Disclaimer: I do not own Kyou Kara Maou! or any of its characters and trademarks. This story was written strictly for entertainment purposes and no profit is being made.
:Remnants:
A Kyou Kara Maou! Fanfiction Endeavor
Author's Notes: Thanks for the encouragement and reviews, I HATE writing first chapters, they always seem to bog down with details and needing to set up the action for the rest of the story. Things pick up from here, so once again, I hope you enjoy.
I do my own error-checking, and although I re-read several times and use spell check, sometimes I miss stuff (lazy brain). Also, right now my "O" key is being a bit of a pain and not always typing out the letter when pressed. So please excuse any mistakes and feel free to point them out. Thanks!
Chapter Two:
Close
It was a perfect, fresh day in Shin Makoku when Yuuri finally reached the end of his somewhat lengthy journey with the king of Small Shimaron. It was good to be home, at least, that's what Yuuri felt in the five seconds that passed from when he entered the front gate of the castle before he was spotted by his jealous fiancé.
"Yuuri! Where in the world have you been? What are you wearing? And why are you riding so close to that pretty boy?" Wolfram's angry words rose above the general din the Maou's entrance had created and caused the dark-haired boy to flinch reactively. He had spent many long moments on the ship pondering how to handle this very scenario, but anything he had managed to cook up had fled his mind the instant he stepped off the boat. His lips worked themselves into a sheepish smile as he tried to find something to say that would diffuse the situation before it ballooned into something unnecessary.
"Wolfram," he started, before being abruptly cut off by a long arm winding its way around his neck. He was jerked like a paper doll down from his horse and towards Wolfram's side, and the blonde placed himself firmly between Yuuri and Sara, whose expression was blank as he watched Wolfram's posturing. "Why, he's just wearing some of my old things," he said in a neutral tone, shifting the glasses on his nose and meeting Wolfram's strong glare. He gracefully dismounted, keeping one hand on the brown horse's neck. "He came here in his nightclothes, after all, and it didn't seem right to have him walk around like that."
"Hmph. Well, don't get any ideas. I'm sure he didn't tell you that he already has a fiancé because he's a cheating wimp, but the fact is that he isn't available," Wolfram said in a haughty voice, his nose tilting slightly in the air as he spoke to the amused king. Meanwhile, Yuuri struggled to free himself of the almost debilitating grip, black eyes searching for Conrad or Günter's assistance.
Sara raised a slim eyebrow, the corners of his mouth twitching as he observed the rather undignified scene. "Well, I can't say I'm surprised that such a good looking young man is taken," he spoke with a lilting tone in his voice, his eyes seeking out Yuuri underneath Wolfram's arm. Almost too softly to hear (though probably at least audible on purpose, Yuuri suspected), he murmured, "Though I would have expected a much more spectacular betrothed than a run-of-the-mill soldier."
Wolfram, having heard the backhanded comment, stiffened and released Yuuri so quickly he almost fell to the ground. The blonde's hand hovered dangerously close to his sword. "What was that?"
Gwendal coughed loudly, apparently deciding to put an end to the dramatics that had nothing whatsoever to do with the business at hand. "Welcome to Shin Makoku, I'm Gwendal von Voltaire." He nodded curtly instead of reaching out a hand for the other man to shake. Yuuri tilted his head, forever puzzled at the lack of polite greetings exchanged between humans and Mazoku. I guess they got so used to treating each other like dirt, must be a rough habit to break, he supposed. Then again, that's just Gwendal's way.
Sara turned his pearly smile to Gwendal and bowed slightly. "It's my pleasure to meet your wonderful Maou's closest confidants and friends. I'm Saralegui, the current king of Small Shimaron. Yuuri brought me here to negotiate some sort of an alliance between our two nations."
Gwendal coughed again, but this time it was more like a prolonged episode of choking. "Small Shimaron?" he managed to grunt between breaths. "Really."
Yuuri was surprised at the stoic man's reaction and turned back to look at Conrad to see what the older man's face would tell him. Conrad's dark features were placed in a carefully constructed mask of indifference, though the lack of his usual smile might have been a clue that his true reaction was similar to Gwendal's. Wolfram had gritted his teeth and turned away from the young king, facing the castle with an annoyed look on his delicate features.
