The bed was unbearably comfortable. The silky covers were too soft. The lighting was too bright. Someone was having a conversation inside his head. There were a whole lot of things that were too right and too normal about that castle that made Hiroko uncomfortable and tense.
He was so tense to the point where he just laid there, eyes wide open and hand resting over his face. He peeked through his fingers up at the golden swirls shimmering on the golden ceiling. They looked almost sickly to him. At that point, a person would understand that at that point of time in the day, Hiroko would be lying with a hard slab of rock under his back, there'd be patches of thick, purple clouds in the sky, and if it were in the early stages of his stay in that hellish place, Rocky Golem would be jolting him out of cautious sleep with a thrown boulder.
Or something equally deadly.
It was his second night inside the Castle of Ancients. He was surrounded by a lot of color, a lot of – if he could call them – people, and he was provided five-star bedding and baths. Everything but the divine baths was the only thing he didn't find soft and unbearable.
So. What on God's beautiful Earth was he going to do? Take it like a wimp and lie awake all night? As. If!
Without thinking, Hiroko sat up, grabbed a drink of water just to savor that taste he'd long forgotten and grabbed his sword, coat and walked out of the wing doors, his hands unconsciously clenching harder on his belt. He walked, staring at his feet, and honestly, that was a big castle and he didn't know where he was going. Somehow, wandering around all morning in identical corridors sounded better than drowning in marshmallow-soft mattresses where his mind couldn't switch off.
He wandered around for what felt like hours. That voice that was having a conversation in his head? It was singing now. The voice of a woman singing a song his mother used to lull him with irritably went over and over inside the deepest, darkest corners of his subconscious.
He couldn't pinpoint it.
One thing was for sure…
…It was not his mother.
*I can be anything you want,* the voice went in his ear.
Hiroko cringed and rubbed his left ear, not willing to listen.
"Quiet in there," he huffed, gripping his belt once more.
But a sudden dying scream of a girl, one dangerously familiar, tore through the air, attracting his entire attention. He heard her cry out, screaming like she was being attacked, and she was not that far. He looked. The door was just a meter in front.
So… that was April's room. Hiroko felt painfully aware that she was having some sort of nightmare in there and he was the only one around.
…He was the only one around for a kilometer if he was sure.
*You should go in there and lull her back to sleep,* the sweet voice went, stroking his thoughts ever so softly.
"Should I?" Hiroko asked, his voice quiet.
*Probably forever. Listen to her poor screams. She is in agony.* The voice continued. *Take her… out of her misery.*
Hiroko felt compelled to do as the sweet voice was whispering. He was about ready to walk in there, his hand trembling from his side, Excalibur flickering hesitantly on and off his back behind him. He was just about to do it. Was he really about to?
*All you have to do… is walk in there.*
He took a step… and then pulled back from the edges of a warm darkness, blinking back to reality. He turned his purple eyes to find a presence that had shattered that moment of what could've been a relapse.
It was that boy with the paper-white skin, hair and grey grey metal arm. What was his name again? Saka. Shirtless and barefoot.
Saka stood there silently, his grey eyes glinting ominously in the warm glow of the hallway lights.
Hiroko's entire reaction was a solid blink. He could feel it, that charge of two masculine figures sizing each other up after bumping into each other. His hand slowly came to rest against his belt once more and he straightened up, his expression turning all but blank.
They did nothing but have a war with their eyes for a few seconds.
And with that, he walked past a glaring Saka, his shoulder, whether deliberately or accidentally, brushing against Saka's.
He didn't look back, but he heard April's screams get louder and then get muffled, which suggested the doors opening and then closing.
He spent the rest of the night wandering around. If sleep was going to evade him, then he wouldn't bother.
He missed the unbearable conditions of the Fourth Dimension. He missed the beet spuds. He missed their atrocious taste and acrid smell. He missed the sight of bones lying everywhere.
*No… you can't think that way,* a whisper went in his head.
He rolled his eyes, covering his left ear and bracing another arm on the cool wall.
"What the heck do you know? You're just a voice in my ear, here to prove I lost it badly."
*I'm a friend.* She replied, making Hiroko scoff.
"A friend, you say?" He pressed his arm against the wall, his knees weighing light below him. "I feel like you're draining me."
*And a guide,* the voice went, disregarding his comment. *And I can tell that right now, you need sustenance. In the form of shadows, am I wrong?*
"You're dead wrong!" Hiroko grunted as he pushed off the wall in renewed vigor, taking a step forward. "Who said I need shadows to get by?"
There was a chuckle inside his head. Sweet, melodious, slightly mocking, almost—pitying? Then it was all around him. It echoed off the golden walls and washed over him like a wistful sigh.
*Oh, sweet child. I'm inside your being. I know everything about you.*
"Are you trying to compel me to… hurt April?" He lowered his voice dramatically, using a substitute for the actual word he meant.
