Yuya yawned tiredly when he finally awoke the next morning. He rubbed the crust from his eyes and stretched his legs out in an attempt to rouse them. When he finally stood up he looked over to Ali, Tate and Fredrick's basket to find them missing. He didn't worry though; it was quite common for them to wander off at random times to do who knows what. One of the advantages they had, being such small animals in a large castle, was that they could move around undetected by the other two occupants whenever they liked.

"YUYA!" Came the cry of his master.

"Coming," The young hybrid called, throwing his clothes on and rushing down to see what he wanted. He burst into Don Thousand's bedchamber to find the sorcerer on his balcony looking out over the forest.

"You called master," He said, bowing respectfully.

"Ah, yes Yuya." Don Thousand said as he turned around. "You may rise."

Yuya did so, watching carefully as his master went over to his desk and picked up a scroll. He walked over and placed the roll of cloth in Yuya's hands. The edge slipped as he did so and it went trailing down past his waist to the floor.

"These are all the extra chores you will do today to make up for the ones you didn't complete yesterday." Don Thousand said calmly, as if he'd just announced he was getting a haircut, or repainting the walls or something. Yuya looked at the oversized list in his hands with his mouth half open and large bulbous eyes. He couldn't be serious! There's no way he'd be able to get all of this done.

"But- but-" Yuya stuttered.

"No buts!" Don Thousand snapped. He sauntered past Yuya and opened the door to leave. "I'm going into town today, you had better have everything done by the time I return."

He left before Yuya could reply. The slamming of the door echoed in the room for a while as Yuya contemplated what he should do now… He knew he ought to be getting on with his work, but a part of him wondered if it was worth it. He'd get in trouble for not completing it anyway, there was just too much… The only way he could get everything done in time would be to use his magic. Which was most definitely not an option. He'd only ever resorted to it once, and he never wanted to live through that moment again.

Flashback…

A nine-year-old Yuya was scrubbing the steps of the castle one afternoon, just as he always did. When he suddenly heard the clock strike four. It was at this hour that his master normally came to inspect his work, if the steps weren't finished he knew he would be punished. However, there were still thirteen undone, if he wanted to be ready on time there was only one thing he could do. He summoned a portion of his light magic and used it to sweep each step clean in one stroke. It was quite the experience actually. Ever since birth Yuya had been told his powers were dangerous and unnatural. He'd never dared use them, for fear of getting in trouble, or worse hurting someone. Now, though, actually using them, it didn't feel anything like he'd expected. It felt kind of fun. He began to laugh as he swirled the light energy around in the air, making it dance around him. He became so caught up in it, he hadn't noticed his master's presence. Until it was too late.

"YUYA!"

Yuya gasped and immediately froze where he was, the magic suddenly vanishing as though it had never been there.

"What do you think you're doing!" Don Thousand yelled, marching swiftly to the quivering boy. "I thought I specifically told you to never use your magic under any circumstances."

"I'm sorry master. Really!" Yuya cried, dropping to his knees, keeping his head bowed low, afraid of what his master might do to him.

"Sorry?! How dare you just apologise after what you did? You think that'll make up for this?!"

Yuya didn't answer, he was too terrified to. He'd never seen his master so upset before.

"You realise I can't let you off lightly for this." Don Thousand carried on, picking Yuya up by his shirt and dragging him inside. He slung him over his shoulder and marched downstairs to the dungeon, all the while muttering things like, 'ungrateful brat' and 'disobedient freak'. He stopped when they were at the final cell, in the long passage that was the castle dungeons, and threw him inside. Yuya moaned in pain as he tried to get up. He then released a strangled cry as Don Thousand slammed his foot on Yuya's back to prevent him from doing so.

"Now, for your punishment." The evil sorcerer said, reaching for the many weapons lining the walls. Yuya's stomach dropped, realising he was really in for it this time. He'd made mistakes now and then before, but he'd always either received a slap, been sent to his room or lost his meal privileges. Sometimes it was all of those, but he'd never been truly tortured by his master before. Not until now that is.

Don Thousand selected the whip out of the many instruments of pain and began to prepare Yuya for his punishment. He grabbed both edges of the collar on Yuya's shirt and pulled them apart, creating a huge tear right down the middle. He then slipped it off his shoulders as though it was a jacket and tossed it aside. Yuya didn't struggle, he knew there was no point, it would only get him into more trouble. He did, however, tense up when Don Thousand decided to remove his trousers and pants as well, so that he was now completely naked. His wrists were then shackled to large chains sliding through hooks on the walls. The chains were yanked, forcing Yuya's arms apart, and his entire upper body off the floor. So that he was suspended in mid-air by his arms, with his feet dragging slightly on the floor. He suddenly very self-conscious, having his body displayed like this. He could feel the blood rushing to his face as his hands fought the shackles to cover himself.

