Chapter 3: Forced New Roads

The youngest prince of Kou, Hakuryuu, couldn't believe what his sister had just said. He didn't want, nor need, an assistant. His frown deepened even more at the raven-haired stranger's reply.

"Y-Yes!" Kei answered, too afraid to say no. Besides, it couldn't be that bad right? He was used to being an assistant anyway. To ignore the uncomfortable feeling in his chest, he turned to the boy he would be serving from now on - at least, until Inaba-san and the others found a way to bring him home.

Hakuei smiled brightly, then turned to the boy who walked to stand beside her despite his deep, still bleeding wounds. "This is my younger brother, Hakuryuu." The princess gestured toward the boy whose face shared many of her features, although half was covered by burn scar.

As the eyes were set upon him, Hakuryuu's face became unreadable - neutral almost, but not quite. Slightly bowing with his hands out in their proper posture, the prince said, "I look forward to our time together. Kei-dono. Please treat me well from today onwards."

"Y-Yes, Hakuryuu-sama!" shouted Kei, a sweat running down his cheek as he bowed much lower than the prince. "And please, c-call me Kei, my prince..?"

Hakuryuu smiled, although he was somewhat uncomfortable - and somewhat happy - with how Kei addressed him. He was the fourth prince, far in line for the throne. "Alright, Kei."

Kei smiled back, and tried to ignore the shivering of his legs. Somehow, not only had he ended up all alone in a unfamiliar place, he was made to serve a prince - a prince who was younger, and had shown way more courage, than him.

Neither of them said a word after that.

Hakuei decided to interfere, "Hakuryuu, Kei, you two should go to get those injuries treated." Finally remembering their wounds, as well as the cause, the two teenagers quickly headed to the medical room.

/vvv/

When they arrived at the room where the strange creature - as no one was sure the humanoid cat could be considered human - was being kept, Hakuryuu and Kei found many servants trying to heal the creature, although with little success. When a servant - who wasn't doing anything important - noticed Hakuryuu, she saluted and began treating his wounds. Another servant came toward Kei.

As servants were blocking the view of the patients, Hakuryuu asked, "Where is the one I ordered you to treat?"

The servant flinched, but did not stop bandaging him. "Prince Hakuryuu, we are afraid that she cannot be saved without magic. She is still breathing but," she paused for a moment, "Her skull is completely crushed, and many internal organs and bones are damaged."

Hakuryuu nodded, although his body had begun to heat up as memories of his own near-death experience surfaced. "Are there any magician available at this moment in the palace?" he said, causing Kei to look toward him.

"We have requested but…" The need of the fourth prince takes a backseat to those of the emperor and higher-ranked princes like Kouen, Hakuryuu knew without needing to be told. It also did not help that most of the magicians - that weren't part of Al-Thamen - belonged in Kouen's and Kouha's army.

Hakuryuu took a deep breath. He could not ask anyone in that organization for help - he would rather die before that - so it appeared there was no hope. After his wounds were treated, Hakuryuu gently gestured the old woman out of his way. The prince then walked toward the bed most swarmed with servants carrying bandages and other medical tools he lacked the knowledge to name. The servants stepped out of his way.

Neferpitou was drifting in and out of conscious, as he had worsened his injuries during his resistance against that human boy. Although he was aware, he could not do anything against the humans swarming around and touching him with all sorts of things - such as to soak away the blood on his face and to remove his soiled clothing.

Then, a warm hand covered one of his, spreading Nen throughout the inside of his body. Pitou panicked, forcing himself to sit up and glare at the scarred face of the human standing next to him. The boy's eyes were wide, and he showed no signs of hostility or malice. Pitou's fur stopped bristling, although his ears remain flat against the top of his head. Whatever this human did, Pitou regained control of his Nen returning because of it.

"Doctor Blythe," Pitou murmured.

As his Nen materialized a giant porcelain doll with red hair and a solemn face, all but one of the able-bodied humans ran out the door - pushing against or dragging out each other as they tried to escape.

