A Royal Summer Chapter Ten

My... my inspiration... *clutches it close to chest* Ka... ma... nn...!

Fran began to doze, the smell of burning skin making him feel sick. He looked down at himself. The tearing, hot clothes he wore were no longer protecting him, and the Lightning flames against his bare arm had eventually made him numb. He no longer felt any pain, aside from the disgusting feeling in the stomach. Did he have to use the restroom? No, that didn't feel right. Perhaps it was the feeling of needing a saving when he had ten years on these people. The feeling of being helpless... it was a damn gross feeling.

"Ushishishishi~ Ushishishishi~"

"Senpai!" Fran called out, his eyes wide, before quieting and looking to his right. Oh. His cell phone.
DING-DING.

'A voicemail, huh?' Fran thought, 'I wish I could listen to it. Hearing senpai's voice... would give me the motivation to escape.'

Fran's captor, who's name turned out to be Arrigo (Fran knew from the subordinates' calling him that), strode over and picked up the illusionist's phone. "You want to hear whatever that one has to say?" he asked, flipping the phone open and going to listen to Fran's voicemail. "Password, please," he requested.

"B26," Fran muttered.

"Hehehe," Arrigo laughed as he listened to the voicemail, before he suddenly quieted and grew pale. "Wait... your boyfriend... is Prince the Ripper?"

"My one and only," Fran chuckled dryly, looking up the man with a smirk.

"Oh? I thought... well... since THAT time... when HE was killed... I thought that... Belphegor... er... snapped."

"Snapped, huh?" Fran murmured, "Who are you talking about?"

"You don't know?" the man asked. He suddenly closed Fran's phone. "Nevermind that, then. It's not important."

He began to walk away, and Fran called him, the curiosity of what happened to his lover growing by the moment. 'Who the hell is he talking about?' the illusionist wondered, 'What killing would be so huge that it made senpai... snap?'

Varia headquarters.

"But boss, he's from the future," Bel tried to reason. "They probably know. And they probably want information. I love him. I want to help him. You understand! You have Squalo!"

Xanxus's death glare reached the point where it began to stretch the scars across his face. "My word is the law of the Varia. Are you going to defy me?"

"This isn't the Xanxus I know!" the prince shouted, slamming his hands on the desk, his eyes even with Xanxus's glare. "You've NEVER been sympathetic! That I know perfectly well! And you don't care about your subordinates... you don't give a damn about the lot of us... but this! This concerns the Vongola! This concerns our future! If we don't save Fran, we'll be cutting a hole through our own future! Xanxus, if there was ever a time to CARE, it's NOW!"

The boss was silent for a moment. The air was heavy and tense. The ticking of the clock was deafening. And the single, short breath that Xanxus let out felt amplified. Within the pause that felt like an hour, there was a moment where the prince stared into his leader's blood-red eyes, trying to read the Sky's thoughts. Finally, he spoke. "Give me thirty minutes. I'll take care of everything."

The relief Bel felt was beyond words, but the boss seemed to understand everything when Bel whispered, "Thank you, boss."

Ten Years in the Future...

Fran opened his eyes, and stumbled backwards. "Focus!" Mukuro shouted, "Don't lose yourself!"

'Fly,' Fran thought. He closed his eyes, and saw his Master through a different perspective. The power coursed through his veins. He brought his ring finger down and smashed a hole into the floor. He twitched his index finger and breathed fire from it. He fluttered his thumb and middle fingers, and he could fly. It was so spectacular, that Fran's concentration was nearly unbreakable. Very excited, and equally nevous, Fran prepared himself for the best attack he felt he could perform, when-

"STOP."

Fran's focus wavered, and he felt a sharp pain in his hand, then regained his composure and slowly dragged his illusion back, before breaking it. His hand was once again a hand. He no longer ruled over a dragon. He looked at his Master and grinned when the illusionist had a cut over his cheek. "Got you," he laughed.

"Not funny," Mukuro growled, "You must learn how to control it. Or you'll never be the illusionist you must be."

-End Chapter