Authors Note: This chapter wrote itself rather quickly after the last one... I guess this is just the kind of mood I'm in right now. :)
This chapter has a small dedication: to Abreaction; think of it as a sort of silly little 'welcome back' present that I hope will make ya feel better!
Thanks to all my reviewers and readers!
When Kanda next regained consciousness, he found himself strapped down to a sort of wooden stretcher. He ached quite sorely in his limbs, but upon further inspection of his wounds, he found they were rather lacking. That is, they had healed quite nicely and in a manner quite impossible had they been left to do so on their own.
A mop of silvery hair came into view, and Kanda forced his weary voice to speak.
"B-Beansprout?"
A long, pinched face with downward facing, slit-like eyes answered his call.
"Nope, just Cell Roron," the albino replied in a squeaky tone.
"Who the fuck are you?" Kanda ground out, struggling against his bindings now that the owner of the white hair had revealed himself to not in fact be his dearest love.
The albino sighed, causing the triangle-shaped hat on his head to flop to the side.
"Just told you! Cell Roron, Cell Roron. That's the name."
"What kind of name is that?" Kanda grumbled.
"One that Master Prince Tyki gave to Roron," Cell Roron explained happily, reaching down to produce a cloth damp with what was presumably medicine.
"That explains a lot. Ow, shit! What the fuck did you do to me?" the captive pirate yelled as Cell Roron removed the cloth from Kanda's shoulder wound.
"Healing you."
"And why would you do that?"
"Because Master Prince Tyki told me to."
"…what?"
"You're in the Pit of Despair, at the very bottom of Master Tyki and Master Boric's zoo," Cell Roron explained with increasing glee. "And before you start despairing, they want to make sure you're healthy! Isn't that nice?"
"Isn't that kind of stupid? If they think I can't escape—"
"You can't escape," Cell Roron interrupted, shaking his head slowly. "No, no, no. The chains are far too thick, and you don't even know the way out. Only the Masters and I know."
"I'm here until I die?" Kanda asked in clear disbelief, raising an eyebrow.
"Until they kill you, yes. But I don't think that'll come for a while," Roron mused, wrapping Kanda's shoulder in cloth bandages. "Master Boric wants to test his newest invention, so we can't have you die too quickly now."
When the albino was finished, he manipulated the wooden stretcher so that Kanda was upright. Producing a piece of bread and some cheese from who knew where, he broke off a piece and held it to Kanda's mouth.
"Say aah for the birdy," Roron cooed.
"Oh hell no—"
Stuffing the food into Kanda's stupidly opened mouth, Roron hummed. It was always fun to get new prisoners… he wondered how long this one would last.
Meanwhile, not too far away in the palace, Allen wandered the halls with his eyes turned towards the floor. He hadn't spoken since the incident at the Fire Swamp, and refused any food except meager portions of fruit and water.
Rhode wrapped her arms around Tyki's neck.
"Hey, Tyki. What's wrong with Allen?" she asked as the aforementioned bride walked past them in the passageway without so much of a glance.
"He's been like that ever since I rescued him. It's Cyril's ailing health that's troubling him, of course," Tyki answered sagely. He blinked and looked down at Rhode. "Speaking of which, shouldn't you be more concerned?"
Rhode unwound her arms and shrugged.
"He'll be fine."
The next day, King Cyril died. Prince Tyki and Allen were married that same day— that same hour, in fact.
Now the two stood upon the tallest tower of the castle, greeting the people who had gathered in the square below them.
"My people," Tyki began in a booming, airy voice. "Allow me to introduce my bride. He was once a commoner like yourselves, but now you might look upon him differently. Your new queen, Allen Walker!"
"Hold up, hold up!" the boy half-shouted, gripping at the older man's sleeve. "What the heck is this?"
"What do you mean?" the man asked, confused.
"Allen loves Kanda! And Kanda's alive! A-And they finally found each other, so why is Allen marrying Tyki?! How could he do that? That's not fair!"
"Life's not fair. Where does it say that life is fair?" the man asked, raising his eyebrows.
"You're messing up the story," the boy insisted with a scowl.
"Why don't I keep going anyway," the man rolled his eyes but smiled.
"My people," Tyki began in a booming, airy voice. "Allow me to introduce my bride. He was once a commoner like yourselves, but now you might look upon him differently. Your new queen, Allen Walker!"
Allen waved half-heartedly. He walked down into the crowd that parted for him, nodding and waving as he was told to.
"Boo!"
