Eiri roamed the hallways trying to find a way out. The eternian castle was huge, even bigger than his own; at least where he lived he could find an exit (.1)
"this brat really will be the death of me!" He said to himself. He wandered around the castle for a significant amount of time and still could not find an exit. Soon, he figured that if he couldn't find an exit, he would make one.
Meanwhile, outside the castle, Shuichi was struggling to hold his own against Bison and Sakano. Just like in one of Suguru's final visions, Bison had the upper hand. The worst part of this was that he wasn't a skilled warrior at all. He was at the bottom of his class and had the lowest rank. He at one point was afraid of his own shadow and now he made a reckless move trying to fight when he should have stayed in bed. Little did he know that his friends were in deeper than he could be right now?
It looked like all four men were in over their heads when they were caught in the crossfire of their lives, losing the ones they loved and confronting a conscience would eventually cost some or perhaps all of them their lives. The battles going on outside the castle as well as in their hearts were getting more and more intense as they remained in the kingdom. The battle was getting more and more violent and more blood was being splattered all over the ground. Many of the soldiers who were defending it were meeting their matches. so was Shuichi. Sure, he wasn't dead, yet but he was seriously hurt from all of the attacks he endured. It looked like he was losing badly. He had very little battle experience and was unsure how to go about it.
'What am I going to do now? He thought. 'he's too strong for me to fight, I have no experience what- so -ever and I don't have magic, I better quit now while I'm alive to regret this.'
Bison stepped toward the teen. A bright glow surrounding his arm, it appeared he was about to finish the boy off. Adding insult to injury, Shuichi was hurt so badly he could barely move.
"You should have just stayed in bed, kid!" the captain taunted. "You knew you were no match for me and yet you continue to oppose me. Are you this way with your friends as well. Do you disobey them when they tell you to do something? Or perhaps you don't have any friends. Did they get murdered, or could it be that they saw you for the pathetic little shit that you are and abandoned you. No matter, one less piece of trash to deal with."
With those words the evil pirate fired his psycho ball, it just missed his target but the impact sent him flying toward the walls of the palace they were outside of. Shuichi hit the walls at more than one hundred miles per hour. If that didn't kill him, Bison's next move just might.
Hiro was outback looking around for Saiou, the man that emerged from his late lover's body. It still rang in his mind that Suguru was no longer with him. But he refused to accept it. He thought that there could be a way to get him back, somehow Suguru would come back to him and they would be together. At least that's what he wanted to believe. He wandered around the garden and saw no signs of life in the garden. He still continued to search for him, and keep the alter ego from causing any trouble to the kingdom.
"You are the most desperate man I've ever come to know." A voice taunted from the garden. He saw that it was Suguru, or at least it was Surguru's body. It still did not stick in hiro's mind that the person he was talking too was indeed, Saiou.
"Saiou…" Hiro said. Then the man in question walked towards the sorcerer. Not taunting him or planning to attack. This made him very suspicious. Especially since there were times where the psychic tried to kill him.
"It's always about Suguru, isn't it. You always have to think about him. "He began. It wasn't long before Hiro got the hint of how Saiou was acting.
"I get it you were jealous of him, but that was no reason to kill him." Hiro snapped. He was certain that the other half had something to do with what happened to his lover.
"I had nothing to do with what happened to your precious Suguru! I knew that he wouldn't let me out but something or someone let me out and as a result he died. "The other "Suguru" explained. He was part of Suguru so he knew that magic outside can affect them and his visions, in fact he knew that someone was toying with Suguru's mind and was manipulating the visions as well as increasing the damage it did to his soul. Sure he wanted Suguru dead but he wanted to be the one to do it, not an outsider.
"Tell me then, Saiou, If you knew that someone was interfering with his visions, why didn't you do anything to stop it?" Hiro interrogated the Psychic.
"Believe it or not, I wanted to warn him and you! But in order for that to happen, I had to come out, and he wouldn't let me, I knew that the longer my host resisted, the more it would hurt him until he eventually gave in to the impact of those fake visions."
'Fake visions, Manipulation, somehow this doesn't make sense!' the magician thought. Just who could be strong enough to manipulate another person's powers to the point of killing them? Hiro soon thought about what he was told days past and figured it out.
~flashback~ a few months ago (Chapters 13 and 16)
I just saw a man on this ship. He was killing all the slaves and capturing the living ones. Hiro was one of the captured slaves." He warned.
All of them were shocked to hear about Suguru's vision. Cody and Chun-Li looked at each other. It seemed as if they new the person who would be attacking the ship at any moment. Both Shuichi and Suguru looked extremely suspicious of their behavior. They appeared to be frightened of the person that suguru saw in his vision.
"You know who I'm talking about, Don't you?" he questioned. The two turned their attention to their new companions then to each other. The fear that covered their eyes began to slowly creep all over their bodies. They did not want to look suspicious but they were terrified of the person in Suguru's vision. Plus they remained quiet.
