me."
"Stay out of your way?" King Diavolo smiled and mocked her innocence.
Princess Trish nodded, still suspicious but it was in her nature to be fair. "Yes."
He looked at the princess and played the part of a supportive father for a split second.
"You are a married woman now, you are free. Your only duty is to pass on my bloodline and bear me a grandchild." His smile continued to grow, for he knew she was still a virgin.
"You took my husband from me." She said, accusingly.
King Diavolo suddenly became stiff at the accusation, he looked at her gaze trying to read the mind behind her large blue-green orbs. He didn't dare say another word.
"I haven't had a moment alone with him since we married. When he gets home, I will lock him up in my tower and we will not come down for days." Princess Trish grabbed the tweed basket sitting next to her on the table and grabbed a couple of pieces of fruit and got up from the table. "I don't want to hear any more business talk." She cautioned and walked out of the dining table and headed to her chamber to fetch the book of poems Sir Bruno had promised to read to her so she could add it to the basket.
Doppio waited until the maids had cleared the table from Trish and Donatella's leftovers and left the dining hall. As Diavolo continued to eat his bacon with gusto Doppio looked around and inched closed to his older brother.
"Why did we just make Donatella believe she saw a bear?" He asked his older brother, the King.
King Diavolo continued gazing out the window eating his breakfast, without minding what his brother had just asked him. "Do you trust me, Doppio?"
Doppio nodded, "Of course."
"I'm doing what is best for our family, and that is all you need to know." He said and continued savoring the delicious juice from the meat he was currently grinding with his teeth.
Doppio felt extremely guilty for he questioned the King at this moment, nevertheless, he continued to eat his breakfast in silence, without speaking up about his concern for the Queen and the Princess.
--
Prince Giorno had looked for Sir Bruno everywhere on his way to the castle, when he got to the entrance of Castle Passione he noticed traces of blood that had been sloppily cleaned. He knew at that moment that he couldn't ask anyone at the castle for help, for anything that had happened that night had been done with dishonor and in the shadows. He realized he was not going to be able to cover much ground on his own so he recruited an old friend.
--
Sir Bruno felt as if he'd already died and his only state of consciousness was that of his soul. He watched what seemed like it was his own corpse. It was his body on top of a medical bed and a young doctor was performing some kind of experimental autopsy.
"It didn't work. He didn't move at all." There was another person in the room, "Your Greenday arrow had too much poison and killed him." Said the voice.
"He was going to die anyway... but try not to damage the body too much." The one in charge commanded as he poked and proved Sir Bruno's body on his table. "We have to make it look like it was an accident." The green-haired man said to his assistant. "It's got to look like it was an attack by a wild animal, preferably a bear."
The assistant continued to poke and prove Sir Bruno's chest, clamping it with a metal brass. "There's already a dagger on his arm… I think they're going to know he was in a fight." He observed as he pulled on the dagger and ripped it from the body.
A creepy, malevolent smile crept up on the doctor. "We can make it look as though the bear chewed the arm off." The doctor laughed. "Secco, find me the tool that looks like a bear's jaw."
The assistant pondered for a moment, as he played with Sir Bruno's limp limbs. "Do we have such a tool?" He asked as a macabre thought crept into his mind, "If you'd like I could just bite his arm off myself heh." And play-pretended to chomp Sir Bruno's arm.
The doctor finished connecting the wires to a machine he'd created himself. The doctor wanted to experiment on Bruno's body and had tried to reanimate parts of it. First, he had tried an arm then he had tried with a leg but his experiments had failed. "No Secco, we have to be professionals this time. We got a good deal going on with King Diavolo. I just thought of the perfect tool so we can make it look like he was mangled by a bear." The doctor began taking steps to leave the room as he eye-balled the size of the circumference of Sir Bruno's forearm.
"Is it okay if I play with the arm once it's detached?" Asked the younger man, with shiny eager eyes waiting for permission to play with the corpse.
"I don't see why not? King Diavolo didn't say anything about the arm." Then the Doctor and the assistant stepped out of the examination room.
Bruno realized it had all been a set-up by King Diavolo, his fury would not allow him to die. He simply couldn't leave Princess Trish knowing what the King was capable of, he was clearly a sick man. He had to figure out a way out of the situation he was currently in and save Princess Trish. He was not going to give up so easily, Ignoring the divine calling out his name, and pushing away from the light shining brightly, he refused to welcome the afterlife and clung with heart and soul to the world of mortals.
He placed all his goodwill, all his love for her, all the courage he'd gathered as a knight. He prayed to all the gods and asked his father for help. He told himself he was only stuck in a bad dream, his mind had awakened but his body was still asleep, a coma, a sleep paralysis. Sir Bruno fought with soul and heart to keep his mind alive, to simply stay. With all his might he attempted to move a single finger, a single centimeter, he tried to scream to no avail. If he could command his body to cry in frustration it would be weeping by now. He felt his soul completely detach from his body… If only could get back into his body.
--
Prince Giorno had followed his friend across the forest near a small windmill structure, searching for Sir Bruno; they'd used a piece of Sir Bruno's torn clothing to search for him, following his scent. Giorno's ally quickly and stealthily tracked the scent of the garment and led him to the structure. Giorno assumed Sir Bruno would be inside the building so he was currently exploring it from the outside, searching for any trace of Sir Bruno.