Allen startled at the outburst, and people moved aside to reveal a very pissed-off woman. Flicking her bright orange locks out of her face, the woman fixed the new queen with a dangerously angry crimson-eyed stare.
"Boo," she reiterated, slower, harsher.
"Why?" Allen asked meekly.
The woman laughed. "He asks why! He asks why, and you people bow to him! To him, his highness, his filthiness. He had true love, true love! A real, true love that risked everything for him, and all this one had to do was open his arms and accept it, but noooo," she was smiling now, though it was so malicious that perhaps it should be called something else. "He abandoned him. Left his love alone so he could marry a prince!"
"I-I did it to save him," Allen countered weakly.
"Save him! You betrayed him, you wounded him, you left him to save him?! Are you the queen of lies too, your lowness? Your true love lives and you marry another? You left him to save yourself! Admit it, you shameless, selfish wh—"
Allen gasped and sat up, frantically clutching the sheets.
"A dream," he murmured to himself, running a hand through his hair, "just a dream." He cradled his head in his hands. "I can't do this anymore."
"It was ten days to the wedding, but ever since returning, Allen's nightmares had grown steadily worse."
"See, I told you he couldn't marry that stupid Tyki!" the boy said with a smug smile.
"Yes, yes, you're very smart," the older brushed him off. "Now shut up."
Allen stormed into the Prince's library, breathless and determined.
"It comes to this," he began in a clear voice. "I love Kanda. I always have, always will." A softer look claimed his features and Allen smiled. "I realize that now."
Prince Tyki seated himself and bade the young man to continue.
"If you make me marry you in ten days, believe me when I say that I will be dead by morning!" Allen cried, steeling his expression as he gauged Tyki's reaction.
After a moment, the Prince spoke- slowly, carefully.
"I could never cause you grief. Consider our wedding off." He stood and paced about the room in an elegant manner. "I believe this Kanda of yours was returned to—"
"To his ship?"Allen supplied. "He's a sailor, on the ship Man Eater. If he told you to return him anywhere, that would be it."
"Ah, yes, yes, that's the one. Well, all that's left to do now is simply alert the man." Tyki stopped walking and faced Allen. "But…are you certain that he still wants you?"
Allen's eyebrows furrowed in confusion and Tyki explained his logic in a casual manner.
"After all, it was you who did the leaving at the Fire Swamp…not to mention that pirates are not known to be men of their words…"
"My Kanda will come for me," Allen said with a smile and all the confidence in the world.
Prince Tyki made an 'I'm sure' face on the side, and resumed pacing.
"In the event that he…doesn't…I suggest a deal. You write four copies of a letter. I'll send my four fastest ships and we'll find the Man Eater. The Dread Pirate Crowley is in this area this time of year; we'll run up the white flag and deliver your letter. If Kanda wants you, bless you both." Tyki took Allen's hands in his. "If not, please consider me an alternative to suicide. Are we agreed?"
Allen nodded.
"Excellent. Now you hurry along and pen those letters- I have some business with the Count," Tyki smiled and ushered Allen out of the room.
Turning towards his faithful Count with a far more troubled expression, Tyki lead the way down a Secret Passage.
"We're going to the zoo," he instructed Count Boric. "Do hurry, or I might accidentally kill something along the way."
As they approached the Secret Entrance, Tyki sighed.
"And I thought this would be all over and done with by this point when I hired Jasdevi to murder Allen after the engagement…"
"This way is more…more…" Count Boric searched for the right word.
"Touching? Yes, you're right," Tyki continued, now smiling quite wickedly. "Just think how enraged the people will be – especially since they already love Allen – when he's killed by those Cross bastards on our wedding night!"
"Wait…I thought you were going to—"
"Yes, you idiot, I'll be the one strangling him, but they won't know that!" Tyki snapped, then calmed himself. "Look at me, I'm such a wreck," he pinched the bridge of his nose. "My blood aches for war. It'll do us all some good."
The Count grunted his agreement. The two of them now stood in front of a very gnarled but large tree, with several knots protruding from the bark at about eye-level.
"Now which knot was it?" Count Boric muttered, pushing several. "Why is it so bloody well disguised…"
Finally hitting the right one, a section of the tree pulled away, revealing the Secret Door.
"Will you be coming into the Pit?" the Count asked the Prince.
"No, I'm rather stressed at the moment. I mean, I've got my wedding to arrange, my bride to murder, a war to plan—I think I just feel like killing something today," Tyki informed with a shrug and a delicate sigh. "But I do love watching you work."
"I'm testing out the Machine today," the Count said, a rather insane looking grin taking over his visage. "I'll let you know how it goes."
