Hi guys. I'm really sorry for not updating in a while. School has my busy and I'll be (hopefully) starting a new job soon so I won't have much time to write so I'm taking this long weekend to write as much as I can. I hope if you're still reading this that you enjoy this chapter and stick around, no matter long it takes, to see the end. We're almost to the 3/4 of the way complete stage. I hope to get to the biggest plot twist soon. But it will take a little longer. I hope you can bare with me.

Please leave a review if you can and let me know what you think. It's always nice to hear from you guys.

Whispers in the Dark

Chapter 24

Growing Up

It was about 3 in the morning when Wolfram began to stir from his sleep. When he opened his eyes he hadn't expected to see glimpses of black in his vision. When he felt a tickling on his skin he smiled; and sat up slowly from his spot on the bed. When he saw that Yuri was sound asleep with his head on his leg, Wolfram couldn't help but blush. He wanted to push him away but that would only hurt Yuri more.

"Yuri? Why did you move from your spot on the bed?" Wolfram mumbled while rubbing his eyes.

When he took a closer look at Yuri, he noticed that his eyes were closed painfully tight and his hands were clenched around the bed sheets. Wolfram could sense that Yuri was in pain. Even so, he didn't know what he could do. Without his magic power, he was useless to Yuri in this moment. He needed Gisela. But Wolfram couldn't move with Yuri lying on his legs. And he didn't want to move him in fear of hurting him.

"What do I do?" Wolfram asked himself. He ran his fingers through Yuri's hair and tried to calm him through touch. But with each pass of his fingers Yuri seemed to squirm more. Wolfram's touch wasn't doing much to ease the pain at all. "Give me a sign, Yuri. What do you need me to do?"

Wolfram leaned down and cradled Yuri's head in his hands. He laid his forehead on the back of Yuri's head and closed his eyes. He tried to concentrate, to focus on what he could do to help. He felt so useless to Yuri. They were both so weak that they couldn't help one another. It was so frustrating.

"Yuri…" Wolfram said breathlessly.

Wolfram felt a sudden wave of sleepiness. His eyes grew heavy and he wanted to sleep. He tried to fight it at first knowing this was no time to sleep, but the drowsiness was far too much for him to control and he closed his eyes for the last time and fell asleep, his hands still cradling Yuri's head.

All around him was blue, deep shades of blue, light shades of blue, almost transparent blue hues. Everything was blue. Why was that? Why was it blue? Wolfram wanted to know. But despite being transfixed by the blueness of his surroundings, he knew where he was. He was here once before. Though, it was not blue but rather a room of pure white.

The white room he was in once before was almost blinding, too pure, too shiny for his tastes. He didn't like it, it didn't feel like him. So why was this room blue? Why was this room different from his own?

"Yuri?" Wolfram said aloud. "Yuri!"

"Wolfram?" Yuri replied. He walked out from the dark blues holding his head. He rubbed the area where the bandages hugged his head and groaned. "Don't be so loud. I have a pounding headache."

Wolfram walked over to him and reached a hand out to him as he did. "Are you alright? You were in a lot of pain when I last saw you."

"Uh, yeah. I'm alright. It's just a headache. Don't worry." Yuri replied. He released his head and looked at Wolfram closely. "What are you doing here anyway? I thought only I could get to this place?"

"What are you talking about? I've been here once before with you?! Don't tell me you forgot!" Wolfram argued.

Yuri scratched his head and hummed to himself. "I think I remember. My head is kinda fuzzy, you know?"

Wolfram frowned and laid his hands on Yuri's shoulders. "Yuri? Are you sure you're okay?"

"Like I said before I'll be fine. Don't worry so much."

"It's my job to worry!"

Yuri smiled at Wolfram but soon fell to his knees and held his head once more. Wolfram gasped and knelt down to help him. He could see that Yuri was grinding his teeth from the pain.

"Yuri!" Wolfram cried out. He knelt down to Yuri's level and held him in his arms. "Yuri! Yuri! What's wrong?"

But Yuri could not respond to Wolfram's cries. He could only hold his head in pain as the pounding continued. Wolfram wanted more than anything to make the pain go away. Even in this place he can't do anything for Yuri. He thought here he would be stronger, but he guessed wrong. He could only cradle Yuri's head and watch as he squirmed.