"There's been some... differences in the past, right?" Yuuri said, cracking the silence with a simplistic question he hoped would destroy the tension that had suddenly cloaked the air. His eyes roved over the faces of his friends, noting for the first time that Günter was absent from the meeting. Of course, he would have glomped onto me by now otherwise. "None of that matters, okay? What we're trying to build here isn't dependent on the mistakes of the past."
"Yuuri," Sara said with a touch of awe in his voice.
Yuuri turned a smile to Sara, gesturing for the boy to follow him into the castle. "We need to set you up in one of the guest rooms, and of course you're probably tired and kind of hungry like me, so we can get the maids to make us something to eat."
"Your majesty." Yuuri turned at Conrad's voice, frowning a bit and starting to scold him for not using his regular name. However, the serious look on Conrad's face stopped any urges within Yuuri to speak at all. "May I have a moment to with you alone?"
Yuuri gulped, eyes widening. Dammit, am I in trouble now? "Sure, uhm, I guess... Gwendal, can you show Sara inside and get the maids to prepare a room and food for him?" He wouldn't have asked the older man if anyone else more suitable was in sight, but as it was, his welcome party consisted only of the three brothers, random soldiers, and some other people he thought were servants but couldn't place. Given Wolfram's hostile reaction to the young king, he thought it best to keep them apart as much as possible, so Gwendal was really the only option he could trust.
Gwendal bristled at the order but nodded shortly. "As you wish, your Majesty," he grumbled, waiting for Sara to join him on the stairs. Yuuri watched nervously, standing at Conrad's side as the others slowly filed into the castle, or in the case of the soldiers, made their way towards the training grounds. Wolfram threw the pair a dangerous glance as if to say don't try anything funny because I'll know and hunt you down before following Gwendal out of sight.
Yuuri sighed and tried his best to put on an innocent face, "What was it that you wanted, Conrad?"
"This is the first time since you've been switching worlds on your own that you haven't come to the right place, isn't it?" Conrad asked, the mask from before melting into a look of unabashed concern. "Is it hard to get used to moving with your own power, or were you just trying something different to see how it worked?"
Yuuri held up his hands and shook his head quickly. "No, nothing like that at all. I actually was--" He broke off, realizing that he could never tell Conrad that he had felt pulled by Julia into the water and hadn't really been thinking clearly to even notice how his powers had dragged him to the wrong location. His mind raced to think of an alternate explanation, though it felt fundamentally wrong to be lying to Conrad of all people. He forced his mouth into a wide smile. "I wasn't paying attention. I didn't really plan to come here so abruptly, but I just missed you guys and suddenly felt like I needed to see you." There, not a complete lie. I really did feel like I needed to come, just not for that reason. "Probably just a one time fluke, then, landing in Small Shimaron."
"Is that so?" Conrad's face relaxed, and he returned Yuuri's smile, placing a gentle arm around the shorter boy's shoulders. "I'd hope so, anyway. I'm happy you were well taken in by the king, though. Gwendal was just talking about the need for us to evaluate the situation over there now that Big Shimaron's dominance has lessened. Though I don't really think he was counting on you bringing the man here to our castle out of the blue." He chuckled, and Yuuri could feel himself falling into the other man's comforting presence. Everything will be fine. I'm home again.
"I'm really excited about this, though. Sara seems like a really sincere person, and I believe he'll work with us," Yuuri said, following Conrad as the other man made his way up the stairs to the castle's entrance. He entered the castle alongside Conrad and walked the path leading up to Gwendal's office. He figured that once Gwendal was finished setting up Saralegui and getting everything in order, he would come back to that place, and they could more formally talk about the alliance in official terms. Gwendal will probably have a lot of questions for me. Goody.
"It must be fate," Conrad said with a gentle smile, releasing his arm from Yuuri's shoulders as they walked the long corridor. "Finally on our side, perhaps."
