Hi guys! Remember the first chapter when I said this story is rated M, mainly because of language and a little violence?, well, now you'll see what I meant. Although a lot of you might think I'm exaggerating by rating this M just because of that, I think is only fair that you know that kind of thing is coming when you choose to start following a story. It has happen to me that in the middle of a fic that is supposed to be rated K, Humor/Romance (or alike), suddenly tragedy strikes in a very graphic way and it's definitely not what I was expecting. That aside, there is a chapter ahead in which I could include a little lemon, because it goes well with the story, but I'm not sure. What do you think?

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Chapter 8: Wolfram's POV

I have been in this cell for one day and one night, I think. There are no windows and the door doesn't lead to the exterior, so I have no way of knowing for sure.

All this woman has done to me so far is torture, she doesn't ask questions, she isn't looking for a ransom, all she wants is to see me suffer.

This place is filled with some sort of magic I had never felt before. I cannot move, and my thought are tormented by visions of my deepest fears at random intervals. I can't sleep, I can't think straight.

I look at my body and I see no marks of violence, but every part of me hurts like I've been pierced by a hundred swords. This magic is worse than evil, and this woman seems to be the only one able to control it.

"Having fun?" I hear her voice and look up, there she is, in the same dress she was when I first saw her. Her underlings call her Mirage, but I don't think that is her real name.

"Who are you? Why are you doing this to me?" Speaking is excruciating, but I force myself to do it.

"I have to hand it to you. Your soul is incredibly strong if you have been able to survive all this time, and you can even speak. Congratulations young prince" she says in a sarcastic tone and tosses some rancid bread at me.

My pride is telling me not to let this women see me eating this shit, but I can't afford to listen to it, I have to survive, I have to come back, to my family, and to Yuuri.

"So Yuuri uh?" I'm not sure if she is reading mi thoughts or if I actually let his name slip through my lips. "Is he the man you see leaving you in your dreams?" she asks with such cruelty it actually made me gasp.

"I understand, so he is the reason you have made it this far" she turns her head to the left like she hear something. I heard nothing myself, but I can't trust my senses at this moment, my ears have been ringing all the time I've been here and I think they are already bleeding.

"I'll ask one more time... Who are you!?" I yelled, it took all of my strength, but I did it, not letting my eyes part from hers. She laughs and kneels to look at me, so our eyes are at the same height.

"I like the fire in your eyes" she says and smiles wickedly. "I will tell you, third son, the story of our people" I gulp down, her tone holds more hatred that I ever heard before. It's a force as powerful as Soushu, when she stands straight once more, I feel as if she were seven feet tall.

"My name is Mirage. My tribe had been living calmly in the forest of this lands, the land of your father for thousands of years. We control a magic different from the ones you know. A magic that can destroy a man from the inside, burn away his soul and shatter his body. The magic you have been fighting against this entire time" She kicks me as if to prove the poor state in which her magic has left me.

"We lived peacefully under the leadership of my father, until only fifty year ago, when your mother, the oh so mighty Maou, ordered the execution of our people!" She glares at me, no wonder she hates me this much, but that order must have came from Stoffel, not my mother!

"Our powers were too great, so we were a menace to this, your beloved country. My family, my friends, everyone was killed in their sleep, not even giving them a chance to fight! Only a handful of us remains, and most don't even have enough power to control a single man. I survived hiding under the floor of my house, I saw my father, mother and brothers being killed, they sacrificed themselves to make sure I'd survive. I have been living in the woods for a long time now, waiting for the moment to take my revenge" She takes my chin with one hand, her nails are sharp and they cut through my skin.

"So you can imagine my glee when I heard the little pampered prince, third son of the previous Maou and fiancé of the present Maou, was here, taking care of this meaningless human riot" She throws my face to the ground. With all the strength I have left I sit back up.

"Yuuri... he... he is different, Mirage... he's kind... he..." I start coughing, I can taste blood in my mouth.

"You love him dearly I see. But for what I've heard the king does not return your feelings" That was a low blow. Images of Yuuri rejecting me, leaving me, flash through my mind. I shake my head

"Those images, they are not real! You can't control me!" I yell at her, recovering a little. I know he may not love me in the same way that I do... But things are different now, he sees me now, I'm sure, I felt it and no illusion will make me believe otherwise. Even if he never loves me as much as I love him, I will be with him forever, because our souls are bound by fate... I'm sure...

"I think you are just kidding yourself there young Prince" she laughs with a high pitch tone that makes my ears hurt. "Well fine, if you are so sure about it, I'll make you a deal" A small divination sphere appears in front of her, very similar to the one Ulrike has in the shrine.

"I'll trap your soul inside of your body and a new You will be born. One without your memories or feelings. The curse will only disappear if your beloved Maou says he chooses you, that he loves you, the you that's trapped. Only then you will be able to come back" her hands move in circles and purple smoke starts to come out of the sphere forming a snake. "But beware, you will have to endure this time of torture within you, if you choose to give up, then your soul will die and your body as well"

"Torture..?" I ask in a whisper

"Oh, but of course, you did not think it would be that simple did you? You will suffer like an earthbound soul, someone who cannot be heard, someone who can only watch, but never speak. If I'm lucky enough, you'll see the love of your life cheating on you, with yourself" she grins and points at me.

The smoke snake is coming inside me, through my mouth, ears, eyes. I've never felt a pain like this before, like my head is about to explode from within, like my insides are on fire. I hear some sounds, like steps and shouts. Maybe I'm hallucinating, but I could swear I hear Yuuri screaming my name on the other side of the door.

"It seems that your charming king has come to save you" I hear Mirage say and she disappears, or she turns into smoke to be more precise.

The pain is too strong and I can feel my conscience slipping, if I could only see Yuuri once more before I...

Then everything was black.

~ O ~

I had a dream that night, a nightmare. I would yell Yuuri's name but no sound would come out. When I looked up, Yuuri was leaving with someone by his hand, that someone was me. But another me. Those eyes weren't mine.

~ O ~