Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Kyo Kara Maoh, this is purely fan-made.
Note: To 'mimi-chan and aliling-chan' it looks like I am going to able to finish this story before 2013 after all. And to "Art-of-Escape' yes, inevitably, this has become a conyuu. Lastly, just so you all know, I had originally planned out this to only be 10 chapters long and not nearly as dramatic as it turned out to be in the end. I do like how everyone has responded to it though and perhaps I'll do another story in first person in the future. But for now, I am going to proudly bring this story to a close in this final chapter and the epilogue which will follow. Again, thank you all for your reviews and support and if anyone has a suggestion for another story done in first person then I would love to hear it. And I wish you all a Happy New Year to everyone if I don't post anything else before the 31st.
Chapter 12: Observance of the Heart
Almost immediately after both Conrad and Gwendal's group laid their eyes upon the tower, it was already falling apart as the storm I had summoned continued to strike it repeatedly. Each strike tore out another chunk of stone and several more crashed to the ground below with a loud thud. Of course, they all knew what that meant, and so the original plan was quickly abandoned...
You know, it seems like every single time I have ever done anything in this world, our plans never seem to have gone as planned. But maybe that's actually why we've lived so long. If we always did what everyone expected us to do, I don't think I would have ever made it this far. Because Demon's are as slow to change as they are to age; that's why they're so predictable most of the time. Although I am hardly one to talk, I'm probably the most predictable person I know; or knew as the case was when all this happened.
As for what was going on inside the tower, our situation was pretty dire while the others trapped in there with us tried to dig their way out. And I just sat there, cringing in pain in the arms of my concerned companion. It seemed like he really was an honorable man and refused to leave my side even for a moment even though my magical powers were still going out of control.
Several times he got knocked back before he could finally grab a hold of me again and hastily pulled me out of the way when another section of the roof fell and exposed us to the tempest just outside. Even in my catatonic state, I twitched as I felt the stinging cold rain from outside began striking my face like tiny needles of ice. That's when the chamber began to warp and twist itself until it transformed that street in front of my school back in Japan...
I could hear the sound of screeching tires, the wail of the sirens, and someone in the distance calling out my name. But wait, no one I knew from before had been there during the accident. At the time, I had been completely alone on my way to school. So who was it...? Who was it that was calling my name through the haze of pain and confusion that I was in?
Everything became so dark and quiet, just like it had been the day of my accident. And I wasn't even aware of the danger we were all in right now because I couldn't control my powers in this condition. Or better yet, because of my foolish kidnapper who thought that implanting a suggestion into my unstable thoughts would give him the results he was looking for.
Because just like he had said himself only hours before, my power was unpredictable so now it was possible that we were all going to get crushed by the falling debris. And more than likely, he was about to join the family that he had been so bent on avenging.
"King Yuri, I beg of you, get a hold of yourself!" my companion shouted above the gale as he shook me in desperation, "Only you can save us now, so please, stop this tempest!"
Wincing as another bolt streaked past us, he gave me one final shake before giving up and glancing upward to where he saw a tassel flailing in the wind from the curtains in the room above that blew down to us and gave him an idea. So pulling me to my feet and half dragging me across the room with the curtain in his free hand, he set me down against the remains of one of the walls and began slashing the cloth with his sword into long strands.
And after the cut them sufficiently, he began tying them into a sort of make shift rope. But clearly there wasn't enough cloth and so he struggled out of his overcoat and tore it to shreds as well before turning to me and apologizing, "Forgive me Your Majesty, but I need to borrow your shirt-" and without waiting for me to react, he began unbuttoning my shirt just when a triumphant yell sounded from across the room where everyone else had been clearing the doorway.
"We've broken through My Lord!" a soldier cried happily, "We can escape through here now."
"Good," their leader smirked, "Then let's go."
Seeing that the path had been opened, my friend abandoned his make-shift rope and pulled me into his arms to follow after them when several of the soldiers drew their swords and barred the way. Shocked, my companion reasoned, "You cannot be serious! Do you have any idea what you have done to this poor boy? At least let him return to his loved ones, please."