The 14-year-old prince observed the motionless, half-naked body lying before him, noting the lack of blue liquid and strangely even breathing of the creature. Hakuryuu had always been under the impression that when people were dying, their breathing would be harsh and shallow as they try to continue fighting.

He accepted his death? Hakuryuu thought bitterly, even though he had entertained the idea of giving up on the creature just seconds ago. Placing his right hand on top of a clawed one, Hakuryuu channeled his Magoi into the humanoid cat, trying to see for himself the internal condition of the dying creature. If he really was a failed experiment of Al-Thamen, there could be some useful information.

At least, that was what he intended.

Four sharp claws dug into the back of his hand, clinging on tightly even as he stepped away and tried to free his bleeding hand. The four-fingered hand let go willingly when the body to which it was attached sat in an upright position.

Hakuryuu, and everyone else in the room, felt before they could even comprehend the situation or glance at the Chimera Ant - felt the hostility embodied in Pitou's Nen, covering the entire 20 feet by 10 feet room in an instant and sucking oxygen out of the air. There was a stampede as everyone except Hakuryuu tried to run out of the door as fast as possible, toward safety and fresh air.

The young prince would have escaped too, had his feet not been rooted to the ground, and he wasn't feeling the same sick feeling as when he was caught among the fire with his older brothers. Looking at the doll-like monster, Hakuryuu had trouble breathing and his voice was caught in his dried throat. It wasn't like when he confronted his mother about what Hakuyuu said, but it was almost the same.

Nothing happened though, and as he stared back into the blood red eyes of Pitou, Hakuryuu could suddenly breathe easier. The humanoid cat wasn't his mother, his eyes were not shining with coldness and smug superiority. The creepy doll connected to his tail only seemed to be for repairing his injured face too… there was nothing to be scared of.

"Hakuryuu-sama! Are you alright?!" shouted Kei from the doorway, his legs trembling although the raven-haired boy wanted to come in.

Breaking his eye contact with Pitou, Hakuryuu turned toward his new retainer and absentmindedly nodded. When the prince saw that the nurses and other servants were still behind Kei, he scanned the room. Besides the royal guard, there were five patients who seemed to be soldiers on temporary medical leave. All of them were still on guard, wearing a determined expression worthy of Kou soldiers. It seemed Hakuryuu had embarrassed himself as a prince.

After composing himself with a deep breath, Hakuryuu smiled at Pitou - whose eyes had not swayed from him even once.

"I'm glad that you are capable of healing yourself," said Hakuryuu, although he was slightly unnerved by Pitou's intense stare. "Please, tell me what happened.. and where you came from."

Nothing in the ruby eyes wavered, and like before, the humanoid cat would not answer Hakuryuu. Since the suffocating feeling was gone, servants were starting to fill the room again. Although most avoided coming close to Pitou and his bed, a few of them were asking of the prince's condition and requesting that he return to his lessons.

Hakuryuu was hardly paying attention to the stammering servants, but he nodded before glancing at Pitou and saying, "Please locate the other patients to another infirmary, I believe it will be safer for them there."

"B-But my prince..." a servant stuttered. Closing off an entire medical room was beyond the power of a fourth prince. Hakuryuu resisted the urge to glare, although more at his powerlessness than the old nurse.

"Isn't it fine?" a scantily clad man said as he walked over, and placed his arm around Hakuryuu's shoulder. "You found something really interesting, Hakuryuu."

"High Priest," said Hakuryuu, "What are you doing here?" Given his schedule, the magi should have assumed he was at the library with his tutors.

"You requested a magician didn't you? None of them would come but they're not worth your time anyway," said Judal, smiling, "So what do you need magic for?"

"Everything is fine now, High Priest." said Hakuryuu as he nudged the magi away with his elbow. Judal stopped smiling.

"Hakuryuu, you're bleeding." said Judal, grabbing the prince's right hand. While running his thumb over the holes on the back of Hakuryuu's hand, Judal caught sight of the bandages wrapped around his arms and under his tattered clothes. The magi glanced coldly at Pitou, whose fur was standing on ends, then at Doctor Blythe.

Turning toward the servants, most of whom flinched under Judal's gaze, he said, "You all let this happened?"