"There's nothing I can do for you now, Yuri. I'm so sorry." Wolfram muttered. He could not cry. He wouldn't. He wanted to stay strong for Yuri, that was the least he could do for him now. There was no more healing. There was no protection. There was no more stability. There was only pain for them now. And Wolfram wanted nothing more to make that pain go away. But when that pain would go, their everything would be gone with it. What would they have left?

"Do not shed a single tear, Lord Bielefeld."

Wolfram raised his head and looked on into the oncoming blues as a dark silhouette made its way towards them. As it came closer it seemed all too familiar. Even so he found it difficult to come to a conclusion of who it was.

"Who's there?" Wolfram asked. He wished he had his sword with him. "State your name."

"I have no name, but rather a single title that I go by. You should know this by now."

The person behind the silhouette came out of the darkness and into the light and Wolfram finally could see who it was.

"The Demon King." Wolfram muttered. He looks down at Yuri who was still in severe pain, but had his eyes open enough to see The Demon King in his line of vision. Wolfram couldn't believe that he was seeing the Demon King this way. He had always assumed that the Demon King was a part of Yuri himself. So to see them separated this way was astonishing. "How is this possible?"

The Demon King couldn't help but smile. "I had a feeling you would ask that. And I will tell you everything you wish to know. But first, I have something I need to do. For both my sake and for Yuri."

Wolfram was going to voice his concerns as to what he meant until he saw the Demon King kneel down beside him and Yuri. He watched as he took Yuri's head in his hands and closed his eyes. Yuri did not protest the action and allowed the Demon King to do as he pleased. An aura of blue light shined from the Demon King's hands and Yuri's body slowly began to relax. The Demon King's maryoku soothed the pain in Yuri's head, and Wolfram couldn't help but be grateful.

"How are you feeling now, Yuri?" Wolfram asked.

Yuri smiled and melted into Wolfram's arms as the pain completely washed away. "Much better actually."

The Demon King was glad to hear that and removed his hands from Yuri's head. "I can agree with you there. My head feels much better, as well."

Yuri sat up. "You can feel the pain of my head trauma too? How is that possible?"

"I feel your pain because we are one in the same. I will feel your pain and your sorrow, but also your happiness. However, if I am experiencing something you will not feel it. The connection only goes one way." The Demon King explains.

"But why can't Yuri feel your emotions? Surely you can feel something separate from Yuri?" Wolfram asks.

The Demon King shakes his head. "I'm afraid that's not possible. While I am Yuri's demon side, he is the human side and the vessel of this body. I simply inhabit it. I have separate emotions but they are not shared between us. Which is good for us in this case. Having two sets of emotions to deal with could be harmful for his teenage body to handle."

Yuri couldn't help but feel offended. "And just what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

The Demon King tried to hold in a laugh. "Don't worry. I mean no offense by it."

During their exchange of words, Wolfram couldn't help but wonder a deep bearing question that has been poking at him since he arrived here. "Why are we here anyway, Yuri? What is this place?"

Yuri looked to Wolfram. "I'm not really sure myself. I always referred to it as a 'mindscape' but if anyone would know it would be the Demon King himself." He replies, gesturing to the Almighty Demon King beside him.

"Well you are correct. This is in fact your personal mindscape. Your soul comes here when your body is in distress, you have grown weary and need rest, or I call you here. However, the last one only happens in times of dire emergency." The Demon King explains. He frowns. "But were you not here before? I could have sworn I felt your presence not too long ago."

Wolfram shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not quite sure myself. During my time in recovery, I ended up in a place similar to this. However, it was in an all white atmosphere, rather than this all blue color. I would have much rather preferred this one over the white, though."

"Well that's understandable." The Demon King replies. "However, if the dimension itself was white, then it means that you were in your own personal mindscape rather than this one. But as to why yours is white is peculiar in all honesty. It doesn't suit you at all."

"That's what I said myself. White is not very easy on the eyes." Wolfram mutters in reply.

"But aside from the color of your mindscape," Yuri chimes in, looking to Wolfram. "We need to figure out first why we're here. If he didn't call us here then it must be something else."

Wolfram counted on his fingers. "The only options that are left for you to enter the mindscape that were spoken are that your body is in distress or that you need rest. Both are equally possible, but that doesn't explain why I was able to be sucked in here with you."

"Well something like this happened once before, but I was brought into your mindscape when you were recovering." Yuri replies. He holds his head. "The memory is still faint but I remember being there with you."