"It's useless to resist, you sealed your fate when you disobeyed me." His master said, sounding so indifferent about the situation. Yuya craned his neck against the chains to look at him. He felt the blood fuelling his blush drain right out of his face as he saw the sorcerer standing behind him with the whip raised aloft ready to strike his defenceless back. Yuya screamed in agony at the first crack. He felt the flesh on his back split open, allowing the searing pain to seep through. His master didn't seem to care how much pain he was in, he just kept lashing him over and over. Neither of them were counting how many lashes it was exactly, because neither of them cared. All Yuya cared about was getting this over with, and all Don Thousand cared about was making sure Yuya never disobeyed him again. He couldn't risk him discovering how strong his magic was and maybe using it against him.

"Please stop." Yuya begged as the whip made another mark on his back. By this time, he'd stopped screaming and was just sobbing and groaning in pain. "I can't take anymore, I'm sorry I used my powers I swear it'll never happen again."

"I know it won't." Don Thousand said. Moving round to Yuya's front, he cupped the boy's chin in his icy hand. "I just want to be certain."

He then reeled back and, with no warning, brought the whip down across Yuya's chest. Yuya screamed in both surprise and pain. Then again as another lash struck him in his legs this time, as Don Thousand proceeded to make gashes and scars all over his body. And I do mean ALL his body. He kept at it for quite some time, until Yuya stopped screaming and crying and it was getting kind of tiresome. It was then that he noticed the boy had fallen unconscious. He sighed heavily and coiled the whip back on its hook. Then left Yuya there to go get some rest.

He went down and released Yuya the next morning, he also gave him the rest of that day off so his wounds could heal. He may have been cruel, but he was smart, he knew Yuya would be physically incapable of working without rest first. Yuya didn't realise it was just a technicality though, he thought it was a sign his master still cared about him, and that he'd just done something awful that needed a severe punishment. So from that day on, no matter what, no matter how many times he got in trouble for not completing his work, he never used his powers.

Flashback end.

He'd gone four years without using magic once and he wasn't about to start now. He'd never risk being punished like that again. So he did the work on his list himself. It was tiring, and time-consuming, but he managed to get a quarter of it done by midday.

"Yuya." Ali said, from where she, Tate and Fredrick were watching him. "You really should take a break, you need to eat and I doubt it's very healthy for you to work so much without rest."

"It's okay Ali." Yuya assured with a smile, though it was very strained. "I can manage, it's nothing I'm not used to."

Tate, Ali and Fredrick exchanged worried glances. It was always hard for them to watch Yuya slave away for Don Thousand, who treated him poorly even when he did everything right. It was like Yuya was unable to see just how cruel and evil the man was. Tate had explained to Ali and Fredrick once that he thought Yuya created a delusion that his master cared because it was the one thing he truly wanted. Someone to care about him. They also knew Yuya did everything his master asked because he wanted to make him happy; because making people happy was what Yuya loved to do more than anything.

"We have to do something; he's going to work himself sick." Ali whispered to the others. "Again." She added. Fredrick and Tate both nodded.

"Well we'll never get anywhere up here, let's get down." Fredrick said, hopping off the, incredibly large and unidentified, object they were stood on. Some of the furniture Don Thousand owned really was strange, a lot of them wonder what it was all for, it's not like he used most of his castle anyway. That was another thing they didn't like. The way Don Thousand made Yuya clean the entire castle on a regular basis; when he never went anywhere in it aside from his chamber and study. Although they'd explored almost all of this castle and had never seen said study anywhere, so it confused them as to where he disappeared to so often.

"Woah!" Fredrick cried suddenly as he swung off a lamp on the wall. He'd miscalculated his jump and was forced to grab it to stop himself hitting the floor and severely hurting himself.

"Fredrick!" Ali and Tate cried, alerting Yuya to the situation.

"Oh dear." Fredrick said, scrambling to keep his balance. Suddenly, the lamp he was clinging to slide down the wall several inches and a long flight of steps appeared in the floor. Everyone gasped watching the floor open up to reveal an old crumbling staircase.

"What the?" Ali said in confusion. The three animals immediately clambered down from wherever they were and gathered beside the stairway. Yuya completely forgot about the work he'd been doing and left his cleaning apparatus abandoned on the floor to join his friends.