For some reason, Conrad's soothing words had the opposite effect on Yuuri. His smile faltered a bit, and he placed a hand over his stomach, aware of the swarm of butterflies that began to squirm within him. Suddenly, the concept of a kind 'fate' seemed as impossible as a snowflake falling in the middle of a steaming summer. He was sick with the knowledge that if fate indeed existed, it watched them with cold, impassive eyes and that it would continue to exist long after the threads of time had twisted around them, erasing their existence from the world.
He could sense that Julia was trying to tell him something, but she could no longer be heard by his ears alone. He felt sadness overtake him even as he kept a smile on his face lest Conrad notice his sudden change in mood and begin to ask questions he didn't have answers to.
What does it mean, Julia?
Time. An ever flowing surge fueled by nothing but itself, constantly moving forward to the always expanding shore of fate.
Captured within its swell an entire world. Had the world existed before the will that inflicted itself upon the cords of time and fate, viciously twisting them into unnatural patterns to accomplish unfathomable goals? Was the world merely a reflection cast by a dying entity as it viewed its life in retrospect, final visions before the eternal dark which nothing living could fathom before it came?
Questions without answers.
The world breathed through the lives of its inhabitants, watching with practiced restraint as they drifted, prey to their emotions, slaves to their passions. Beings despite their godly powers and abilities, desperately hiding their weaknesses and flaws for the fear of others discovering how easily they could be exploited and destroyed. Blissfully unaware of the tremendous weight of their world's past, a time when everything happened naturally instead of through the omnipresent microscope of the artificial overseer.
That beyond the world lay nothing.
The world trembled, ropes of chronology tightening as an unexpected billow crashed upon the bank, choking for an instant before giving way, tension melting as everything settled back into the usual places.
Elsewhere, a new thread danced.
I shouldn't be so jealous, Wolfram thought to himself as he paced up and down the hallway leading to the bedroom he shared with Yuuri. His freshly-shined boots clacked loudly upon the hard tile as he practically stomped back and forth, mind stuffed with unbidden thoughts about Yuuri's earlier entrance with the King of Small Shimaron. He could still remember the easy smile on Yuuri's lips and the familiar way his hand brushed the boy's as they ventured past the castle gates on borrowed horses. Why the hell was that blondie riding so close to Yuuri in the first place? I know he probably didn't see fit to tell the guy a thing about me, but still, to act so openly with someone he just met. I know that's how Yuuri's always been, the cheater, but that guy was more than happy to go along with it!
Still, even though he knew Yuuri was firm in his delusions about not having inappropriate thoughts about the same gender, that Sara person was just the type of feminine guy that could probably turn a straight guy's attention elsewhere. Much as it was a pain to admit, Saralegui was simply a beautiful-looking person. Absently, Wolfram tossed errant strands of blond hair out of his eyes, knowing that several people in the castle and even outside of it would have had the same thoughts about himself. He had been gazed at his entire life as a bishounen and labeled many ways due to the misconception. "Look at the pretty boy, won't want to get his little hands dirty with real fighting. We'd better use our swords inside their sheaths, fellas." There was always a certain grim satisfaction in kicking the ass of someone who didn't expect him to be able to fight like a real soldier due to his appearance.
Turning, Wolfram slammed his clenched fist into the nearest wall, causing the large painting hanging there to shake precariously. He glared at the soft palette of muted colors (a bowl of fruit still life) hatefully for several beats as a wild mixture of anger and jealousy coursed throughout his veins, causing the fire inside him to swirl in a tempest. He could have alighted an entire forest in that moment, but he figured that even such a show of destruction wouldn't quell the intensity of his feelings. He felt like it was slipping away. His life, Yuuri, was falling out of reach, and there was nothing he could do to stop it from happening.
Ever since the Shinou incident, now that there's no 'big bad' to deal with and work on fighting, Yuuri sees fit to come and go as he pleases, Wolfram thought, wincing at the bitter taste that filled his mouth. He had bitten his tongue, and coppery blood was beginning to trickle from the wound. He placed a finger in his mouth, gingerly applying pressure to the sore area. When he leaves, I never know when, or even if, I will see him again.
