(Leo)
***
"Kings, I've spoken with King Daemon of the Terrestrial Kingdom. He has sent a few soldiers led by his General Galen to look for Princess Koharu and Advisor Ophelia, and he's willing to go to more extreme measures to locate them if needed after the preliminary searches have been completed," Sinclair announced when they returned, reading from a new piece of parchment with scribbles on it.
King Hikaru and his brother were now physically in the chamber with contrasting expressions. Hikaru was distressed—hair tousled and hands shaky—while Asahi was collected and nearly silent. The only noticeable change in Asahi after learning of the new report was the worry written lightly on his face.
Hikaru tried grinning at the messenger. His voice trembled as he said, "Wonderful. I trust he'll do anything he can to get those two back knowing his character."
"Why doesn't he just use a spell to detect magic?" Inei deadpanned, acting as if the Terrestrial King didn't work adequately. "Sending soldiers is too time-consuming if he wants to do anything he can. Speaking of soldiers,"—he drummed his fingers against the wood of his throne—"when will Jisoo be back?"
The kings' switch was jarring; it seemed their personalities swapped as soon as something started to be done about the missing nobles. They couldn't agree on anything! There was no midpoint!
"I assure you, Your Highness, that armies are not as slow as you make them out to be."
Jisoo entered with the piercing creaking of the doors and adornments of gold lace. He said coldly, "I've informed Mr. Heide about what's going on, and he will be arriving here in about an hour to address the situation."
"How could he be so nonchalant about this? I would have come at a moment's notice," Hikaru asked, horrified.
If it had been anyone else, I would have guessed he was exaggerating, but that was never the case with him when he was so driven by emotions that he'd run straight through a wall if it offended him.
Jisoo sighed. "He's worried sick, Your Highness, but he knows he cannot do anything to aid the cause. He supposed his presence might be as useful as a goblet of wine—to paraphrase his own words. I agree with him." He narrowed his eyes. "He's quite old now."
Inei stomped his foot like a gavel. He was more childish than me some days, but he had enough authority to make the room shut up with half the competency.
"Why has my inquiry not been answered? Why are they not using magic to find someone who possesses such powers? Is King Daemon ignorant? Certainly, his wife would have some sense to tell him. Would she not?"
Hikaru screamed ferociously as he leaned over the throne, "If you don't stop acting like the sun revolves around you, then kindly hand over this castle to me. Your pettiness has no place in the matters of others when they are not a slave to you, so if you would kindly know when to grind your teeth together to suck it up and listen to what's going on around you, it would be appre—"
"Shut up, you hot-headed beast," Inei retaliated, likely spitting in his husband's face due to the viciousness of his enunciation.
Sometimes, it really felt like they stirred up fights just for the fun of it. Why else would they have argued under such difficult circumstances? I snorted at their pettiness.
"Now, Hikaru, I think you can calm down a bit."
I turned to a fuming Inei, who was somewhere between punching his husband and kissing him aggressively in that confused manner of a person in love.
"I see you're already gnashing your teeth enough to make them crack. You don't need to do that just because Hikaru suggested you do so."
That statement earned me nasty glares from both kings.
Pointing up my finger cheekily, I concluded my warning by saying, "The two of you need to use your heads instead of fighting like you're mindless insects."
"Leo, get out if you're going to add to the fuss." Hikaru flicked his hand at me.
I floated in the air, wings making a gentle noise like a heartbeat. "No."
As I smacked my lips to be sassy, I grinned rudely for a moment. "Both of you need to think together and stop acting like toddlers. I'm the only child here." I laid down and placed my hands in a "v" below my chin endearingly.
"He's right," Jisoo added, and Sinclair nodded. "Well, except he's not a child, but that's not the point."
I turned to hiss at him. I wanted to have my one minute of fun in a macabre parade.
"I concur," Sinclair began. "We all need to work to find the girls, even if we must put aside any outstanding disputes in the kingdom to accomplish that." They stared directly at the two kings, who had only just begun to calm down.
"Then, I apologize for my foul mouth," Hikaru surrendered with that strange eloquence both he and the messenger possessed, and he stared either longingly or angrily at his husband.
"I don't," Inei spat.
Rolling his eyes, Hikaru turned away.
"Well, we have the fairy of emotions here if you refuse to change that defiant attitude of yours, Your Highness," I said mockingly.
Sinclair looked at me with shaky pupils, beseeching me not to make them use that sort of magic. They didn't need to worry. I adored them too much to have them put up with the kings' clusterfuck of words.
"Fine. I'm sorry," Inei said disingenuously. "Let's get on with this meeting."
"I shall answer your question, Your Highness." Sinclair spoke softly, "King Daemon and Queen Lucy have not resorted to the measures you suggested because they simply lack the power to effectively do so without a fairy. I know Algor has been missing for quite some time now and cannot be con—"
"Contact the boy if you're the messenger," Inei butted in.
"Your Highness, I'm trying to say he cannot be contacted. He's been gone for years."
Hikaru turned to me. "Do you perhaps know his whereabouts?"
I shook my head. Though I was once close to him, his disappearance rattled my brain until I had to sideline it.
"Not at all. If Sinclair doesn't know, then I certainly don't."
Inei pointed at Sinclair and me. "Why don't either of you volunteer to give them magic?"
"That's unreasonable, Inei." Hikaru hesitated to reach for his husband's hand. "We need them here. A kingdom without fairies is like an apple tree that doesn't bear apples."
"You may have a point," Inei relented, leaning back to cross his arms.
With a subtle grin, Hikaru nodded. "Yes, dear."
"I apologize for the intrusion," Asahi spoke for the first time in the conversation, "but has anyone thought of using an aerial fleet to find them? I recall our kingdom has had them in the past, and little magic was expended."
I recalled when I had to use my mechanism for magic sharing during the war. It wasn't hard to do, but I was reluctant to give that many people readily accessible powers again after seeing the damage done. There was a stark difference between allowing the royal family to have the ability to cast spells and turning them into a free-for-all souvenir of no value. I gulped.
"That's a plausible idea, Asahi. I'll have Sinclair run it by the Terrestrial Kingdom if we have no updates in a day or two," Hikaru responded kindly to his brother, who nodded solemnly. "There's little else we can do here. I think we should all return to our normal duties for now so as not to cause a great fuss among the people. I don't want this getting out."
Everyone nodded to that except for Inei, who simply huffed in agreement.
Hikaru said, "Sinclair, I need you to visit and check for updates every few hours."
"Of course," they responded, "as is my regular duty."
Then, off everyone went to their ordinary lives as an unprecedented crisis faced us all. It was strange to think how two young flames in the castle burned brightly before suddenly fizzling out and taking the soul of the entire administration with them. Yet that was the exact issue we faced as unfiltered sighs and uncorrected frowns permeated the room.
Sinclair and I walked out together, almost brushing shoulders, and we spotted a battered-looking Akiyoshi hiding beside the door outside. The boy was lucky I didn't slam the chunk of wood in his face.
He looked up with reddened eyes and knees hugged to his chest, and I extended a hand to him. I did not need to ask him what was the matter.
So he grabbed it and stood up to join us as a gesture of allyship.
However, I scarcely noticed the faint shadow of a winged man dashing away from behind the other side of the door—except for a gentle tingle in the tip of my wings that I chalked up to the presence of magic inside the Moon King's chamber.