"You do that."
Count Boric and Prince Tyki parted ways at the entrance; Tyki went to a different section of the underground zoo where all the wild animals were kept, and the Count went all the way down until he reached the Pit of Despair.
"Set him up!" he barked at the albino, who squeaked and wheeled Kanda over to an immense thing that was hidden by a black cloth. Unveiling his creation as Cell Roron attached strange suction-cups to Kanda's body, Count Boric gave a toothy grin. "The Machine!" he presented.
The Machine was a wooden contraption that looked something like a water wheel. Kanda couldn't figure out how exactly this was a torture device, but as Cell Roron finished hooking him up, he imagined he'd find out soon enough.
"I am writing a book about pain. It makes me happy," he started chuckling to demonstrate his happiness. Abruptly stopping, Boric leaned over Kanda. "But it won't make you happy, so I want you to be very honest about how it makes you feel. Since it's your first time, we'll use the lowest setting."
For the first time Kanda noticed a dial on the Machine that went from zero to fifty. The Count turned it up to one, maybe one-point-five since he was feeling particularly happy that day.
Somewhere, a wooden gate opened and water began pouring into the Machine. As the wheel began turning, the various knobs and gears within the Machine sprung to life, and Kanda tensed as the torture began.
He couldn't describe it. It was as though something was pulling his very life away…he felt weak from the sheer force of the pain… he wanted to scream…
But Kanda knew they were watching, that freak Cell Roron was shivering in delight and the Count was still grinning like the idiot he was. Like hell he'd give them the pleasure of breaking him! So Kanda writhed and twitched and shook like he'd been electrocuted, but he said nothing. He didn't beg, he didn't scream, and he schooled his features to remain stoic even while his body thrashed.
When the Count turned the Machine off, Kanda's poor, abused frame kept shaking. He was panting heavily, but he would live. If this was all they could do, he would probably be able to handle it long enough to escape…
"The concept is basically a big suction," the Count told him. "Except with this one, I'm sucking life. I just sucked a year of your life away," Boric said it plainly, carelessly. "At most I think I'll try five. Or ten. We'll see."
Kanda's eyes widened in utter horror. A year of life… a year, a year, a year, a whole year- gone…! Five years? Ten years? Allen, Allen, Allen…is this truly where I'll die?
"Now be honest. How do you feel?"
And try as he might to stop it, two tears trickled down Kanda's cheek…
"Hmm. Interesting."
- - -
On the day of the wedding, Prince Tyki had everyone who wasn't invited to the wedding thrown out of the city. This included a section of the city known as the Thief's Quarter, and Tyki's head guard had received special permission to form a Brute Squad specifically for the purpose of emptying the place.
The entire task went about relatively well, until one of the last groups returned looking quite upset.
"There's a crazy Spanish drunkard who won't leave!" one of the guards claimed. "We need a Brute; the guy's got a sword."
The head guard sent along a new recruit to the Brute Squad, a tall, dark-skinned giant whose looks would probably stun the rebel drunk long enough for the others to cart him away.
As they approached the Spaniard's abode, they could hear his drunken soliloquy.
"I am waiting for you, Jasdevi! You told me to go back to the beginning- I have! Whenever I reach a dead-end…a problem I cannot solve, you told me to go back to the beginning- I have! And I…I will not move… this is where I am…where I will stay!" A pause for a hiccup, then: "Quedaré aqui por… siempre…" He rolled his r's and his eyes and slumped forward.
"Filthy. You, Brute, clean up here," the guard ordered.
"Will do," the newbie replied, giving the guard a conk on the head. Stepping over his knocked-out body, the brute- but perhaps you better remember him as Marie – gently picked up his comrade. "Daisya, you look real bad."
"Marie…is that you? I'm glad…" Daisya asked, drifting in and out of consciousness.
"It'll be okay now, I'll take care of you so…" Marie paused. "…relax." He'd have to make do with a slant rhyme for now; there were bigger things to worry about.
Marie nursed his inebriated friend back to life. He told Daisya about Jasdevi's death and the existence of Count Boric. At first Daisya handled the news pretty well- but when he slumped over into his soup bowl snoring, Marie knew he had to resort to some severe wake up techniques.
Taking hold of the back of Daisya's head, Marie dunked his friend in a barrel of frigid water. Removing him after a moment, Marie next dunked Daisya's face into a barrel of hot water. He alternated like this for a good five minutes until Daisya spluttered and shoved Marie away.