Wolfram sighed, dropping his hand and drying his finger on the starchy fabric of his pants. A spot of red appeared amidst the blue, and he was a bit surprised that he had bled so much from such a minor injury. He could no longer taste the acerbic fluid and was thrust back into the web of his thoughts, reflecting fondly on previous adventures with Yuuri and his brothers. Of course Yuuri would miss those times. Of course he wouldn't look forward to hours of studying the language and history with Günter. But, in the very least, doesn't he at least miss spending time playing that stupid ball game with Conrad or going on picnics with me and Greta?
As hard as it was to adjust to Yuuri's absence, Wolfram knew that Greta had it even worse than him when it came to the sadness. There were no other children her age to spend time with in the castle, and she had grown dependent on having at least one of her father's to hang out with. Wolfram had been busy with whipping his band of soldiers into fighting shape and had spent regrettably fewer hours with his daughter than even Anissina did by letting her observe her experiments. Now that Yuuri was relatively free of responsibilities when he was there, he got to spend all of his leisure time with Greta. It spoiled the little princess, but by the same token, it hurt her that much more when he took off for Earth and left her again.
If I could just get that... that fool to come around and finalize our engagement, to make us an official family for deity's sake, none of this would even be an issue. I wouldn't be so darn concerned every instant he's away that he's violating our vows, and Greta would be comfortable in the knowledge that her father would always come back to spend time with his husband and daughter. Wolfram snorted at the very thought. He knew that he kept up with the 'farce' of an engagement simply because he wanted to be Yuuri's husband some day, but it probably never crossed Yuuri's mind unless it was being thrown in his face by either Wolfram or one of the others. The old if-I-can't-see-it, it doesn't exist method of coping with unwanted situations.
But his mind had gone over those same thoughts a million times. He could only continue to live his life one day at a time and do the best he could to support Yuuri when he was there. Conrad had always maintained that life was about moments. That coupled with his brother's life philosophy of living each second without regrets was about the only advice sustaining Wolfram in his dire moments of angst. He tried to pull himself out of it as quickly as he could, but it wasn't always easy. Better to have loved and lost than be trapped in a one-sided, painful love affair that has no hope of ever becoming something substantial. To Wolfram, Conrad had it easy.
Everyone knows Julia loved him.
Wolfram turned from the wall when he heard a cough to his left. His green eyes narrowed on the unwelcome visitor as footfalls brought the blonde king closer to Wolfram's side, hands clasped innocently in front of him. Saralegui shifted his yellow eyes to meet Wolfram's angry glower, lips wearing his usual enigmatic smile. "Wolfram von Bielefeld, I presume? Your brother Gwendal saw fit to let me know your name."
"Great," Wolfram shot out in a frustrated sigh of incredulity. "And you are?"
"Oh, my name is Saralegui, but you should probably just call me Sara. Do you mind if I call you Wolf?" Saralegui's eyes were sparkling with poorly concealed arrogance, and Wolfram kept his fists carefully at his sides to avoid from striking out at the annoying boy.
"It's Sir von Bielefeld to you, your Majesty Saralegui," Wolfram said with forced politeness, relaxing his hands from fists and flexing his aching fingers a bit. He tried to pour calm into his restless muscles, but Sara's mere presence was causing his emotions to swirl dangerously.
"If you insist," Sara said with a bit of fake disappointment in his voice. His clasped hands unfurled and moved to locks of silken hair that had fallen forward over his shoulders. He toyed with the golden strands while capturing Wolfram in another intense gaze. "Nonetheless, I'm glad to have found you."
"Why's that?" Wolfram asked, not bothering to hide his blatant suspicion and distrust. It occurred to him that if he acted rudely to Sara, he might get in trouble with Yuuri, but he couldn't help but take out some of his recent frustrations on the closest scapegoat.
Sara smiled, and it was as if thick curtains had blown open and allowed a direct path of sunshine into the dank corridor. Wolfram took a step back, wondering what kind of twisted magic could be powering such an obvious illusion. If he had been a weaker or more trusting person (like Yuuri), he believed he would have been fully enchanted by the owner of that smile. "Why, I was hoping you could take me on a personal tour of this lovely castle. I would try to go by myself, but heaven knows I would probably end up lost or somewhere I shouldn't be and get scolded."