Sneering, he looked at the pair of us with contempt and replied, "It is a pity to lose such a valuable prize, but if that is the cost of obliterating you then so be it. I realize now that the spell that I used on him had the wrong effect it seems. With that spell, I suggested into his subconscious the idea of him joining his lost memories in oblivion and to unleash his power when I spoke a certain phrase; so that he wouldn't be able to prevent himself from lashing out. However, it appears that I have broken him yet again and left the Demon King devoid of any memories that he may have recovered since losing them recently in some freak accident. It may even be a kindness to end his life here rather than living on with that sort of pain."
Gritting his teeth, my companion challenged, "Then what about you? This pain you have harbored all these years at the deaths of your loved ones, is it not the same agony? To know that you have lost something that can never be recovered? You seek to blame someone else for your pain when only you can decide whether or not to keep a hold of it or to forget it and move on. Their death was not your choice, but your pain is. The same goes for His Highness..." glancing at my empty expression and glazed eyes, he continued, "...he did not choose to lose his memories, but he chose a path that might help him find the happiness that was stolen from him. And knowing him as I do, King Yuri will continue to press onwards towards the life that suits him best and let go of his pain. I still don't see why you cannot do the same."
His face fell but my captor did not shift his cold eyes from my ally's for even a second as he said, "Goodbye. And may you rot in hell for your family's crimes."
Then, without another word, he turned and his soldiers closed the doors behind him, barring the way once again and trapping the two of us inside. But as he fled along with his men, a single tear rolled down his cheek and struck the ground behind him. Because deep down, I'm sure he knew that what that man had told him was the truth. However, without his anger, all that was left was his pain...
And he was far too afraid to accept it...
Running towards the tower, still soaked from wading through the caverns, Conrad kept calling my name after spotting me in one of the top floors after the roof had collapsed. He had also seen the foreign King that was with me that had laid me against the wall while he started working on his rope. Yosak of course was close behind with his own men in tow just as Shori's group and Gwendal's met them at the entrance.
"There's no doubt," Shori said angrily, gritting his teeth, "Yuri's doing this, but I don't think it was intentional. Something about this power feels all wrong, he can't control it."
"What should we do then?!" Wolfram yelled, shielding his eyes from the heavy rain pouring down on them, "It's too dangerous for all of us to go into the tower at once. Half of it has already fallen apart! And besides, they might try to slip away with Yuri while we're busy trying to climb up!"
Looking the tower over a few times, Gwendal turned to the soldiers he had left with Shori and ordered, "You there, take a few men and search for any other entrances to the tower and keep watch there if you do find any. We cannot let them escape with His Majesty. The rest of us will enter the tower and try to find King Yuri, but if anyone else besides us comes out, capture them immediately."
Saluting, the soldier replied, "Yes Sir!" before leaving with a platoon to search the perimeter.
"Conrad, where did you say that you saw him again?" Gwendal asked loudly above the wind.
Pointing to the second highest floor, Conrad answered, "I saw him up there with King Falkere only a few minutes ago but there's no way to tell if he's still there."
"Well check anyway," Gwendal said gruffly, "I'm going to look for another way inside with the soldiers, the front doors appear to have been blocked from the inside by debris and it will take us too long to move it before the rest of the tower collapses."
"Understood. Wolfram, Shori, follow me!" Conrad called while adding to Shori, "We might be able to use your magic to lift us into the audience chamber that I saw where Yuri was. Do you think you can manage that?"
Shori nodded, "If it's for my little brother, I can do anything."
"Enough already!" Wolfram snapped impatiently, "We have to hurry!"
"Right," they all said at the same time, making their way to the far side of the tower where Yosak and Conrad had swam over after exiting the falls. As usual, coming gallantly to my rescue.
Meanwhile, in the very same room Conrad had mentioned, King Fal-whatever, had just finished making his rope and after testing it to make sure it was secure he tied it around a large jagged piece of roof that had lodged itself into the floor. Afterwords, he slung me across his shoulders and slowly began climbing along the side of the building.
