"May I have a moment of your time?" The stranger said, softly, and I frowned.
"Sorry, do... do I know you?"
"No. But I think it would be in your best interest to get to know me."
"Why?"
"I don't think you want me to say it aloud with all these people listening."
"Then how can I trust you?" I demanded, and he smiled, walking over. Then he leaned down.
"It would be in your best interest to get to know me because I am the master of your supernatural's brother." He whispered, and I froze.
"You're... the master of Mercury's brother?" I whispered, and he nodded, pulling back.
"That's actually why I'm here. I'd like to talk to you about him."
"I see. Let's go to the sunroom, then. On the fifth floor. Almost no one is there this time of day."
"As you wish."
I started trudging up the stairs, and Mercury, who had been standing off a bit so as to not overhear, came up and touched my hand.
"Who was he?"
"Don't know. Just said he had to talk about something important - your brother."
Mercury's face paled and he stopped walking.
"He... wants to talk about my brother?" He murmured, and I nodded.
"Why? Is that not okay?"
"No, I mean, it's fine, it's just... I'm... I don't want to."
"Well, it's okay, because it seems the one he wants to talk to is me, not you."
"Oh, thank goodness. I got scared for a second."
"Why? Are you and your brother on bad terms or something?"
"You could say that," Mercury muttered, blushing. "But that doesn't matter. Let's just get this over with quickly."
"Alright."
We headed to the sunroom, and the young man followed. Once we got there, he shut the door and turned around.
"First, may I have permission to see your supernatural?"
"Oh, of course. I give you permission to see my supernatural."
Mercury shimmered for a moment, and the young man frowned.
"I see. It's no wonder someone recognized him."
"What?"
"Nothing. Let me introduce myself. My name is Leo Trekmore, I'm the General of the Solfin Regiment on the front lines, and I'm the master of your supernatural's brother, Neptune. The King of the supernatural."
My blood ran cold.
"What did you say?" I whispered, and the young man smiled.
"You heard me. Neptune, my supernatural, and the brother to your supernatural, is the King of the supernatural."
I whirled on Mercury.
"Doesn't that make you a prince?" I cried. "Why didn't you tell me before?"
Then, I froze again. Mercury was standing very still. His face had gone white, and he was barely breathing.
"Mercury?" I asked, concerned, and he seemed to snap out of it, turning to the young man.
"Leo, right?"
"Yes."
"Care to explain why you just blurted my secret out like that?"
"Forgive me, it wasn't my place, but I was following my orders."
"Orders?"
"From me. Hello, Mercury."
The air shimmered, and a supernatural who was extremely similar to Mercury appeared, standing beside Leo. Mercury saw him and backed away.
"No... Neptune... what are you doing here.... you shouldn't.... you shouldn't have been able to find me..."
The supernatural sighed, and ran his fingers through his hair.
"You really thought I wouldn't be able to find you with all the connections I have? Granted, it took me much longer than I would've liked, sixteen years is a long time after all. But that doesn't matter, because in the end I did find you, and that's what matters."
I looked over at Mercury.
"I thought... this is your brother? Why do you seem afraid of him?"
Mercury didn't answer and Neptune sighed.
"You're his master, right? Asayis West?"
"I am."
"Then let me explain. My brother murdered me and my fiance the night before our wedding."
I gasped.
"Mercury... killed you? Then how are you still alive?"
Neptune sighed again.
"It's a long story, but I'll do my best to shorten it for you. When Mercury and I were younger, there WAS no king of the supernatural. There was no leader, and many of our people turned to the dark side, becoming tainted. As I grew up and started noticing the corruption, I decided to do something about it and learned swordsmanship. Mercury, who was weaker and shyer than I was, stayed home and taught himself healing in order to support me. As the years wore on, I started wiping out the tainted, and when I finally wiped them all out, the people decided to crown me king, effectively making Mercury the crown prince. And that was fine, I didn't mind. We were orphans, so the idea of having a home that wasn't going to disappear and that we weren't going to be kicked out of was a blessing, so we accepted. But that's where everything went wrong. There was a girl in the court who I loved, her name was Mym. Unknown to me, she was the last of the tainted still alive. And she wanted revenge. She went to Mercury first, thinking he'd be easier to seduce, but he seemed to sense the evil in her and resisted. That's when she went after me, and I didn't mind, because I already had a crush on her. At the time, I couldn't see what Mercury could - that Mym was a threat. Mercury did his best to convince me to end the engagement, and I didn't listen. Finally, the night before our wedding, Mym managed to get into my bedroom, and Mercury snapped. He couldn't stand the idea of me marrying someone so evil, so he killed her - and me. Now, because of a certain treasure that was in my possession, I came back to life, while Mym didn't. It took me several days to do so, and by the time I woke up, I found Mercury had made a decree, that anyone who murdered another in our world was to be banished to the human world... and he'd followed his own decree, and vanished. I've been looking for him ever since, and it's been sixteen years."
I stared at him.
"Sixteen years?" I whispered. "And Mercury.... killed you..... no, leave him alone! I won't let you hurt him!"