The situation looked grimmer and grimmer, Prince Giorno worked quickly, but he knew the chances of finding Sir Bruno alive were quite slim, all the blood he had seen was quite dark meaning some time had passed since it was spilled. All the tracking they had found on their way there had almost disappeared, if it wasn't for the fact that his friend was such a skilled tracker he would have lost trace of him long ago.
Suddenly his friend stopped.
--
The light was brighter and more demanding each time, he was fading away into eternity without a choice. There was no hope left, he would fade into nothingness and there was nothing left to do.
"TRIIIIIISH!!!!" His subconscious shouted. "TRIIIIIIIIIIISH!!!!!"
Then he heard rumbling and shouting coming from outside the structure. It was a familiar shouting. Someone was calling out for his name. A glimmer of hope rose from within him. Someone who could help him get out of this nightmare. He recognized the voice as Prince Giorno's. The excitement he felt from hearing Prince Giorno call out his name allowed him to grab a hold of his consciousness. He wasn't going anywhere.
He blinked a few times and felt his arms, he once again felt the flaming-hot sensation of the wound on his arm. Sir Bruno thanked the heavens for the pain he was now able to feel. Everything had connected, for the most part. His vision was still in the afterlife and struggled to maneuver his body. He managed to get up from the table, still wobbling, and looked for an exit. He quickly noticed a high narrow window, for it seemed he was in a room underground. He pushed the medical table towards the window, climbed on top, and tried to crawl out of the window. He stopped mid-way as he saw Prince Giorno slowly galloping away from him, it seemed he was alone in his search for him. He opened his mouth to scream at Prince Giorno but nothing came out. He felt powerless and frustrated. But then he watched a beautiful collie run towards him. She barked a few times, it seems she was there to help Prince Giorno.
"Spice Girl, you've found Sir Bruno!"
Bruno looked at the dog in front of him, she licked his face and wagged her tail.
Sir Bruno smiled at her, his savior.
"Good Girl!"
--
At Castle Passione, a young man with blonde hair and a briefcase under his arm arrived. Princess Trish was outside the courtyard sitting with her picnic basket waiting for Sir Bruno and heard the young man ask for her by name.
"Is Princess Trish of House Passione available? I am Fugo Pannacotta, Prince Giorno's lawyer."
The maid who had welcomed Lord Pannacotta walked back to the Princess to inform her, however, The Princess had heard and dismissed the maid and walked over to the young man without waiting for her father, or her uncle as escorts to converse with him.
"I am Princess Trish of House Passione…" She eyed him up and down. Lawyers were relatively new in their kingdom and she wasn't particularly familiar with their skill set.
Lord Pannacotta bowed as a gesture of courtesy. "Princess, I know you are expecting me as Sir Bruno explained we would be meeting at noon to go over the marriage annulment. We have much information to go over. Shall we get started?"
Princess Trish felt sick to her stomach. "Marriage annulment? Sir Bruno wants to annul his marriage to me?"
Lord Fugo looked at the princess, he was informed that the plan was for Sir Bruno to explain everything to the Princess before he arrived. "Didn't Sir Bruno tell you? It's his wish to officially annul the marriage as there was no consummation, he is in his legal right to do so."
Princess Trish became filled with rage. Sir Bruno had lied to her. He had no intention of creating a future with her, she had only been part of some sick political game. She didn't know why Sir Bruno had played with her heart in such a cruel way but she wanted an answer. "Where is he?!"
"I don't know. He is supposed to be here." Lord Fugo explained, confused by the situation. He'd been recruited in the middle of Prince Giorno's party to work up the document, he was told everything would be taken care of by the time he reached Castle Passione but it seemed that the princess was clueless.
"Where is he?!" Princess Trish shouted once more, tears streaming down her rosy cheeks. She pulled on the lawyer's vest and accidentally ripped a couple of holes in it.
Lord Panacotta backed away from the princess, as he was being ambushed. "I- I don't know I truly do not, Princess!" He shouted back at her.
She stopped pulling on his garments as she had almost ripped his shirt completely. Princess Trish looked at him, hurt and desperate for answers. "Get out of here! Get out!" And pushed him out.
Princess Trish went to her stables, a look of determination on her face. She was going to find Sir Bruno no matter what. She saw his horse, Sticky Finger's resting peacefully by the barn, and decided to steal him. She pulled on her skirts and marched right into the horse stable, she grabbed the reins and mounted the horse bare-skinned. Her rage did not allow for any consideration to prepare the horse properly. She simply jumped on its back and mounted the horse.
Sir Bruno's squire boy tried to stop her, "Hey you! Stop that! That is Sir Bruno's horse!" and got in the middle of the doorway to block her path.
"Out of the way!" Princess Trish shouted.
"No way!" The boy extended his arms and legs to cover the entire entrance. "I won't let you leave."
But Princess Trish narrowed her eyes at the boy standing in front of the doorway, "Is your name door?"
"Huh?" Said the boy. "No, my name is Narancia."
"Well then, Narancia, get the hell out of my way!" And the princess charged forward, without care if she trampled the boy or not.
"Holy shit!" The boy quickly jumped out of the way and took cover.
He watched Princess Trish gallop away with Sticky Fingers, faster than he'd ever seen anyone gallop that horse before.
Princess Trish kicked and kicked the horse with the heel of her boot, making the horse gallop faster and faster. She felt the wind try to push her back, but she wasn't going to stop, she thought of the only place where Bruno could be, determined to find him. "I will find you, Sir Bruno, and you will answer me!"
She kicked the horse once more, "Hiya!"