"It would appear to be some kind of secret tunnel." Tate noted. "Quite common in old buildings like these."

"Really?" Fredrick asked, fascinated.

"I wonder where it leads…" Yuya muttered, making his way to the head of the stairs.

"Wait, wait!" His friends cried. "Are you crazy?! If Don Thousand finds out he'll do worse than lock you in your room."

"I know." Yuya replied, mind suddenly wandering back to his experience in the dungeons. "I won't be long though, I'll never get all my work done anyway, he doesn't have to know about this."

Ali, Fredrick and Tate exchanged uncertain glances as Yuya descended the steps. Then finally made up their minds to follow him. It was dank and dark down in wherever they'd found themselves, and the lower they went, the danker and darker it got. Something brushed up against Ali's leg and she squealed, jumping onto Yuya's shoulders.

"You should go back." He advised.

"We all should." Tate said, tugging on the leg of Yuya's trousers. "Come on, before we all get in trouble."

Yuya carried on, too curious to heed his friend's warning, when suddenly he bumped into something.

"Ow…" He moaned, clutching his nose. He felt around in front of him to find something protruding from the wall. As he examined it with his fingers he realised it was a lamp. He knew lighting it was a good idea, then they'd be able to see where they were. He took a box of matches out of his pocket and struck one. He had a lot of odd articles in his pockets for his many different jobs around the castle. He used the match to light the lamp on the wall, it flared up revealing their location. They were in a long tunnel, with old crumbling stones and cobwebs lining the walls. The floor was slightly damp and the metal lamps on the walls were rusted, indicating no one had been down here for quite some time.

"Okay, now we really need to get back." Tate insisted while Ali and Fredrick nodded, looking terrified.

"Alright, you go then." Said Yuya, taking Ali from his shoulders and placing her beside the others.

"You have to come to." Ali said. "Please, Yuya."

Yuya knelt down in front of his friends. "Guys, I know I'll get in trouble, but… I think this tunnel leads out of the castle, I just want to go somewhere else, even for a few minutes. I just want to see what it's like, I swear I'll come right back."

"But—" Fredrick started but Tate shoved his paw in his face.

"No, Yuya's right, he deserves a little time away from this place. Besides, haven't we always wanted him to get out more." He joked. Ally and Fredrick smiled, and Yuya looked like he was going to cry out of happiness.

"Oh, wait, one moment!" Ali cried, rushing upstairs, Tate and Fredrick hot on her heels. Yuya stood up again, wondering what she was up to. She came back five minutes later with a long brown cloak in her teeth. "'Ere." She said with it still in her teeth. Yuya took it from her so she could speak properly again. "So master won't recognise you if you see him."

Yuya smiled, knowing that wasn't the only reason she got it for him. He would need to hide his hideous appearance from people.

"Thank you, I'll try not to be long."

She nodded and ran back upstairs while Yuya proceeded down the hall, slipping the cloak over his shoulders. He took the lamp from the wall and used it to guide him through the long passage. Cold breezes would flow through the tunnel every now and then, forcing Yuya to huddle deeper in his cloak. It felt like hours before he finally reached the end of the passageway, when in actual fact it had only been ten minutes. He gasped when he stepped outside; he was in a small glade just a few inches from a huge kingdom. The houses and buildings seemed to go one for miles, until they finally reached an enormous castle. It was just like his master's only much larger and fancier. It was breath-taking. All Yuya had even seen in the last thirteen years had been the rooms and gardens of his master's castle, this was the first town he'd ever visited. He gazed around in wonder as he entered its borders; large wooden buildings towered overhead and people were running all over the place, shouting and laughing. It was so noisy and hot, and yet, Yuya loved it. He'd always craved excitement and adventure, and finally he was getting some.

"Fresh pastries." A woman said, holding out a tray of freshly baked goods.

"Oh, no thanks." Yuya replied, knowing he couldn't afford it. He nodded politely and moved on as the woman offered to another young man.

"This is wonderful." Yuya whispered, looking up at the incredible heights of the town, being careful to keep his face concealed. His face was slightly more normal than the rest of his body, but it still had black swirls curving around the edges, he couldn't risk people seeing them.

"Stop thief!" Someone yelled. Yuya turned to see a young girl around his age with pale skin and pink hair running frantically in his direction.

"Look out!" She screamed, but it was too late. She ran straight into Yuya, sending them both the ground. "Oh no, are you okay?" She asked, sitting up. Yuya sat up too, rubbing his head. It was then that he realised how close this girl was; afraid she may see him, if she hadn't already, he jumped to his feet, tugging his cloak even tighter around himself.