"Enough, enough! Where is this Count Boric so that I may kill him?" Daisya asked, whipping his wet hair out of his face. His Spanish accent slurred through in his excitement and urgency.
"He's in the castle," Marie explained. "He's very close to the Prince, something like distant relatives… and the castle is guarded by thirty men!"
"Thirty," Daisya repeated, leaning against the wall of the shack they were in. "How many could you handle?"
"No more than ten," Marie admitted with an apologetic look.
"…that leaves twenty for me," Daisya said after a moment of calculation. "At my best I could never handle that many." He heaved a sigh. "I need Jasdevi to plan…I am no good with numbers and strategy…"
"But Jasdevi's dead."
"…no…I don't need Jasdevi…I need someone better- the man in black!"
"The man in black?"
"He defeated me with the blade, he bested you in a duel of strength, he must have outsmarted Jasdevi!" Daisya exclaimed. "And a man like that could plan my castle siege any day! Come, we must find him!"
"But you don't even know where he might be, where to start looking!" Marie called as Daisya picked up his sword and rushed out the door. The Spaniard paused at Marie's words.
"My father's soul has waited twenty years. It's now in my power to put him at rest," Daisya's hand clenched around the hilt of the beautiful sword that had been his father's last work. "I won't wait any longer. There will be blood tonight!"
Safe behind the thirty guards at the gate, seated in his study, Prince Tyki was having a conversation with his head guard.
"So the place has been emptied?"
"Yes, Milord," the dutiful soldier replied. "And I hold the only gate key with me."
"Excellent."
Allen made his entrance at this point, and Prince Tyki jumped out of his seat to greet the boy bride.
"Why hello, my dulcet darling!" he cooed, tucking an errant lock of moonshine hair behind Allen's ear. "Tomorrow we wed, isn't that lovely?" Tyki turned to the head guard. "Your soldiers will escort us to the chapel. And double the security in front of the palace!"
"We already have thirty men guarding it, Milord," the head guard informed.
"Make it sixty!" the Prince turned back to face Allen, placing two hands on the younger's shoulders. "And when we leave for the channel, every ship in my armada will accompany us on our honeymoon."
"…every ship but your fastest four, you mean," Allen corrected.
"Er, yes, of course. Naturally not those four," Tyki corrected himself hastily, but Allen had already noticed. Pulling away from Tyki's grasp, he pointed an accusing finger.
"You…you never sent them, did you?"
The Prince gave a hearty sigh.
"Well, it doesn't matter," Allen continued self-assuredly. "Kanda will come for me anyway."
"You're a silly boy," Prince Tyki said, rolling his eyes.
"Yes, I am silly!" Allen shot back. "Silly for not having seen sooner what a coward you are- a coward with a heart full of fear!"
The Prince stiffened.
"I would not say such things, if I were you," he muttered through clenched teeth.
"You cannot hurt me," Allen stated simply. "And you cannot keep Kanda and I apart. The two of us are joined by the bonds of love, and you cannot track that- not with a thousand bloodhounds. And you cannot break it, not with a thousand swords. And when I say you are a coward, it's because you are the slimiest weakling ever to crawl the earth!"
"I would not say such things if I were you!" Tyki yelled, outraged. He grabbed Allen's arm and dragged him all the way back to the boy bride's chambers. Once he'd locked Allen inside, Tyki stalked, outraged to the zoo, and this time he went all the way down, down, down, to the Pit of Despair.
Kanda was still lying next to the Machine on the wooden stretcher. Tyki bent over him.
"You truly love each other," he said, slightly out of breath. "And so you might have been truly happy. But not one couple in history has that chance, no matter what the storybooks say. And so, I will make it that no man in this century will suffer as much as you!"
Tyki turned on the Machine in his fury, turned it all the way up to fifty.
"Wait, not to fifty--" Count Boric began, but he was drowned out, because...
...Kanda screamed.
A/N: OWAHH, what a scary ending! Poor Kanda!!
Unfortunately, I cannot claim Allen's kick-ass 'You can't hurt me, neener' speech for my own, that's ripped from the movie. Ehehe.
In case you didn't catch it, the woman who beats Allen into sense via his dreams is indeed FOU. If anyone's going to make Allen see straight, it'd be her, don't you think? ;)
Cell Roron is the little wailing jailer that resides in Tyki's card... you know, the one that tells him all the people he has to kill? Yah. I almost didn't remember the guy...
Uhm, okay, that's all I've got to say for this chapter, methinks. The next update will most likely be soon!
Reviews, as always, are love-love-loved! :3