(Leo)
***
Swiftly, I found myself in the room full of explosives. It was hardly disturbed from months ago when Sinclair and I infiltrated it, which brought my hopes down. After all, if someone had visited recently, then the dust wouldn't have piled up so high, clinging to the underside of my fingernail as I scraped some from atop a wooden crate. I frowned at it while rubbing the particles off, rounding the corner of a pile of empty boxes with my feet clacking against a tarp.
Even looking around, the tension in my body was not relieved.
"Sini!" I shouted as my jaw hung loosely.
Steps full of urgency, I ran to them. They were crouched down on the floor in the corner with their face buried in their knees like before, and I was unable to tell if they were crying from their current position. They were damn quiet if that was the case.
"Sini! Look up!" I commanded, hands resting along their shoulders, and they moved their face up as if they had only just heard me enter the room.
Their lips curved to the shape of a flattened bow.
They sweetly mumbled, "Ah, Lele."
Giving me a tight hug, their voice and face had little indication of panic. Their cheeks were merely a slight shade of crimson below ambiguously glassy eyes. They could have been in that state from anything ranging from elation to allergies to sorrow.
When Sinclair let me go, I could not prevent the questions I brewed from trickling out of my mouth like a waterfall.
"Did you have that dream again? The one with the person yelling at and strangling you."
Merry expression fading, they hesitated.
"…Yes? I'll even tell you why I'm in here."
"Hm?"
With an inhale preceding their sentence, they told me, "I was so terrified again, but I didn't want to worry anyone. There's something relieving about being able to shout in silence without being bothered." They grinned. "You at least know nobody will do those things to you if you're alone. You get the power to your own words back—the power to your own body."
When they said that, I nodded to go along with their habit of saying somewhat deep things at rather strange times.
Their other idiosyncrasy of being oblivious was not an infallible doctrine, though.
"Wait, how did you know I had that dream?"
I sat in front of them with a small space between us. "I had it, too. But there's nobody else I feel comfortable enough to tell."
"Have you not seen Prince Akiyoshi?"
The question elicited a momentary silence.
Pressing my lips together, I sighed. "We're… in a bit of a rough spot right now."
Sinclair nodded slightly as if they already knew. "Then, explain to me what you saw. I want to know if it was the same as what I experienced."
"Well, I didn't get beat up but…"
I proceeded to tell them about those motionless minutes full of begging and fighting for answers. I told them about how their voice sounded so shrill and defeated when I finally heard it. I told them about the smoke-like lines and how the speech repeated in my ears like the broken phonographs I stole from the future.
What I didn't tell them was how much I wanted to reach out and protect them from whatever evil caused them that grief. For good measure, I also didn't tell them how I wanted to sit there and comfort them for hours, though I figured I made up for that by listening to them right then.
I wondered if they understood the sentiment without me verbalizing it.
They followed along with what I said, and a single tear formed in the corner of their eye. They promptly wiped it before speaking and shifted to sit beside me.
Hugging me tenderly—sadly—around the shoulders, they muttered, "I'm… I'm so sorry you had to see that."
"Why are you apologizing?" I backed away until our torsos formed a "v". "It's not your fault."
They shook their head. "The shadow… It keeps telling me it is, so I'll keep apologizing until I know for sure I'm not guilty." Rough breaths followed their sentence. "Of something."
I looked them dead in the eyes. "I'm telling you right now: You aren't. I can't even imagine what you could be accused of doing."
"I can't take that as an acquittal, Lele. I just can't."
I tightened my lips into a straight line, frustrated with their insistence. Sinclair was too kind—far too much so—for their own good. Gentle souls always got the short end of the stick; however, it was impossible to fathom how Sinclair could fuck up so severely unless such a scenario was fabricated by a sheath of lies.
I changed the focus of the discussion, asking, "Do you know anything about the shadow? Is it some person?"
"If there was anything to be told, I still wouldn't be able to tell it. I always feel so much pain that I cannot even look them in the eyes. I can hardly even comprehend the things they say to me." Spinning their hand in circles, they lamented, "It's all drivel that makes me beg for mercy."
They grazed a hand near my thigh, wanting to grasp onto something, so I grabbed it.
"There's really nothing? You can't—"
A burning sensation coursed through my body, shocking me into place. The lethal electricity extended from the tip of my wings to my back and through that to my head and heart.
Sinclair, feeling that same wildfire in their chest as a spark, called my name. Seeing the desperation in their eyes, I wished I could respond, but it was no use trying to form words with a limp mouth.
Causing them to worry sunk all my emotions. Stupid chemicals then tugged my back to the ground.
Sinclair picked up my weakened body and sprinted out of the room with the superhuman strength only a user of magic could harness. If I wasn't so sick, something fuzzy would have buzzed in me because they hardly used their abilities.
However, I figured I should have been the one trying to save them, but things could change in a flash. The myth of the shining knight was fickle; sometimes, the knight crashed down from the stratosphere of idealization to become a normal person as well.