"Yes, yeah of course." He stuttered.

"Hey, get back here!" A man said, breaking out of the sea of people and pointing an accusing finger at the girl with the pink hair.

"Oh shoot." She exclaimed. It was at this point that Yuya noticed she had a bundle of food clutched in her arms.

"You're a thief?" He realised. She looked at him with a frustrated and slightly deadpanned expression, but he wasn't sure if it was aimed at him directly. The angry man, who seemed to be after the girl, began barrelling towards them, and suddenly Yuya felt a hand on his arm, dragging him away. "Woah hey!" He cried out, running to keep up with the girl.

"This way." She yelled, pointing towards a small, almost invisible lane between two buildings. She shoved him inside then hopped in herself, just as the man chasing them ran past. They remained still for a few more minutes, until they were sure it was safe. "Phew." The girl said when she got back out, satisfied that the man wouldn't be coming back. "That was close. You alright?"

"Yeah…" Yuya said, absent-mindedly. "Why did you drag me away like that?"

"He saw you with me, I didn't want to leave you to get in trouble too." She replied, taking a bite of the bread she had, then broke off a bit and held it out. "Want a piece?"

"No thank you. I couldn't eat something that's not mine, you shouldn't either."

"Yeah I know, but I can't do much else…" She looked sad all of a sudden. "I can't afford to buy food because I have no money, but I don't want to starve…"

Yuya suddenly felt sorry for this girl, she seemed like a sweet person, she'd just had a hard life. Judging from the dirty dress she wore, and the tangled up state of her hair it was obvious she had little in the way of living provisions.

"I'm sorry." He said, giving her a sympathetic look from under his cloak.

"It's okay." She replied, smiling brightly again. "So, what's your name?"

"Yuya."

The girl tensed at that. Yuya, that was the name of the missing prince… She shook her head, he'd been missing for years, she'd only been a baby when it happened. She'd only ever heard the stories and rumours about it, living on the streets was great if you wanted to gather information. It's incredible the things you hear when hiding on someone's roof or in their bins. The "missing prince of the pendulum" had been big news for years, but slowly became forgotten. Plus, the name Yuya wasn't that uncommon, there was no way this kid could be the missing prince, it was just too good to be true.

"I'm Zuzu." The girl said, holding her hand out to Yuya. He took it and gave it a shake, a huge smile forming on his face. He couldn't believe he'd finally made a friend, aside from Tate, Fredrick and Ali.

"Nice to meet you."

"How come I haven't seen you around here before? You're pretty hard to miss." She giggled, gesturing to his appearance. Yuya blushed and tugged his hood self-consciously.

"Well… I uh… Come from somewhere else." He said vaguely.

"Oh, like one of the other four kingdoms?"

"Something like that…"

"Cool! Which one?"

"Um… Well… Uh…" Yuya stammered, unsure of what to tell her, he didn't want to lie to her, but he couldn't exactly tell the truth. Zuzu watched him curiously, wondering why he was having such difficulty telling her. Her eyes widened as a thought suddenly struck her. Perhaps something horrible had happened to his home or family…

"Never mind." She said, smiling. "I shouldn't pry."

"Oh, oh no that's alright." Yuya said, smiling back.

"There you are!"

They both turned to see the man from before, red-faced and seething.

"Oh no…" Zuzu whispered, grabbing Yuya's arm again and trying to make a run for it.

"Oh no you don't!" The man cried. "You're not getting away from me this time!"

He made a grab for them and managed to get the back of Yuya's cloak. Zuzu and Yuya both cried out as their dash was halted. Zuzu was the first of the two to recover and spun round to try and free Yuya from his grasp.

"Let go of him!" She yelled.

"No way!"

Zuzu growled and tried to think of a way out of this. Her eyes drifted to the clasp on Yuya's cloak, and it suddenly gave her an idea. With one swift movement, she unclipped it and dragged Yuya out into the open with the intention to run, but the sight of Yuya made her stop. The young hybrid gasped in horror as he was dragged out of his cloak. His black skin shining in the sun, wings flaring out behind him in a desperate attempt to regain their feeling after being trapped for so long.

"No…" He whispered in fright as hoards of people stopped what they were doing to stare at him, both shocked and horrified.

"M- M- Monster!" The man holding his cloak cried, dropping it in disgust.

"No, no." Yuya shook his head, desperately hoping this was all a dream. A horrible nightmare, and he was about to wake up in his room, in his tower, and go do his chores just like every other day. Unfortunately, the screams of people as they pointed at him proved him wrong. He looked at Zuzu next to him to see she was staring at him with a look of disbelief and something else he couldn't make out. It didn't seem like a good sign. He didn't have time to dwell on it though, by now a large crowd had gathered, and they looked awfully threatening. Yuya backed up as they advanced on him.

