Yuri sneaked a glance around. Lola, Amir, and the smaller children were too busy playing house to pay him any attention. He tip-toed away from their picnic and ran toward the weeping willow by the corner of the garden, where nothing ever bloomed.
A tall man cloaked in a dark velvet cape with a top hat stepped out from the shadow of the tree. Yuri grinned. "You've been here a lot, mister."
The man lifted his hat as a greeting, his azure eyes caught the light, and glinted with something Yuri couldn't quite grasp. "I have, haven't I? Little boy. Come here."
Yuri rushed toward the dark figure and dived into the thick velvet cape. The absolute trust and the ripening innocence echoing in his laughter stunned the man speechless. He ruffled the soft mass of opalescent hair, lifted the carelessly bound bandage with disgust; his eyes turned cruelly sharp briefly before going back to the joyful light they possessed. "No one here is treating you right. What's your name, little boy?" He lifted Yuri up and cradled him on his arms like the most precious treasure in the world.
"Hm. They are treating me well. The Lord named me Yuri. Are you also from the Lord's house?" Yuri touched the man's face all over with his kitten fingers. "Your eyes are so pretty. No, wait. Everything about you is pretty."
"Yuri, huh? A fitting name." The man said, chuckling from the tickling caresses. "And no one has ever called me pretty. You are the pretty one here, Yuri. Beautiful. Surreal."
"But that's not true. Her Regency is pretty. The matrons are all pretty. My mother is undoubtedly a very pretty person." Yuri fired of, hugging the man, snuggling against his neck. "You smell good, too. Like sandalwood. And cedar." He wiggled in the sudden tight embrace of the man. "That tickles."
"No one here is pretty." The man growled. "They are all monsters. Killing the weak because they can. Chasing after immortality. Reaching for the forbidden fruit. They have gone too far."
"Immortality?" Unable to escape the man's hold, Yuri patted his back, raising his question. "Mister, are you hurt? I can heal your wounds. They said I would be of plenty of use if they knew how I can regenerate. Stuff like that. I think I'm doing alright." Yuri pondered for one moment. "No one wants to be hurt. Isn't it good to be well?"
The man's azure eyes blew wide, then clouded over with darkness. He detached the boy from his neck, let Yuri sit on his arms as he looked at him, eye to eye. A starry violet sky sparkled under the shadow of opalescent feathers. It was all he could do not to destroy everyone and everything that was hurting him.
"Yuri, right?" He smiled, tucking a strand of stray hair behind the boy's ear. "You will be my mate."
"Mate?" The boy tilted his head. It was his habit when he heard something he didn't understand.
"It means that you will be staying with me forever." The man explained, slow and gentle in his tone. "A bond that can only be broken by death."
"Then you will be my family?" Yuri perked up. He didn't know much about mating and fated partners, but he'd be glad to be someone's family again. To belong.
"Yes. And more than that. I will be anything you wish me to." The man smiled indulgently.
"Then," Yuri hesitated. He bit his lower lip, then nodded to himself. He had been good. This was his reward. "Then can you rescue the children?" The starry violet sky pleaded, and it was only logical for the azure storm to agree.
"I will kill them all. The scientists. The lab. The Eisenberg estate. As long as you wish for it."
"But how can I –?" Yuri wanted to ask for the man's name.
"When you wish for something, call out ––––––."
The man whispered his name into Yuri's ear. The warm breath flushed the boy beet red. A spark burst between them, turned into the shape of a star caught inside a universe, etched on Yuri's chest. The man grinned, kissed Yuri's hand as a way of goodbye, and disappeared.
"Wait." He called after the vanishing shadow.
But time never waited for anyone. Lola ran toward him and pulled him back to the picnic place. He was supposed to be the bride next. The opalescent hair blown in the wind, as beautiful as the freedom the children would have had if not caught by power and wealth.
Yuri told Nacht about the man. He kept the name for himself. Somehow, he believed that the man's name shouldn't be spoken of so lightly. He lay awake at night in his isolation cell, thinking of the man's promise. It wouldn't be necessary to call for help if Lord Heron released them all tomorrow. Perhaps he belonged to the Eisenberg house, or some other houses in the Order. It didn't need to be that way.
At least, that was what his naivete led him to think before the morning came. Before the Lord and Her Regency's arrival. Before he was taken apart, trying to save the children.
And the man emerged from the ruin like the promised ending he had said. "Yuri, my name is Zephariel. I have come to reclaim the Supreme Deity." He howled in the fire and wreckage. "Now, come to me, my omega."