"Nuala."
The blonde turned at the sound of her name. Upon seeing the other girl, she gave a smile. "Sunist, how are you?"
The brunette nodded and walked forward along the garden's stone path. She took a seat on the bench, folding her hands in her lap and staring at them for a long moment. "I'm worried..."
"About Nuada." At the other's confirmation, Nuala sighed softly. "I am, as well. I fear he's going to try something."
"He's stubborn," Sunist said with a small smile, "but that's not always a good thing. I know he doesn't have evil motives, he only wants a better world for people like us."
"Destroying this world so we can have our own, it would be pointless." The princess took a seat next to the other. "I know men are filled with greed and most of them hate or fear our kind, but what Nuada is doing is also filled with a hatred and greed. I only wish that he could see that."
"If anyone could make him realize what he's doing, it would be you." The brunette was still smiling, but it was a bit sadder now. "He reveres you, he would do anything for you."
"Everything other than the one thing I ask."
Sunist laughed sharply, disrupting the peaceful serenity the garden brought. "That's how it goes, isn't it?"
Nuala rested her hand over the other's, looking off into the distance. "We will stop him," she whispered. "We will help him see what he's doing is wrong." Another sigh and she let her sights fall to their hands. "I only hope it is in time."
Nearly a full day passed with no sign of Nuada. No one had seen him since his sister confronted him that morning and the two closest to him were becoming more and more concerned. Liz and Hellboy were distracted with preparing for the babies and while Abe wished to assist Nuala however he could, there was really no way for him to help. Unless he could look up how to convince a one-track mind, genocide-happy elven prince.
Sunist had remained stubbornly on the porch for the better half of the day. When Nuada did return, she would be the first one to talk to him. It was getting dark and as she swung gently back and forth on the swing, she thought of all the things she would say to him when she saw him again.
She would tell him how he didn't need to go to such lengths to have a better world; that they could live peacefully as they were. So what if they were secluded, she liked people, but she could make sacrifices if he would. Then she'd tell him how she really felt, and that since she heard of his goals and the reasoning, she had never thought anything but the best of him. She knew he'd pass it off as her optimistic personality seeing the good in everyone, then she'd convince him that she saw much more in him. Then...then just maybe she'd kiss him, and maybe he'd return it. He would see that she was sincere, and change his mind. It could happen just like that, she was sure of it.
So lost in her thoughts, Sunist didn't even notice the object of them approaching their country house. She caught a glimpse of the elf in the corner of her eye and jumped slightly, sitting up a bit straighter as he approached.
"Nuada," she whispered, catching his lethal gaze with hers.
"What are you doing out here so late?" he asked, walking the few steps up to the porch. "You should be inside."
Standing up, her facial features turned from thoughtful to determined. "I have something to say, and I don't want you to interrupt me until I'm finished, okay?"
Giving her an odd look, the blonde tilted his head before nodding. "What is it?"
"I..." She hesitated-- what is it she had wanted to say again? It was rather important. Something about how he didn't have to kill everyone? She shook her head to try and clear it, but just being around him confused her.
"You can never say what's on your mind," he commented, leaning against a post. "Why is that?"
"It's only around you," Sunist told him, frowning. "It makes me nervous that I can't read yours."
"It seems like everyone can read minds around here." Himself and his sister, Abe, and Sunist all possessed the power to read a person's mind and their feelings. Of course, Abe and Sunist didn't have the connection he did with Nuala, and so their abilities were limited to only the non-telepathics of the house. If they wished, the royal siblings could block their minds from anyone, which made it frustrating for the other two, who were so used to being able to see into everyone's thoughts.
"Tell me what you're thinking," Sunist said, blue eyes cornering him. "I want to know."
"I am thinking...that you have yet to tell me what you wanted to say."
"I can't remember," she told him quietly.
"Then I'm thinking we should go inside," Nuada replied, opening the door.
Defeated, Sunist's shoulders slumped slightly and she walked inside, Nuada close behind.
Once back in her bedroom, Sunist fell to her bed with a plop. She had messed it up, big time. Why did she do that? She had everything planned out perfectly, then Nuada showed up and ruined it all. She knew why-- she was scared. What if Nuada rejected her, and things didn't turn out like she had planned? The signs were there, he treated her differently than the rest and listened to her whenever she tried to talk to him, but there was still doubt in her heart.
"Everyone feels that way." The intruding voice made her jump as she looked up.
"Abe," she said with a soft sigh.
"It's true," he said, nodding. "Everyone is nervous to confess their feelings, even if they think the other person will accept them. I was nervous with you, after all."
A faint blush rose to Sunist's cheeks. "You're nervous around everyone."
"I like to think I keep my composure," the fish-like man replied. "So? Will you tell him?"
"Do you think he already knows?" Nuada could read feelings as well as she could and though she couldn't understand him there was no saying he couldn't understand her.
"Dear Sunist, with the way you act around him, he doesn't need to be a psychic to figure it out. Now, perhaps if you were dealing with Hellboy your signs would go unnoticed, but Prince Nuada isn't as..."
"Oblivious?"
"Precisely."
Taking a deep breath, Sunist stood and smiled to her friend. "Thanks, Blue."
"I did nothing," he insisted, stepping aside and motioning out the door. Abe always insisted that he was never a problem-solver, that he only opened people's eyes to solve the problems for themselves. Of course, experiencing the feelings he did when he met Nuala helped to sensitize him a bit to the world of romance. Just a little.
