When the faeries arrived at their cottage they were greeted with the sight of a struggle. Then Arthur spotted the hat left forgotten on the floor. He looked at the other two. They all looked west towards the mountains. "Are we really going to do this?" the Frenchman asked, his love of love momentarily overshadowed by near-assured death. The two nodded and he sighed before taking off again.
The Forbidden Mountain loomed stark against the speckled night sky like Satan's middle finger. Shrinking, they flew inside and managed to avoid all the strange guards in the dark labyrinth, but they never found the prince. Taking a break on a ledge it was Kiku who noticed the green-lit window on another tower. Flying over and landing on the sill, they were greeted with the sight of hundreds of the dark clad warthog creatures dancing spasmodically around a jagged green fire.
Above them, on a ledge on the far side of the room, sat the spitting image of Feliciano. Beside him, talking amiably, was another man with tan skin and brown hair. From this distance the faeries were unable to hear what he was saying. During his talking he scooted closer to the Italian. His companion reddened so considerably that even the trio across the room could see it. He shot up and above the din they heard, "Shut up idiot! I need to see the potato bastard!" And stormed off followed by his raven.
The faeries followed outside the wall for a moment before finding a small crack they slipped through. They were in a hallway and the man they realised must have had to have been Lovino was a ways ahead of them, walking by the green light of his sceptre. Silently they followed, keeping well behind the raven. After going down a flight of steps Lovino stopped outside an iron bound wooden door with a small barred window, took a breath to calm himself further, inserted a rusting key, and entered the room with an ominous screech of hinges. The faeries followed looked on through the window.
On a stone bench on the far side of the small, damp cell, sat Ludwig. He was breathing heavy, as if having just tried to break free of the shackles that bound him to the wall by his wrists. When Lovino entered he looked up through narrow blue eyes. Lovino smiled, "Come now, you're highness", he spat the last part, "You're the destined hero of our little fairy tale". Thrusting his green orb topped sceptre into the man's face, from within it he drew out images that filled the cell, "Look here, lying in the tallest tower of the Italian's castle, lays Prince Feliciano. Why, it's the same guy you saw in the forest, not a day ago. But of course, you're not an idiot, are you? You probably already knew that". Ludwig stared wide eyed at the figure he saw laying in the image. "Oh but don't worry. He's not dead. Merely sleeping. Waiting for his true love's kiss to wake him", Lovino grimaced, "So here's the deal. Because you love him so much, I'll let you go. And what's 100 years? To a true lover, it's but a day".
He grinned wickedly as Ludwig's eyes went wide. The image changed, contrasting every word the sprang from Lovino's lips, "You'll emerge from our castle, riding your swift and valiant steed, straight and tall, strong, ready to take on the world. Ready to awaken your love, preserved in sleep, with love's first kiss".
Ludwig sprang up and made to swing at the witch but was held by the chains. Lovino cackled, "Yes. Such a bright outlook you have, your highness". He slipped out and locked the door behind him.
Ludwig deflated and sank back to the bench, and put his head in his hands. Suddenly, appearing before him in a whirl of sparkles, were three men. One in a red, pirate-esque coat, another in a green kimono, and the third in a ridiculous blue outfit. The first and second men set upon his shackles with sticks of sparkles and looked like they were cutting through the metal. The third worked on the lock. The red clad man spoke, "We haven't much time". When the last of the shackles fell away Ludwig immediately went to the door, but was stopped. "Hold on you dolt, here take these. The Shield of Valour", in Ludwig's left hand sprang a shining metal shield, "and the Sword of Truth", likewise, in his right hand sprang a shining metal sword, "These two implements will help you defeat the forces of evil".
"Fine", Ludwig was impatient, "That's great, now let's go". The red faerie nodded and they all three shrank their sizes.
Just as he reached the door it swung open. He paused. On the other side stood the Spaniard with an unusually serious look on his face. Ludwig moved into a defensive stance. He spoke, "You can't hurt Lovi".
"Why on earth not? He hasn't done anything to convince me otherwise".
The Spaniard shook his head, "Lovi's lonely. He's heard about his brother for many years but he doesn't know how to go about getting him back".
"… I won't hurt him so long as he stays out of my way. If he hinders me I won't hesitated to remove the obstacle".
He nodded, "Understood". He began to move away, "Oh, don't go up the stairs, they'll find you".
Ludwig and the three unseen faeries looked after him in slight confusion, "What the hell…?"
"We have no time for that!" the red faerie caught his attention, "Let's go!" Ludwig nodded and they ran down the corridor, avoiding the stairs as instructed.
Their discovery was more a fluke than anything. The raven, thinking he heard something before he left the cell, was now circling back after he knew his master was safe in his bed. Spotting the prisoner escape, he raised the alarm. As it raced to Lovino's tower Francis gave chase. He'd changed the bird into stone before it could wake the Italian. He nodded in approval and satisfaction before he rejoined the others.
They were in the inner wall of the castle when they heard the alarm. They found Samson shackled to a rock in the courtyard. As the blue faerie worked on freeing the horse, on the castle wall above them emerged near a hundred demonic, pig-esque creatures appeared, all equipped with a bow and arrows. Simultaneously, they notched the arrows and drew back on the string. Ludwig's eyes narrowed as he ducked behind the shield, fearing for his horse. Not far from him he heard the red faerie mutter, "Oh bloody fuck", before the deluge of arrowed sprang from their strings and raced to meet their targets.
Wow. This is really slow going.
BUT I MUST FINISH IT! Not too much longer, but I'm coming into writer's block...