He realized though that the rope would never make it all the way to the ground so instead he climbed down until a window that came into view at least two floors above the ground. That's about when with a sudden drop and a skip of his heart in fright at the sudden sensation of weightlessness, the fabric began to tear and give way under our weight and because of the water making it heavier with all the moisture.
Straining to keep a grip on the rope as we began to slip, with tremendous effort he let go with one hand to try and break through the window. But that was a huge mistake. Because since the cloth had grown slick with rain, his other hand slipped and he was forced to grab it again with both hands again. Looking up, he saw that we had already slipped far below the window so it was impossible to climb back up to it.
"Down it is then..." King Falkere groaned softly when a voice called down to him from below-
"King Falkere!" and looking down, he saw that it was Conrad looking up at us with a horrified expression on his face as he called, "Are you two alright?!"
"Lord Weller, so you all made it," King Falkere smiled feebly, "I had a feeling you would appear at just the right time to save His Majesty just like you always do. Oh, and Lord Shori is here as well? Imagine that."
"Can you make it down just a little further?" Shori asked with his voice quivering a little despite himself, "There's another window just below-!"
Gasping, Wolfram cried out in alarm and pointed to the rope just above our head, "Look! The rope!"
Snapping his head upwards to follow his gaze, King Falkere had just enough time to see the cloth unraveling before it snapped with a loud ripping noise and we began to plummet to the ground below. As we fell, by some miracle he managed to grip the edge of the windowsill Shori had pointed out. But unfortunately, there had been no time for him to catch me before I limply slipped off his back.
"YURI!" Conrad and the other's screamed as I began falling to my death.
That name...I wondered dizzily, the first real thought that had drifted across my mind since I fell into that trance-like state, I know it from somewhere. Whose is it though? So...familiar...
Lazily, foggy memories began to come into focus of a courageous and hansom swordsman defended me astride his proud steed like a fairytale hero saving his princess. And the sound of rain and sirens was soon replaced with the ring of steel against steel as their swords met in midair. Then I saw his bright smile as he told me he had actually been to Earth after bringing me a pair of gloves so that we could play catch together before my big duel with Wolfram the next morning.
As I watched us playing catch, my eyes widened as a revelation hit me the same moment as it did in my vision of the past. I remembered; he was my Godfather, the one who had named me by accident while mentioning the name of the month of July when I was still inside my mother's womb in the cab they had shared. He had named me, but what was his name again...?
I knew his name...
It was the most important name in the world to me and always had been since the very beginning. I had been able to be born because of him, because he always protected me. And after I had become the Demon King, he had stood by me and served me with all of his heart, mind, and spirit. He had once even lost his left arm for my sake; he had joined my enemies in order to bring the Forbidden Box back to me someday so that my dream of world peace would be realized; he had vowed to give up everything he held dear for my sake; and most of all, he had always been there to remind me why everyone was so important to me.
Like a cord being struck within me, suddenly everything just clicked. The part of my heart that had been locked away all this time broke through the darkness like a great shaft of sunlight, bringing everything back to light again. I remembered everything. And I couldn't help but smile even though I was only inches from hitting the ground when a curtain of water wrapped around me.
Startled, I glanced over and through the thin membrane of water surrounding me, I saw Shori using his power to save me. Although, despite all of his recent training in using such powerful magic, I could see that his chest was heaving and Yosak had to hold him up with his support.
Gently, Shori lowered me to the ground before he collapsed himself and tried to catch his breath. He may have gotten better at using his powers, but using them so suddenly must have really drained him. Plus there was the fact that any time either of us used our magical abilities on human soil it almost always left us more worn out than usual. So I understood why he must have felt so weak.
Almost immediately after I was safely down, a pair of strong yet gentle arms embraced me and held me close as he choked, "Your Highness! I thought that I had lost you!"
Laughing tiredly, I whispered in a raspy voice, "I told you before-" I smiled brightly, "-not to call me 'Your Highness'."
Taken aback, Conrad loosened his grip ever so slightly to get a better look at me, his eyes glittering hopefully, "Yuri..."
Nodding, I lifted my arms and hugged him back as I said softly into his ear, "Thank you, Conrad, for giving me back my name..."