"Who is he?" the psychic asked again. This time he sounded more serious. Cody and Chun-Li knew that they were boxed in a corner. There was no getting around it; they had to let their new friends know what was up.
"The Man in your vision is Bison. He is the real captain of the ottoman; Zangief is only the acting captain until he returns from his world voyage." The Chinese woman explained. "He has what they call psycho power. He uses it to control people's minds, destroy objects, even to kill anyone opposing him. Either you join him or die. Either way he
When the guys finally reached the town, they found a doctor to treat their unconscious friend. This was when accusations and theories began to run wild.
"Something tells me that Bison is responsible for what happened to Suguru and why Sakano did that to us." Shuichi suggested. It seemed to all add up, not being able to find sakano before getting off of the boat, Suguru's first vision that got cut off. It had to be him.
"We don't know for sure if he is being controlled." Eiri said. He was always the type of person who believed that people changed on their own free will. But in this case he figured that mind control was a very strong possibility as well. And if anyone was strong enough to manipulate other people's psychic abilities, it was very possible that it was the captain of the ottoman.
"I wouldn't be surprised if that clown was hypnotized by some evil sorcerer." He said. "Sakano does have a weak mind. But that doesn't explain what happened to the kid."
Then they noticed that the red haired sorcerer was strangely quiet about the whole thing. They wondered if maybe he knew something else.
"There's something else to this isn't it?" Eiri asked. Hiro did not respond. Then he began to head for the exit when he was stopped again. Now the couple was sure that he was hiding something.
"Hiro, does Suguru have any problems with his powers that we should know about?" Shuichi asked. It was finally time for the magician to come clean about his lover's secret. He knew that it would jeopardize the psychics trust in him but this was a serious matter that could get out of hand if it wasn't resolved.
"Well, he does sometimes lose control of his powers suddenly." Hiro said. "I've seen it happen, its really scary. It was like I didn't know who he was anymore. But I don't think that transformation had anything to do with the powers that be."
Suguru finally awoke from his "nap" and heard all of his friends thinking up possible reasons for him losing control of his powers. Ever since he was a kid he would sometimes lose control of his energy and it would start destroying everything in its path.
Not to long ago, before meeting Shuichi and Yuki he experienced a similar problem, a problem that almost killed hiro.
~End flashback~
Hiro closed his fist, his eyes filled with rage at his discovery. He knew that only one person could have that kind of power. The same person he heard about in the boat.
"Bison!" He muttered under his breath.
"I'm sorry what?" Saiou asked. He was dormant in the other's body at the time so he didn't really understand what Hiro was talking about.
"While we were prisoners on that ship, you know the one outside with all those pirates, we found out about this guy known as Bison. He was the leader and was away on business while we were there. We managed to escape with our lives, but it looks like they found us and are involving the Kingdom of Eternias in their search. They were after us all along. I guess master Shuichi knew that and felt guilty about it. That's why he went to fight him! Dammit, I should have stopped him!" Hiro explained, guilt was running through his mind as he thought about Suguru's vision.
Saiou then wrapped his arms around his other half's lover. "It's not like you would have been able to talk him out of it, I doubt even his highness would be able to get through to him." Something about him was different to Hiro. Why was he being so caring toward the red haired man? Could it be that Suguru Returned? Or could it be that maybe Saiou wasn't evil? Hiro took the smaller boy's hand and held him closer.
"Suguru…" he breathed out.
"Yes Hiro, It's me." He said. Shocked to hear his voice the older teen turned around to see that same shine that he saw in Suguru's eyes.(2) But something was wrong, even with that shine he could still sense Saiou's presence. But that didn't matter. All that mattered was that his beloved was back. Or so he thought.
IN THE CASTLE
Eiri used his own powers to try to make an exit and find Shuichi before it was too late. He began to realize why Shuichi made the reckless move he did. It was all because of being held on that ship. And because of that man who held them there.
As he got ready to blow a hole in the walls, the blond saw that there was an open room. It was Shuichi's room that he shared with Hiro and Suguru. He went in and surprise, the widnow was open and from there he saw that the boy was unconscious by the castle walls and about to be brutally killed by the man in red. Seeing Shuichi in so much pain devastated the prince, what was worse was that he couldn't do anything to stop at the time. Then he got an even bigger surprise.
E-Eiri, I'm sorry. A voice said. Oddly enough the voice belonged to his lover. 'Shuichi?' Eiri thought.
I really am pathetic aren't I? I should have known better than to fight this guy, he's too strong and now I might not live long enough to see you. If I could only see you one last time, at least I could die happy.
'Hold on, brat, I'll get you back inside.' Eiri thought. It was strange, He was never able to read other people's thoughts, especially from afar. It looked like some of his father's power was given to him.
Outside, Shuichi's Eyes shot wide open. He was startled to find that he could hear his prince. Something strange was happening. How could he hear Eiri?
Eiri! You can hear me?