Kei had no idea what was going on, which was worrying given the people and situations he had to deal with back in his normal world. The cat girl they found dying in the yard was perfectly capable of healing herself, albeit with a creepy nurse doll that reminded Kei of Noah's inventions. Since the people of this world freaked out, and hid behind him of all people, such ability was definitely not normal in this world. Did she arrive from another world like him? But two people transporting to the same place from two different worlds at the same time felt unreal at best, and impossible at worst…

And what's with that guy? Kei thought, staring after the guy who had rudely pushed past him, Middle Eastern style clothing in a palace that obviously belong to Chinese Empire?

"High Priest, what are you doing here?" said Hakuryuu, although Kei barely heard him from so far away.

He's a high priest? He looks more like a dancer or something!

"Are you alright?"

The raven-haired teen turned lifelessly toward the middle-aged woman gazing at him with attentive eyes. It seemed she did not have a job to return to at the moment."Huh?"

"You are sweating," she said, offering him a towel, "You're not from around here, are you? How did you get in the palace?"

Kei swallowed, nodding a thank as he accepted the towel. He could not say he had been sweating because he was trying not to shout something rude in a world he shouldn't exist. "I-I'm Hakuryuu-sama's personal assistant. Princess Hakuei appointed me today." Kei said while thinking, literally like ten minutes ago.

"I see, well, you should get a new set of clothes," the woman said, just as someone called her to help move a patient. "You're standing out a lot - too much." With that, she walked away, leaving Kei to stare at his blue jacket and jeans. But these are ordinarily clothes…

"I TOTALLY STAND OUT!"

/vvv/

While Hakuryuu and his new retainer visited Pitou, Hakuei and Seishun returned to the preparation for their journey. As the first princess had been chosen by the High Priest to capture a dungeon, she was allowed to take as much supplies as she wished for the quest. Of course, that was only the words of the emperor, as the actual tasks of securing the necessary items and manpower fell on Hakuei's attendants. Hereby, the amount of the supplies she could take depended on the abilities of her and her potential households.

"Seishun," Hakuei said, capturing her assistant's attention. The cyan-haired boy looked up from his scroll, which listed the things they still needed to gather. There wasn't a lot, so they could set off by tomorrow if the rest of today went as planned.

"Yes Princess?"

"How did you realize that boy was there?" She was ashamed to say that she did not realize the presence of a stranger in a bush merely a few feet away. Such inability would be fatal in a dungeon.

"I saw a blood trail on the ground that looked new," Seishun informed, "At first, I thought they were from that humanoid cat, but then I saw him in the bushes." Hakuei gasped, but felt relieved despite her conscience.

"You mean he wasn't really hiding at all?"

Seishun nodded, his brows furrowed. "He hid very poorly, yet we didn't notice him."

After a couple of minutes had gone by, Hakuei suddenly said, "Maybe... He is somehow different from us..?"

The dual swordsman's head snapped toward his princess, "H-Huh!? Then why did you choose him as Prince Hakuryuu's attendant?"

"I felt… that I could trust him…" She thought for a moment. "Then again, I'm not very sure either…"

"Eh..?"

/vvv/

"What's up with him?" Judal commented, tilting his head at the black-haired boy - 2 years younger than him - who had just broken the tension in the room.

"He's… my retainer." Hakuryuu said. The prince sighed as he averted his eyes from Kei, who seemed to be in a mental breakdown over something. He focused instead on removing Judal's hand from his. The magi let him, although he hummed absentmindedly. His ruby eyes were fixated on Kei.

"Hey, what did you say to him?" a servant murmured to her coworker, trying to keep her voice as soft as possible. Hakuryuu glanced at her without moving his head.

"What? This isn't my fault, I just told him he needs a change of clothes."

The young prince did notice that the older teen's outfit was weird, but had not put much thought into it until now. He had assumed that such were the way people dressed in Kei's homeland… wherever it was. Hakuryuu frowned. Before he could even protest, a stranger who was most likely not a citizen of Kou had been made into his assistant. Only the words of the emperor could overturn the first princess's words, and Hakuryuu had no doubt that the shallow man would even care.