The sensation intensified until the wooden carvings were indiscriminate from the purple and black wallpaper. The swirling overwhelmed me as we approached the chamber, and in some indescribable way, the only things I could feel were the messenger's trembling arms dwindling in strength as the door (presumably) came into view.
When we made it inside the room, I turned my head in preparation to throw up, and the tingling dissipated instantly.
After a few moments of dizziness, I finally made out who was in front of me; as a result, the sickly expression I displayed was replaced with a smile.
"Algor!"
I expected convulsions at the realization, for I almost thought I would never lay eyes on him again after he disappeared. Surprisingly, I had perfect control over my limbs.
I ran up to the fairy to hug him, stroking the soft, pillowy feathers as I reached around his back.
His wings were unlike mine: They were both a pastel menagerie of colors over a bed of white down and slick like the outer plumage of a duck (barring the waxy residue). I could not believe I touched them once more with my palms, and I nearly sobbed.
I hadn't seen him in years.
In his quick-witted manner, he responded to my greeting with a grin. He said in a soft, mature voice, "In the flesh, Leo."
Hesitantly, he wrapped a soothing hand around me in return. The stiffness made me remember his detached, uptight personality when he quickly pulled away and took a step back. I frowned at the thought of making him uncomfortable.
As much as I pretended to be for the sake of vanity, I was never nearly as close to Algor as I was with the Galaxy Kingdom aristocrats, but before meeting Sinclair, he was the fairy who I knew the best. (Truthfully, the bar was at the bottom of the moat for that title.)
He was akin to a strange, quirky father to me years ago, and aside from his scolding, he frequently visited me in my domain to play with Froggie. He was fantastic to spend time with during fair weather, but he was awkward and even somewhat dismissive of stormy displays of emotion, which likely explained his current reaction. Otherwise, it was hard for me to read him.
Embarrassed, I replied, "Sorry if I overwhelmed you."
"No worries," he said coolly. "I can tell you're happy. And so am I." The smile returned to his face.
"Why'd you come here after so long? Where have you been?"
"Excuse me, both of you," Sinclair interjected before Algor could move his lips, "but I'm hungry and craving a macaron from the castle's kitchen. I will return as efficiently as possible." Their voice sounded strikingly emotionless, even as their lip curled upwards.
I furrowed my brow when I turned to them. "I can just use magic for one! See—"
"The journey is more important than the destination," they replied and chuckled, confounding me again.
"Um… okay? Have fun, I guess…?" I said inquisitively and narrowed my eyes.
They nodded before preparing to spin on their heels.
"But you haven't greeted me yet," Algor whined, pointing at Sinclair.
The messenger stopped and stared robotically.
"Greetings, Mr. Ward." Sinclair smiled with all their teeth bared. "I hope you enjoy your stay in the Galaxy Kingdom. If you're confused, I'm sure Leo will be more than happy to answer your questions."
They swivelled around to exit the room. I thought they acted strangely with something unidentifiable laced in their tone, but I assumed it was because they were tired from carrying me around. It was typical for them to give in to a craving for sweets, yet I doubted they were ever tempted enough by a dessert to depart from a conversation.
"Do you two,"—I pushed my index fingers together—"maybe know each other?"
"Only by name, as I'm sure most fairies do." Algor shrugged.
"Huh."
I cocked my head to the side.
In my confusion, he took the initiative to speak again. "To answer your previous questions from before we were so *rudely* interrupted, I was just travelling the world. I wanted to see some new things outside the Terrestrial Kingdom. It's boring to watch the same place for thousands of years. I figure you know that feeling well. I'm only here now," he stated blankly as he pointed at Inei, "because I hear there has been an incident. Am I correct?"
About to huff at him for his introduction to the topic (ah, the things I would do to stick up for Sinclair), I instead nodded.
"Two aristocrats are missing, yes, and one is Inei's daughter."
"I see," he remarked listlessly. "I'm sorry to hear that. But that explains why I was asked to scan the Terrestrial Kingdom when I arrived back."
"You mean… You're here to help us?" My eyes widened. I then rubbed my arm and glanced at the floor. "I hope you didn't have to cut your vacation short for this. It's not exactly your issue to deal with, but you were still dragged here…" My voice trailed off near the end in guilt because I had a feeling some of Algor's sudden appearance was my fault for being too weak and argumentative.
"It's no bother." He displayed a mildly ironic expression. "I needed to return sooner or later, anyway."
That all made sense since it was now three days after King Hikaru's executive decision to continue the searches on the ground. It was even more logical that someone as stubborn as King Inei chose to go to any measures possible to find his daughter—especially given the raucous arguments over the matter.
Of course, understanding them didn't make me want to drive my head into a hole in the ground any less; their combined chaos was an absolute shitshow.
"I'm very glad you're back to help then." I gave Algor a large grin.
He loosened his posture to put a hand in his pocket as he beamed back. "In that case, I look forward to working with everyone here."