"Then I believe you two should determine the similarities of this time and the time before, what is the same then as it is now." The Demon King suggests.

Yuri and Wolfram sat there silently. They weren't sure where to start. Wolfram didn't want to think of that time much at all, and Yuri barely remembered it due to his trauma. He wouldn't be too much help.

"Well," Wolfram starts. "I was still recovering from my injuries of the church fire. I was feeling," Wolfram stopped and took a few deep breaths. Images of him sitting in the room all by himself, in nothing by a thin white cloth made him shiver. He didn't want to remember, but if it were to help Yuri then he would try. "I was feeling hopelessness. I was feeling weak, and disgusting. Nothing about me in those hours of isolation felt strong or normal. Everything burned, everything hurt, everything felt...lonely."

Yuri was silent as he listened to Wolfram speak freely of his time in that white room. He hadn't realized that Wolfram was still haunted by it, that he had been in that room as long as he was. He remembers Wolfram being fearful of him, and how self conscious he was. The whole experience was one long moment of heavy heart and sorrow. Yuri wanted desperately to remember it completely, for Wolfram's sake. But he couldn't get a completely image no matter how hard he thought.

"And how are you feeling, Yuri?" The Demon King asks. "I personally already know myself but it would be best if you spoke your feelings aloud, that way Wolfram can have an understanding of your emotions, as you got to experience with him."

Yuri closed his eyes and tried to figure it out himself. What was he feeling in this moment? Aside from what he's feeling for Wolfram, what was he feeling personally with everything that's been going on, what his body is experiencing? What was going on with him?

"It's hard to say." Yuri starts. "I don't really know what I'm feeling. I'm feeling...confused. I feel useless to those around me in my condition. I can't go a few hours without something like this happening. I just can't support anyone the way I am. I just feel...helpless, you know."

The Demon King smiles. "Yes, we have never experienced this much of an upset before in battle, so to be recovering this long while there's an evil that you could stop is out there makes you feel useless. It is completely natural." He looks to Wolfram. "The same goes for you, Lord Bielefeld."

"So, what do you suggest we do?" Wolfram asks. "Recovery isn't an option. We have to be out of commission for a while whether we like it or not. Not to mention my Maryoku-" Wolfram stopped there. He didn't want Yuri to know about that. He hadn't meant to let it slip.

But Yuri had heard and turned to face him. "What about your Maryoku?"

Wolfram shook his head. "Nothing. It's nothing."

"But Wolfram," Yuri says.

"What I suggest," The Demon King interrupts them. He puts a hand on each of their shoulders. "Is for you to go back and talk to one another about your problems. Have a bit of open communication and figure out on your own the best course of action."

"So basically you want us to get out." Yuri mutters, a slight glare in his eye.

"If you wish to see it that way, then you may. But it's a simple suggestion that is in no way a means to kick you out, but better if you were to do so back in your bodies. Your friends could walk in any moment and see that you are like this and worry. You don't wish for that, do you?" The Demon King replies.

"You're right." Wolfram says. "It must be almost morning by now. Someone will be stopping by to check on us soon. We must be awake or they'll worry."

Yuri nods and looks to the Demon King. "I hope that you'll still have my back when we go back to fight Belar."

The Demon King places a hand to his heart. "Always."

This time both Wolfram and Yuri nod and they leave the mindscape, slowly fading away until they were no more.

Wolfram woke up first. He released Yuri's head from his hands and sat up. He felt a stiff pain in his lower back from staying in that position for so long. Yuri woke up seconds later and lifted his head as well. They looked around the room for a moment, checking the window to see if the sun had risen, which it had, and other parts of the room to see if anything was out of place.

Wolfram looked over to the far end of the bed to wake Greta, but he saw that she wasn't there. He had forgotten that she spent the night with Anissina so that she wouldn't have to worry if either one of them had problems during the night.

"It looks like it's only early morning." Yuri infers. "I don't think anyone is really up yet."

"That's good." Wolfram replies. "That means we have time to talk."

Yuri didn't really want to talk about it this very second. He was nervous about what would be said. But he knew that if they were to get through this they would have to talk about things eventually.

"Well if you want to talk we can-"

A knock at the door interrupted what Yuri was about to say. The door opened and Gisela stepped inside.

"I'm very sorry if I interrupted you, Your Majesty." Gisela spoke. "But I need to do a quick check up on you two before you start the day. I hope you don't mind."