Wolfram was shocked by the request. I could have sworn this guy reciprocated my feelings of 'hate at first sight'. Is there some catch here I'm missing? "Thanks, but no thanks. I should probably go and--"
"Oh, I see. I suppose I'll just have to ask Yuuri to take me instead. He's such a dear, I'm positive that he'll--"
Grasping the other boy's arm in a tight hold, Wolfram steered the surprised blonde down the hall and around the corner towards the central area of the castle. "Let's get started, then." Sara let out a small laugh when Wolfram finally released him and stood with his arms folded across his chest, glancing peevishly at their surroundings.
"I thought that might get your attention," Sara said with a giggle in his voice, shifting bangs out of his eyes and lowering his glasses a bit.
"You're used to getting what you want, aren't you? Your Majesty," Wolfram added the address at the end to soften the blow of his earlier sarcastic comment. He didn't like that he had played into Sara's hands, but it was still better than allowing the man unrestricted access to Yuuri. Such a shameless person, who knew what kind of tricks he would employ against his hapless and naive fiancé.
"Mm, maybe a little," Sara admitted. He wore his smile like a permanent mask, Wolfram saw, feeling reminded of Conrad in that instant. Who knew what either one was actually thinking and feeling? Not that I give two flips about this person, he thought as he continued to watch Sara carefully. He looked completely out-of-place in the room with its dark furnishings and lack of bright illumination. The sun was still high in the sky and providing the castle with an adequate amount of light, but the central room was almost entirely blocked by thick walls and was naturally darker than other areas of the castle.
"This is basically the center of the castle. You can get to almost every part from one of the branching pathways and the staircase," Wolfram started in a formal voice, speaking impersonally as though to a large group of people rather than a single individual. "The hallway we just came from leads to all of the living quarters of the permanent residents of higher authority. The path across the way," Wolfram pointed, "is for those of lower rank and guests. Your room is probably down there."
Sara nodded. "That's where I came from, yes. You have a very nice color scheme going on here. The drab really fits in with a Mazoku castle." He chuckled a bit to himself, rubbing his thumb across his chin and smirking at Wolfram. "I jest, of course. Although my personal preference is toward brighter colors and happier themes, there's something very intriguing about the dark." A spark caught and reflected off his lavender lenses, dazzling Wolfram's eyes for a minute. "Don't you agree, Sir von Bielefeld?"
Wolfram resisted the urge to walk away, though spending time in Sara's presence was no easy task. A snake, he thought, finally settling on what he felt was a fitting comparison for the young king. A serpent sheathed in a beautiful pattern of scales but biding its time to strike with a venomous bite. That's why I get such an uneasy feeling around him. He was suddenly hyper aware of the sword resting against his hip, grateful for its comfort. He's dangerous.
"Look, shouldn't you be talking with Gwendal and Yuuri about the whole peace treaty thing you said you came here for?" Wolfram interjected, feeling tired all of a sudden. He remembered that he had barely gotten an ounce of restful sleep the previous night, tossing and turning and missing Yuuri's warm body in the bed beside him. To top it off, he had been throwing himself into the physical aspect of his duties and was left feeling slightly sore all over, all the time. Finishing it all with his emotional distress over Yuuri, having to be polite to someone he didn't much like was taking all of his precious energy.
"They said they would call for me when they were ready to talk. Apparently Yuuri sprung this on them somewhat unexpectedly." Sara's eyes never left Wolfram, and he could feel the heat of their weight upon his face. His teeth ground together, and for what felt like the fiftieth time, he stopped himself from lashing out at the other boy and telling him to just go away. "Is something the matter?"
Wolfram took in a deep breath, not trusting himself to speak just yet.
"You don't like me much, do you, Wolf?" Wolfram shot up, not realizing Sara had come so close to him, close enough so that his hot, minty breath was teasing the skin of his exposed neck. He quickly put distance between himself and the other boy, struggling to find out which violation to reprimand first.
"D-don't-- I told you not to call me that," he said in an angry voice, putting on the airs of an affronted aristocrat. "And I'd appreciate it if you could respect my personal space a bit more, your Majesty." The last words had to fight their way off his tongue. He didn't feel like showing anything but contempt towards Sara at the moment, so the forced civility was a sour taste.