"Please stay away, I don't want any trouble I swear." He cried frantically.

"Demon!" A woman cried.

"No, I—" Yuya began but was cut off by a rope snapping around his arm. He followed it to the hands of a young man, probably in his mid-twenties, glaring hatefully at him. Yuya gasped as another rope coiled around his other arm, held by another young man. Then suddenly a dozen more shot out from the crowd, snapping at every part of his body. His legs, arms, neck, even around his wings.

"Go back to hell!" Someone shouted, throwing an apple, they happened to be holding, at him.

"Ah!" Yuya cried as it struck the side of his head. He reeled to the side, only the support of the ropes keeping him upright. For some reason, the crowd of people found this hilarious and decided to laugh and point at Yuya, who just stared in shock. This wasn't right, he'd always wanted to make people happy but not like this. They shouldn't be getting pleasure from his pain, no one should ever get pleasure from pain. Beautiful and exciting and mysterious things were supposed to make people happy, like adventures and plays and duels and all kinds of other things. Not the suffering of another.

"Yeah monster, go back to whatever darkness you spawned from." Someone yelled, before Yuya was hit in the chest with an egg. It shattered on contact, making a horrible sticky mess of his shirt, not to mention some of it splattered his face and hair. This made the crowd laugh harder, and prompted them to join in on the assault. Yuya suddenly found himself under heavy fire from a variety of produce and even some rocks. Whatever people could find they threw, laughing cruelly. Yuya tried desperately to escape, flailing about in his bindings and flapping his wings around in an attempt to take off. The men tying him down retaliated by throwing more ropes, and pulling the other ones to the ground forcing him to his knees.

"Hey stop that!" Someone cried. Yuya looked over in shock to see Zuzu trying to wrestle a rope from one of the men restraining him. He shoved her aside easily, sending her sprawling across the floor with a cry of pain and surprise.

"Zuzu!" Yuya yelled out, concerned for his friend. Unfortunately, her form was absorbed by the growing crowd as more people came to sling food and insults at him.

"Freak!"

"Devil!"

"Monster!"

"Stop! Please!" Yuya screamed. He looked around the crowd, trying to see if anyone had heard his cry for help. However, his eyes froze as he recognised someone. Behind the crowd, sitting resplendently on his horse, with a dark scowl on his face, was his master. As soon as he saw him, Yuya's eyes filled with hope, surely his master would save him. Surely he would… Yuya's thoughts drifted away as his master shook his head, looking disappointed. Then merely continued to watch his torment. Yuya slumped over in defeat, dropping his head to the ground, allowing tears to fall from his eyes as he realised he'd let his master down. This was his punishment, he realised. He'd been warned of what would happen if he stepped outside the castle, but he did so anyway. And why? Nothing but the selfish desire to have fun. He should have been grateful and stayed in the castle; now he was paying the price for his mistake. Man… If he thought it was hard to see himself in the mirror before… Well now he wasn't sure he'd ever be able to face himself again. He was so disgusted with himself. He didn't even try to fight now, just allowed the crowd of people to attack him how they wanted. He deserved it after all.

Don Thousand watched as dozens of people threw food and rocks and other items at his young servant. Laughing and jeering as they did. He had to fight down a smirk when the poor boy gave in and slumped to the floor. He could have even sworn he saw tears trailing down his face. This was wonderful. Not only did he get a good show but now he didn't have to punish Yuya as the people of the town had taken care of that for him. He watched the proceedings for quite some time, until it finally began to bore him and he decided to step in. He couldn't risk Yuya becoming desperate and using his magic to get away. That would ruin everything. He pulled on the reigns of his horse and took off towards the crowd. They panicked and rushed aside to allow him through; the men holding the ropes loosened their grip in surprise and Don Thousand was able to slice through them with his sword in just one motion. He picked Yuya up and sat him on the back of the horse, then took off into the forest.

"Yuya!" Someone called as they vanished among the trees, neither Yuya nor Don Thousand hearing the cry. The cry that came from Zuzu Boyle as she tried to catch them up, wanting to see if Yuya was alright. She ran into the woods just as they had done, following the vague trail they left. She felt bad that she had been the one to expose Yuya, and then been unable to help him as he was publically degraded. She made herself a promise then and there, that she would not return to town until she'd found him. With that set firmly in her mind, she began the journey to Don Thousand's castle.