"The two of you," Hakuryuu said, turning to the gossiping women who flinched under his gaze, "Please get my retainer some new clothing."

"O-Of course Your Highness!" the two said simultaneously. As they hurried away, one of them hissed, "You should have kept your word shut."

It would take an hour before Doctor Blythe mend his wounds enough for him to move about without too much difficulty, then another thirty minutes until he could properly fight. Since there was no immediate threat to his king and Komugi was safe with Pouf, as far as Pitou knew, he could - he must, the royal guard reasoned - afford this time to recover his strength.

Although he heard and understood that scarred boy's words, Pitou felt no need to reply. Then, almost too soon, the boy's attention refocused to the other humans - including an especially strange one. As such, Pitou failed to obtain any useful information regarding his current location. However, the Chimera Ant could tell that they were not part of those attackers' group, and were not intending to cause him harm. For that, Neferpitou decided to stay put.

Humans continued to buzz around him, sometimes calmly yet nervously… sometimes on the verge of panic. They slowly decreased in number.

Soon after all his wounds healed, sunlight dimmed and turned crimson, bathing the white walls and sheets in soft warm colors. Pitou relaxed further, and further still as the long room was slowly engulfed by darkness. Darkness of a moonless night. Rather than hunting for information, the royal guard felt like going to sleep.

Against his conscious thoughts, a nagging instinct enhanced by the heaviness of his muscles told him to wait.

When a young human girl tremblingly tip-toed in, her fingers tightly clenching two unlit candles, Pitou could tell she was bothered by his eyes, staring at them as though they were glowing. Pitou smiled, and the human scrambled away.

The old used candle remained on the wooden floor, completely ignored by the infirmary's sole inhabitant. Soothed by the melodious sound of leaves and branches, Neferpitou slipped into sleep's embrace.

/vvv/

He found himself standing beneath a large oak tree. A serene meadow, with grass and flowers of the purest and brilliant shades, stretched out before him. Everything was bathed in warmth of the great sun in the clear blue sky. The scenery around him seemed to whirl, its bright colors mixing and fading only to turn almost unbearable a second later. Then… an all-too-familiar voice called out to him.

"Pitou." The oldest royal guard turned, and kneeled instantly.

There, behind him was his king and Komugi, standing side by side, their hands linked. A little further back stood his peers, Pouf and Youpi. Their expressions were unreadable, yet not exactly unpleasant.

"King… what…?" The words he wished to ask died on his tongue as he felt wetness on his cheeks. Something inside him was mourning, but his human-influenced brain could not process why.

Did not wish to acknowledge why, even as he stared up at his king, whose body seemed to be playing tricks on his eyes. All of them looked slightly transparent...

"Pitou, We don't have much time so I'll make this quick. I am glad to see you're alive, even if it's in a different universe." His king said, "And in this new world, live - find a new king to follow if you must."

"King -"

"I am no longer your king." he said, his eyes firm, "I am Meruem."

Pitou could hardly breathe as he feebly yelled, "No..! King! I-"

His king silenced him with a look. "Pitou. This is an order." The too-bright world was fading, leaving him alone in the darkness.

"You have done well as my royal guard, Pitou. You have my gratitude."

That was the last thing Neferpitou heard, for he did not hear his peers' words... nor Komugi's thank you. "T-Thank you for saving my life, I promise I'll take care of Meruem."

By then the darkness had engulfed him and disappeared.

/vvv/

Neferpitou woke up to the light of dawn, the white walls reflecting the golden glow. Right beside him was that scarred boy, who seemed frozen in place as he stopped wringing a cloth… but Pitou couldn't care. He couldn't care less about anything anymore - what matters now that he had lost his king?! He failed, the whole royal guards failed!

The human boy was staring at him, with the same expression as his king… the same gaze before he faded away… Pitou could feel his body crying and clawing at the sheets, a fist reaching out to smash the vase on the end table. There was an innate need to destroy everything, to destroy reality… this world itself… anything to get back to his king.

Everything but the wide-eyed boy next to him.