"Ah, but you're so interesting!" Sara said gleefully, clapping his hands together and bowing slightly forward. "I've never met someone like you before who can look at me with such cold eyes." In contrast, Sara's yellow eyes were gleaming with an unbidden amount of good cheer. "I guess maybe I'm just spoiled by being so instantly loved, with so many admirers, that I can't imagine why you would dislike me so intensely. But then, I suppose it was the misunderstanding about your fiancé."
Wolfram's resolve faltered for a bit. Was Sara actually right? Had Wolfram hastily made up his mind to hate the guy when in fact it was all a mistake of false impressions? Wasn't Sara a nice enough person? Didn't he deserve a chance to--?
No! You're just being deceived by his mojo again! Fool, how could you let your guard down so easily? Steadying a glare at the young king, Wolfram decided to steer the conversation to other topics. "If you follow me, we can go past Anissina's laboratory. I wouldn't touch anything suspicious-looking in there if I valued my life." The blonde made his way across the empty room towards the wing where Gwendal had sent Anissina and her inventions ("The one we can easily replace if it gets destroyed," his brother had astutely claimed, receiving a disgruntled scoff from the redhead in question).
Once in the mouth of the corridor, Wolfram turned to see that Sara had not moved from his spot in the central room. His hand was idly tracing the fabric of a chair, and his eyes were, for once, focused somewhere other than Wolfram. The smiling pretense was still plastered on his beautiful features, but there was none of the glow that his eyes had earlier possessed.
An awkward moment passed, and Sara shook his head slightly, moving his gaze back to Wolfram. "I'm sorry, I don't feel up to continuing the tour right now. Thank you for taking the time." Bowing quickly, he whirled around in a stream of gold and returned in the direction of the guest bedrooms.
Wolfram blinked, a bit confused at the abrupt change in Sara's demeanor. Thinking about it seriously for a moment, he couldn't even think of what could have triggered the transformation, though a large part of him was being bathed in relief at the fact that he was no longer forced to walk with the other boy. Yuuri might have somehow come to the opinion that Sara was a good person, but Wolfram regrettably had to fervently disagree.
"Wolfram." The voice of his older brother sounded behind him, and he turned around to face the large man. "One of our scouts reported a disturbance in the west part of town near the farmer's market. Could you go investigate, please?"
Wolfram bristled, his confusion over Sara's behavior giving way to his anger at being treated like a worthless peon. "What? That sounds like grunt work. Why would you send me off to do something so meaningless?"
Conrad smiled sympathetically, placing a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Actually, I'm sending one of the new recruits, and you're more or less going to be supervising to see how well he fares. It shouldn't take you very long, anyway."
Sighing, Wolfram resigned himself to carry out the order. "Okay, but look, if Yuuri is going to be spending time with Saralegui, make sure you're there to watch out for him. I don't trust that man."
Brown eyes settled on green, placid smile becoming a serious, hard line. "Of course. We just met him and don't know of his intentions yet. I won't let Yuuri out of my sight."
Pushing petty jealous waves aside, Wolfram took off, stopping once he had reached the spiral staircase leading to the lower part of the castle. He spoke aloud, knowing that Conrad was still where he had left him. "I mean it. Be careful. That person, Saralegui, is not normal. There's something about him that's..." Unable to finish the line, he shook his head and made his way down the steps, anxiety welling up inside him. Once he was at the foot of the stairs, he broke into a light run. He didn't want to be gone for too long.
It's not safe.
Standing just out of sight in the hallway that led to the guest rooms, Saralegui listened to the short words exchanged between the two brothers, mouth twisted as he heard the blonde's distrustful murmurings about him. Once he heard the footsteps upon the stairs, he quickly removed his shoes and walked soundlessly to his room, being careful to open the door slowly and silently before making his way inside.
Saralegui flopped onto the impeccably made bed, toying with the soft sheets beneath his fingers as his mind recalled the picture of Wolfram's stoic face, waves of anger and envy so poorly concealed and swimming within the molten emerald of his eyes. It was exciting to him in ways he couldn't understand.
That one is going to be a challenge.
Sara smiled, tongue snaking out of his mouth to slowly work over his moist lips. He traced his own wide smile.
And that was the best part.