'That's right, idiot, I can hear your thoughts now! What the hell were you thinking fighting that man, do you have a death wish?'
I'm sorry, Eiri I just,,, I knew that they were after me so I had to face them!
'You could have at least let me help you! Which is exactly what I'm going to do?'
Shuichi turned and saw that Eiri was getting ready to come down to the fight right from the window. His eyes widened as fear grew. Also, all of the soldiers as well as the King and Taki saw what was going on. That's when suspicions began to surface.
"Something about their relationship is a bit odd." Lord Usami said.
"I agree." Taki said. "It's not normal for him to care for a lowly soldier like him."
As Eiri climbed down from the castle he saw that Shuichi had woken up. Maybe the fight would be easier than he thought. He got to the ground and saw that Shuichi still hadn't moved. But he regained consciousness.
"You're an idiot." He said to the pink haired boy. He then took the injured s warrior into his arms. Shuichi wasn't expecting for them to have a bond deeper than this, but it happened and there wasn't much that could be done but to embrace their new connection. The next thing he knew, they were in a deep, loving kiss. Both lord Usami and Taki were in shock to see them kiss. They couldn't believe that the prince of edenia would think about being involved with another man, and to them, Shuichi was a second class citizen. The kiss finally broke and Shuichi gave these words
"And you're a jerk." Shuichi said. Suddenly they saw the man above standing over them draw out another psycho ball, but this one was even bigger than the last, and it was aimed at them both.
"*evil laugh* isn't that nice, looks like you'll die together!" Bison taunted. Eiri knew that even his powers wouldn't be enough to stand up against someone as powerful as him. But it didn't hurt to try to get away right? When the psycho ball blasted, chunks of the earth flew all over. Then something even stranger happened. The pink haired teen reached his arms out to push him back and saw that magic was blasting out from his hands, hitting his opponent. The blast caused Bison to fall backwards. When he came to he noticed that they were gone.
"What- where…how the….WHERE THE HELL DID THEY GO?" Bison couldn't put what was going on into complete sentences. Their disappearance caught him off guar
"I don't think you need to worry about where they are!" A voice said. The captain turned to see that it was Taki the King's advisor. He knew he was in for punishment, especially after seeing the glow from his staff.
"Because they're not where you'll be in the next few seconds, see you in hell, Bison." He said before blasting the man with his staff. The next thing he saw was blood splatter all over the ground.
"That takes care of him, now to deal with that kid."
THE NEXT DAY IN THE THRONE ROOM
"Prince Eiri, do you realize that by being in a relationship with him that you have just sent an open invitation to a war? Not to mention that you have denied our protection?" Lord Usami asked. It was out in the open that he and Shuichi were lovers and nothing could be done about it. Not that Eiri wanted to do anything about it. All that ran through his mind was that he knew who he was and who he wanted to be with.
"You don't seem to understand your majesty. As annoying and reckless as he is, I do care for him and I don't intend to leave him." Eiri said. This made lord Usami fume with rage.
"That man is a lowly soldier, You are a noble, he has broken the law our kingdom!" the king exclaimed.
"I thought there was no law against being intimate with another man." Eiri scoffed.
"There isn't. but there is a law against him , a soldier being sexually involved with you! I will have to punish him for this." The prince said as he reached for a paper only to find the blond standing in front of him. He was beginning to get very irritated by the man now.
"You really are ungrateful. Do you realize that Shuichi just saved your kingdom from those pirates? Instead of punishing him for being with me, you should be looking at him as a hero." The blond began to shout at the king. It looked like another fight was about to happen. Lord Usami had enough or Eiri's talking back and was ready to teach him a lesson. But he couldn't put his people through a repeat of last night.
"Very well, I'll leave Shuichi be for now on one condition, you are to marry my daughter at summer's end. And after that your Shuichi must go back to edenia! If he does not, I will have to put him to death."
"Fine," Eiri said. "I have a condition for you too, you can't do anything to harm Shuichi, Understand?"
The men agreed to their terms, but something was still unclear, Just how could Shuichi be able to use magic? How were they able to communicate telepathically? And why was Eiri so drawn to him.
"My liege, I have some interesting news regarding the Pirates." Taki interrupted.
"Not now, Taki I'm not in the mood." Lord usami interjected.
"You'll want to hear about this!" he said. " I found out that Bison and those Pirates are from The kingdom of Axis, and rumor has it that after the king was killed his son was taken and put up for adoption to commoners in Edenia."
"And this is interesting, why?" The king asked.
"It was believed that the prince inherited incredible magic from his father. I'm beginning to believe that Shuichi is indeed that long lost prince. Plus you do know about our current war against axis. If they find that he's here, they will accuse us of kidnapping him and the war could get dangerous."
"What do you suggest we do, Taki." Lord Usami asked.
"We must get him to return to his kingdom, or risk another attack." He suggested.
"What about his friends?"
"Them too." It was clear what they should do, if Taki was right, then Shuichi would be a major threat to their peace.
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