Yuri smiles, "Not at all. Go ahead." He never knew he could be so grateful for an interruption from Gisela. It gave him a bit more time to prepare for this talk with Wolfram. But he knew that he couldn't hold it off forever.

Gisela readied her equipment, the usual stethoscope, a tongue depressor and other small things before coming over towards the bed. Wolfram obligated himself to go first and Gisela did the simple things first, listened to his heart beat and took his temperature to see if his physical well being was in any distress before she continued on to other things. She took a needle and wiped some rubbing alcohol at the bend of Wolfram's arm. The smell was overwhelming and Wolfram made a face of discomfort. She stuck the needle in his arm and Yuri watched as the blood quickly filled the vial connected to the needle. She placed a cotton ball over the needle and pulled it out, quickly tapping it to his arm.

"All done, Wolfram. Your vitals appear to be normal. I just need to test a bit of your blood so that I can check your levels. It should only take a few hours."

"Thank you, Gisela." Wolfram replies. He unconsciously rubs at his arm, not use to the cotton ball there. It made it difficult to move his arm.

Next it was Yuri's turn. She did the same things that she did to Wolfram but on him. She checked his heart rate, his mouth, his temperature. And then she grabbed a clean needle and prepared his arm and did the same to him, taking his blood to be tested. Almost immediately Gisela saw a significant difference in Yuri's blood compared to Wolfram's. Her first assumption was that since because he was human his blood would be slightly different than those of Demon territory compared to his world, but she would let the lab results tell her what was real and what was fiction.

'I'll check back in a few hours. Have a nice day, Your Majesty, Wolfram." She says before leaving.

As Gisela leaves, Greta comes running in, arms wide to hug her papas and wish them a good morning. She had been worried all night that something would happen, but was relieved that they appeared to be fine.

"How are you feeling, Papa Wolfram?" Greta asks. Wolfram smiles and ruffles her hair.

"I'm feeling much better now that you've come to see me, Greta." Wolfram replies.

Greta smiles and looks at Yuri who was waiting for his hug. She gave him a hug before asking the same question. "How are you feeling, Papa Yuri?"

"I'm doing okay, Greta." Yuri replies.

Greta accepts Yuri's answer and bounces a bit where she stands. "Are you two coming down for breakfast? Effe made her famous caramel waffles today. They're so yummy!"

Wolfram looks at Yuri who looks back at him. They were going to talk but Greta wants them to go with her to have breakfast. They didn't want to disappoint her.

Wolfram looks at their daughter and nods. "Yes. We'll be coming down in a moment."

Greta cheers and jumps a bit up and down. "I'll go save you two a seat." She speeds off towards the doors but stops at the edge, looking back at her papas, smiling. "Don't rush coming down. Take your time. I know that Papa Yuri has to use the walking stick, and that Papa Wolfram still has burns on his feet. So don't rush, okay."

When she left, the two didn't know what to say. They were both speechless. Wolfram had tears in his eyes. Yuri could see this and asked him what was wrong.

"She's grown so much since we last spent time with her." Wolfram admits. He wipes his eyes. "She's growing up so fast. Our little girl, Yuri."

Yuri smiles and agrees with Wolfram. "I noticed it too." But his mood quickly changed. "I just can't believe that in such a short time that she's changed this much. My little girl won't be my little girl forever."

"Everyone grows up eventually. We grew up after all." Wolfram says.

"But have we really grown up?" Yuri asks. "Who or what controls us, tells us that we've grown up?"

"I don't know Yuri." Wolfram replies. "But we have grown up. We aren't as small as we used to be. We aren't as naive either. We've grown up. Even if it's not completely. We all keep growing up as time dwindles on." Wolfram spread his arms. "Look at me. I'm only a few years shy of being 100 years old and I look 15."

Yuri sighs. "Please don't remind me." He keeps forgetting that Wolfram was so much older than him, yet appearance wise he looks younger. Demons were incredible beings.

"But growing up isn't a bad things, Yuri. Greta may get older, but she will always be our little girl." Wolfram says with a smile. He sits his feet onto the cold wooden floor and feels a tingle of pain, but doesn't resist it. He wants to walk on his own without any help from Yuri. "But we should get dressed and head down to meet Greta and the others. They're waiting on us."

Yuri nods and goes to find his clothes for the day.