Then the voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper:
*I know what you want.*
Hiroko spat out a laugh, fully pushing off the wall.
"Okay—you can shut up now, lady!"
The voice didn't retort.
He took a single, long stride, pieces of Rocky shooting out of his chest only to fly around him once and return back to cover him. He coated himself in Rocky armor before he ran off, thundering through the hallways for as long as it would take to reassure him he was not that crazy.
(∩｀-´)⊃━☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ ε=ε=(っ* ´□` )っ
When morning came, April's mind turned on like a switch being flipped. Her eyes snapped open, she took in her first heavy breath, her hand unconsciously squeezing the pillow at her face.
She registered her surroundings for a moment before she sat up so fast she gave herself whiplash, blinking a lot while her sheets pooled at her lap.
"Saka!" Was the first word out of her mouth, her voice still rough from deep sleep.
She cleared her throat as she looked around. She came face-to-face with an empty floor, nothing betraying the absent presence of the boy who had slept in his giant white wolf form in the early hours of morning.
She didn't know why she felt a little disappointed.
"It's not like he was going to greet you with breakfast in bed." She thought as she stepped out of bed.
That thought immediately prompted all the memories of the night before to pop up in her head; Saka being in her room, shoving her down into her bed and pinning her down like they were in for some rough play.
Her cheeks immediately heated up, a rush of anger bubbling from deep inside her as she growled in fury.
"The nerve!" She shouted, brandishing a fist. "I'm going to get you back, Popeye. You wait!"
She stormed around the room, growling to herself as she got ready.
While she roamed around aimlessly, a female elf she had recognized to be a servant of sorts, walked in after the doors fluttered open. She drew April a bath and set a pile of royal blue clothes on the bed.
April gave a curt bow to the tall she-elf before jumping in for a vigorous scrub, her thoughts fuming with nothing but revenge, revenge, revenge!
When she finished cleaning herself, she hovered over the pile of clothes for a while, staring. It was probably a dress. And true enough, when she unfurled it, it was a royal blue dress with a clean-cut collar and some bishop sleeves. But when she took a closer look at the bed, past the dress's skirt, she saw folded pants.
Those harem pants.
Elven fashion was a little unstable, wasn't it?
They were really forcing the whole Jasmine look on her. Too bad she looked good in whatever she wore! Now, adding the black Kung Fu shoes was just asking for it. Shamelessly, there was a slit where her tails slid through to dangle outside without being restricted.
"How violating," April blushed, covering her hot face, pacing around.
It was a shame she had no mirror in there. She would admire herself for a bit. But from what she could see, she could even rock a sari if she wanted.
Now all she needed was the man himself: Aladdin!
She tied her long, wavy, black and blonde hair into a loose bun at her crown, unknowingly completing the look.
In a few minutes, she made her way to the common room, accompanied by some random guard she found standing by her door. She walked with purpose, she exuded charisma, very demu— she was out of her flipping mind!
"Who the hell am I trying to charm? I'm no one's woman. Wait, Jasmine was also to be married to a man she didn't have the hots for… only, that particular man wasn't six feet, albino and hot… headed."
She debated with herself, constantly directing some of the questions to the guard who walked with a rigidity that spoke volumes of his nonchalance.
They stopped in front of the common room door. She turned to the guard.
"Thank you for the escort," she grinned at him.
The guard, through his green helmet's visor, blinked once, turned and then walked away.
"Okay!" April laughed and waved a hand in front of the wing doors.
The entrance opened for her and she sauntered inside. Saka, Safatore and Semacoar were seated around a table. She inhaled deeply and:
"Yellow!"
They turned to face her. She waved enthusiastically as the last person turned to look.
"Little Monkey!" Semacoar trilled, his hands in the air.
"Ey!!" April mirrored his action and leapt, literally, into his outstretched arms and giggled when he caught her.
"Are you okay? The beatings don't hurt anymore, right, pookie?"
"Not at all. But someone smells edible," Semacoar grinned from ear-to-ear, his bandaged arms wrapping around her waist.
April squirmed in his lap, grinning foolishly. "Thank the bath."
Safatore was quiet. Usually, he was the first to address her with a dimpled smile, but at the moment, he was absorbed in his tea.
"Why're you so peppy?" Semacoar asked, lightly squeezing the girl's side. "What fun things have you been up to all night ever since you saved my gorgeous butt?""
"Oh, nothing! Saka and I spent the night together; pinned me down and almost broke the bed andmyback."
And there it was.
You could feel the oxygen getting sucked out of the room the moment Safatore spit-sprayed out his tea.
Saka remained like a statue, but you could tell he was setting himself on fire on the inside, his jaw set firmly.
Semacoar barked out a loud, shocked laugh, burying his face in her neck while April smiled a devilish little thing to a frozen Saka.
"What?!" Safatore finally reacted, his voice hoarse, eyes widened at the girl in similar blue.