Stepping out of her room and into the hallway, Sunist quickly made her way to Nuada's room. She had to do this while her conversation with Abe, and her courage, were still fresh with her.
Two, brisk knocks on the door and a murmur of 'come in' brought her to stand in front of the prince. Shutting the door behind her quietly, the brunette gave an awkward smile.
"Is there something you wanted?" the blonde asked, leafing through the pages of a book.
"I remember," she said, "what I wanted to tell you earlier."
"Is that so?" After another moment, Nuada closed the book and gave his full attention to her.
Biting her lower lip lightly, Sunist stepped forward, her eyes determined and the words in her mind. They spilled from her lips like she had recited it a million times, which she may very well have in her head. "Nuada, you don't have to go to great lengths to make a home for us. We have a wonderful home here-- it's peaceful, quiet...when Red and Liz aren't getting into it, anyway." She shook her head, attempting to stay on track. "What I'm trying to say is-"
"What you're trying to say," he interrupted, "is that you and my sister are just the same." He sighed, a rather disappointed sound. "I had hoped you would be different, that you would understand my wishes."
"I do understand," she insisted, "but this isn't the way to go about it. Men are greedy and their hearts are filled with all sorts of bad feelings, but they're also kind and generous and caring, too. People, humans, aren't naturally evil; they're turned that way when evil things are brought into their lives."
"I've heard it all before," he told her with a wave of his hand. "From my father, from Nuala. I don't need to hear it from you, as well."
"Please, just hear me out," she said desperately, standing her ground. She didn't need to read his mind this time-- it was obvious what he was saying was exactly what he felt.
"I don't need to, I already know everything you're going to sa-"
"I love you."
Those three words brought Nuada's know-it-all attitude to a screeching halt. He had known Sunist was against his ideals, deep inside he had known, but he wished to believe differently. When she started speaking after she entered his room that evening, he figured that was all she had to say. Not even he had seen this coming. For once, Prince Nuada was speechless.
Taking advantage of the silence, Sunist continued. "I don't want to see you unhappy, whatever that might take, but I think that you can be happy without destroying the humans. I think we can be happy...together. Like Liz and Red are, and Nuala and Abe. I want you to give me a chance to make you happy in a world with both humans and people like us."
Nuada was silent for a long while, perhaps contemplating her words. Finally, he shook his head. "There is no peace for us while men consider themselves the dominant species. We can't be happy while we have to worry about avoiding the humans."
Surprisingly, Sunist's face got just a little brighter at his words. "There's...an us?"
"Us," the blonde repeated. "Our kind." He waited for her reaction and when he received none, he stood and crossed the room to stop in front of her. "There can be nothing between us as long as you are against my goals."
Looking up at him, she frowned. "I love you, Nuada, but sometimes I think perhaps my life would have been easier if I had never revived you and Nuala."
As she turned to leave, the prince caught her arm with his hand in a tight grip. "You gave me another chance, and I'm grateful for that, but you're hindering it all the same. If I were to agree to your conditions, it would be no different than if I was still dead." As predicted, he watched as she broke away from him and fled the room, the door hanging wide open in her wake.
"Those words were a poor choice, my brother." Nuala was staring her twin down, saddened by what she had overhead.
"They were the truth," he replied, turning his back to her. "If I cannot achieve what I dedicated my life to, then what is my life worth?"
"To her? Everything."
Nuada turned his head to look at the princess, but by the time he did, she was already gone. Why was everyone against him? Why didn't they want a life where they didn't have to hide in fear of being shunned? Especially Sunist of all people, who told him once that she hated being discriminated against and called a freak. Why would she want to live in a world of people who did just that? Did she really think that, if given the chance, people would accept them? It was foolish thinking, plain and simple. Nuada didn't understand it, but he didn't have to. They would see, once the humans were gone and they could reign once more, that this world is better without those weak creatures.
Still, if he was so determined, why did his sister's words ring in his head? If Sunist really cared for him, she would support his decision. A small, insignificant voice in the back of his head reminded him that if he cared for her, he would do the same. Compromise was inevitable between two people that were so close, but there were also some things those people refused to compromise on.
"The fact alone that you're thinking so much on this. Shouldn't that alone be a sign that she has affected you?"
"You, too?" Nuada nearly sneered at the aquatic man in his doorway. "I don't need advice from the peanut gallery."
"Peanut gallery?" Abe repeated, blinking. "Not at all, I was simply making an observation."
"Go observe someone else," the prince muttered, obviously disgruntle.
"Of course." Abe turned to leave, but paused and tilted his head back to look at Nuada. "Though, I will give one word of advice." When Nuada didn't respond, he continued. "If you do go through with your plan, and destroy the humans, who do you think you'll have left to share your utopia with?"
Left once again to think on words with much more meaning than it first seemed, Nuada shut his door firmly and locked it. He would be damned if he'd listen to anyone else's spiel about how wrong he was. His hand slipped slowly from the doorknob as he hung his head, his eyes closing lightly. "It doesn't matter," he told himself softly. "They're right, but it's useless." He walked to his window and drew back the curtains, looking up to the night sky. "Everything has already been set into motion. No one can stop it now."
WELL GOOD JOB. Don't you hate it when you go out to give every human the gift of genocide and you realize afterward that it probably wasn't the best thing to do? Well, fortunately he can only make this mistake once. Unless someone stops it... Yeah, someone'll stop it, probably. Enter the fight and sex! Read on~