Aki was sitting beside Yani who was sleeping soundly. He could it difficult to sleep when he was anxious about Yani's safety and returning him as soon as he could. When he opened his eyes, he could see the fog had lightened up slightly, but he still couldn't see past the trees.
In an attempt to find a solution out, he could only think of the dangerous one with the best result.
He went up to the pitch-black tree that looked like it could handle his weight and began climbing. The bark was coarse and left a black, powdery substance on his hands. It built up easily as he continued ascending towards the top. Aki let slip a loud gasp when his foot broke a branch under him, but his grip onto tight as he balanced himself to scan around.
Through his scanning, he only saw an abyss of trees until rising smoke in the distance caught his attention. Aki's eyes widened as he stared at it in horror.
The Black Rose Kingdom was surrounded by a black cloud of smoke…
His grip became loose as his memories of his first home invaded his mind. All he could see was fire struggled to breathe properly, fearing they would be filled with smoke again. His fears distracted him from properly reacting when the branch supporting his weight broke.
Plummeting towards the grounds, he felt like everything was moving in slow motion. Staring up the grey clouds and desperately reaching for them. All he could do was close his eyes and accept his fate…
"If you evolved from apes, it sucks climbing skills were the first forgotten…" A voice laughed in his ear. Aki opened his eyes to see Yani smiling at him. "Were you trying to find the way? What did you see?"
Aki hesitantly looked around to see he was still alive and in one piece. When he tried speaking, his lips moved but no words would come out. Yani gave him a confused look until Aki finally spoke in a whisper. "We need to go… now…" he pointed in the direction of the kingdom.
Yani moved his ankle around before running in the pointed direction. Aki clung to him as he tried to convince himself that he was wrong. There was no way it was happening again. It was all a bad dream and he'd soon wake up in a warm bed.
As the village became more visible, Yani pushed himself to run faster. Both were desperate to leave the woods and pretend it never happened. But that was only wishful thinking.
The houses were covered in black soot and burnt bodies of all ages littered the ground. Aki's nose was assaulted by the smell of burnt flesh and the loose black flakes that came down like snow. Yani's steps faltered before he resumed running, bypassing the destruction and death to make it back home.
"Yani? Aki! Oh, thank the gods you're both alive!" Shade's voice caught their attention. She was in her tigress form and her panting made it clear she had been running for some time. "Climb on. We have to get out of here."
Unwilling to argue, Yani helped Aki on her back before getting on. She sprinted past the castle enveloped in smoke and headed towards the central market. Structures closer to the entrance were damaged to the point they were only a pile of ash.
Shade entered the central market and there stood the other young royals gathered around Sylvester. Adkin was unconscious in his arms and was covered in blood. Maria, Rainer, and Snow were all in tears while Dreue was holding his baby brother who was asleep. None of their parents were anywhere in sight. Sylvester looked shaken up and was seemed relieved when they arrived.
"I found them exiting the woods, it seems they ran off after the fire broke out." Shade laid down to let them off before taking on her more human form.
Silvath sighed in relief. "Everyone's accounted for. I checked over them and found no visible damage. We were lucky that–"
"Where're our parents?" Yani asked bluntly.
They all became quiet, even the ones crying. Both Shade and Sylvester seemed at a loss of words on how to put it.
Dreue held his brother closer before looking at Yani. "They've perished. Fighting to protect us and our kingdoms."
Sylvester seemed like he wanted to say something to him but directed his attention to Yani. "He's right, unfortunately. We weren't able to assist as we were ordered to evacuate you all initially. Please understand we are to put the future generation before them."
"My mom wouldn't die over a fire! Who did this to her!" Yani screamed. "She was killed wasn't she?!"
Aki looked back at the castle. He was reliving the hell all over again. Losing his family, home, and life all over again. He wasn't to cry, scream, and deny reality like them. But he only stood there with his hand holding Yani's.
Dreue was about to answer for them again, but Sylvester shushed him.
"I know you want to help, but you all are going through enough, Dreue. Can you answer it without crying?" Sylvester asked as he looked at him. Dreue opened his mouth to speak but stopped as tears spilling out. Clinging to Sylvester's side.
"It doesn't matter, because it's your fault they're dead," Yang suddenly spoke up. His orange eyes glaring at Yani and Aki. "If you two didn't run away like cowards, she would've been able to leave with us! It's your fault my home is gone! That my parents are dead! You took away everything! So don't try to blame anyone but yourself!" He screamed, which only made Ryuu cry harder as she hugged him.
Shade couldn't even scold them as she hugged them. Yani's trembling hand made Aki hold it tighter and hold back his own words.
Yang had the nerve to say those words. He tried to speak like the victim when he was responsible for ruining someone else's life without hesitation. Aki wanted to say so much to him.
'How does it feel to lose everything? You can play the victim all you want, but you did the same thing without a second thought. I'm glad to see you like this…'
But those words would forever stay in his mind, as all he could care about was Yani.
"A-Aki. You can't leave me too. That's an order. Never ever leave me…" Yani stuttered.
"Yes, my prince…" Aki smiled wearily.
—
A sudden warm hand against Aki's cheek woke him up from his dream. Though it felt so real, it took him a moment to remember where he was.
The bathhouse he came to visit with Yani.
"Hey, sleepyhead. You shouldn't sleep in the bath, didn't you say it was dangerous?" Yani asked as he stood over him. He was already fully dressed and holding a towel in his arms.
Aki slowly pushed himself out of the warm water and stood up. He yawned and stretched his arms above his head. "Did they already leave?" Aki asked with a smile.
"Already? Aki, it's been four hours!" Yani laughed.
"What!?" Aki looked at his hands that were wrinkled and uncomfortable. "Why did you let me sleep for so long!?" he whined as he tried to ignore the feeling.
"You're so cute when you sleep. So I didn't mind watching over you to avoid interrupting you." Yani handed over a towel which Aki accepted. Drying off his body with a flushed face.
"You shouldn't watch others when they're sleeping. It's creepy…" Aki commented before slinging the black towel over his shoulder.
Yani casually shrugged. "It's only you that I watch. Watching you sleep always puts me at ease…" He said before leaving.
Aki followed him. He didn't voice how he wouldn't be able to be at ease after learning that. It was time to keep living in the present and prepare for the future. He got the break he wanted and spent it dreaming about a tragedy…
"Master? Can I get another vacation?" Aki groaned. "I promise I'll spend it wisely."
Yani clicked his tongue and scoffed. "Nope. Because you're spending your free hours with that red bastard for the weekend."
"This should count as a business trip and not a vacation!" Aki protested as he grabbed his clothes and went into the changing room.
"I would consider that, but I hate him using your hours like that. Once you're out, you can stay with me without interruptions."
"This is tyranny!" Aki change with his face scrunched up.
Yani laughed. "If wanting to keep someone I love by my side makes me a tyrannical king, I can live with it."
Aki was lost for words after hearing something as confusing as that. Yani was weird, but sometimes he was too weird for Aki to understand. All he knew was that he had the next two days to spend with prince Adkin. Another strange ruler who always wanted Aki's attention.