"Relax!" Neptune laughed, as I stepped protectively in front of Mercury. "I'm not mad, nor did I come here to take revenge. As it turned out, I found proof of Mym's betrayal after I came back to life, which wiped out all the anger I might've had, because I finally understood why Mercury was forced to such a desperate measure. I came here to check on him. After all, he's been missing for sixteen years, and I was worried. When I finally got a report that someone had sighted him, I came straight here."
"Report that someone saw me?" Mercury whispered, numbly. "Someone saw me?"
"Yes, someone did. I was told they saw you when someone pushed your master down the stairs and you ran to catch her, revealing your power. If it weren't for that little incident, I bet it would've been another twenty years before I managed to find you. You certainly chose a good hiding place. Choosing a little girl as your master was a bold move."
"Shut UP!" Mercury screamed, with his hands over his ears. "You know NOTHING! Shut up and leave me alone!"
Neptune's eyes widened, filling with worry.
"Mercury, what's wrong?" He whispered. "I thought you'd be happy to see me."
"Leave me alone!" Mercury yelled. "I came here so you WOULDN'T find me! I don't want to go back!"
Neptune froze.
"You.... thought I came here to take you back?" He whispered, and Mercury nodded. Neptune sighed.
"Look, Mercury, I'm not here to take you back. I mean, I'd prefer you to come back home, but I know you have a master now and you like healing, so it's understandable that you don't want to go back. You like being able to have freedom, something you couldn't have in the castle when you were a prince. I get it, which is why I'm not going to make you come back. I really just came to check on you, and fill you in on how things have been since you left. But moreover, I want to make sure you're okay. I've heard disturbing rumors, ones that include you and your master getting bullied. Is that true?"
Mercury said nothing, looking away and rubbing his left arm. Neptune's eyes saddened.
"I see. You still don't trust me. I guess that makes sense, I betrayed and failed you. I'm sorry, Mercury. I never meant to hurt you, you have to believe that."
"I don't have to believe anything," Mercury replied, looking up. "You aren't able to control me, Neptune. The day I stepped out of the palace gates was the day you stopped being able to influence what I say or do or think. I don't have to believe you if I don't want to. So you'll have to prove it to me first. Prove to me that you never meant to hurt me, prove to me that you've changed. Maybe then, I'll believe you."
Silence fell, and tears welled in Neptune's eyes.
"I understand." He whispered and turned to Trekmore.
"Leo, let's go."
"But what about Mercury? And the bullying issue that was reported?"
"It's clear Mercury doesn't want me to interfere," Neptune whispered, rubbing away his tears. "I can't blame him, it's not like I've given him reason to trust me. So let's just go home."
"Neptune..." Leo whispered, and then sighed. "Are you sure?"
"I am."
"Alright then. Miss Asayis, Mercury, we'll take our leave."
They headed to the door, and then Leo stopped, turning.
"Mercury?"
"Yes?"
"Look after yourself, okay? You may not be the prince anymore, but the supernatural world would still greatly suffer if you died or got injured."
"I know," Mercury whispered, and I saw his eyes sadden. "Even now, they're still leaning on how I was."
"I don't know about that," Leo replied. "I think they miss you more than anything else. Also, look after Miss Asayis. It seems she's very precious to you, and I'd hate to see you lose her."
"Yes sir."
They left and Mercury sighed softly, sinking to the floor.
"Are you okay?" I cried, running to him. He managed a faint smile, looking up at me.
"I'm fine." He whispered, in a weak voice. "I'm just.... worn out. That's the first time I've stood up to Neptune like that. It was... surprisingly exhausting."
"I see. Here, get off the floor, it's dusty."
I held down my hand and he took it. I helped him to his feet and he sighed softly.
"At least Neptune didn't try to make me go back." He whispered. "That's what I was afraid of most."
"He would've taken you back?"
"If you hadn't been here, likely. I was a supernatural prince, and you saw how upset he was. It's been thirteen years... I'm sure they - no, I'm sure my people suffered because I wasn't there. Neptune may have been the king, but because he was, he was so busy that all of our people came to me with their problems. I couldn't breathe... but Neptune didn't notice. I had to get away, and it just so happened that my temper snapped right when I couldn't stand it any longer. Neptune doesn't know that so all he can see is that I left on purpose, so he's upset. So yes, if you hadn't been here, he would've taken me back, because now that I'm gone, he's probably discovered how much work I actually did and what exactly he missed."
"But he shouldn't be able to make you go back! You're your own person, you don't belong to him, and just because you were so good at your job doesn't mean that's all you should do!"
"I know that, and you know that, but Neptune doesn't," Mercury replied, and stood up, wobbling a bit. "All he can see is what's directly in front of him."
Silence fell, and I took a deep breath.
"So Neptune knows about the bullying?"
"Sounds like it."
"That's not good."
"No, it's not, but luckily, he backed off. I was worried he was going to start screaming and raise all hell until he found out who was responsible."
"I think he only backed off because of how uncomfortable you seemed. Are you really okay?"
Mercury rubbed his arm again.
"I'm fine, I'm just tired. I think I need a nap, both my magic powers and my physical capabilities are exhausted."
I took a deep breath, doing my best not to pity him. He suddenly looked so young and so tired... it was almost as if seeing his brother seemed to change him, it was like he was slowly retreating into a shell of his former self.
"Alright," I whispered. "Let's go back to the room so you can sleep."
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