Chapter Text
Mika remained frozen in place in front of the cage, unable to break his gaze from the creature inside. It was like all mental capabilities had shut down and ceased to work after witnessed his beloved so… monstrous.
“Yuu-chan… Is it really you?” Unfortunately, Mika already knew the answer. He could feel the strain of the bracelet on his wrist as it gravitated towards Yuu, and even without it, there was no mistaking that it was him.
Yuu didn’t answer him and continued to watch the pair quietly from the corner of the cage. His amber eyes were cold and lifeless, not even a spark of recognition was visible.
Shinoa hesitantly stepped forward and placed her free hand on the plexiglass barrier. Mika could see the evident concern on her face at Yuu’s ragged appearance and un-human physique. “Yuu-san, what did they do to you?”
Still Yuu didn’t answer and he stayed at the far end of the cage, making no effort to come closer.
The Faerie growled in frustration and anxiously glanced around the edge of the cage. There seemed to be no way of entering or exiting the contraption, but the wall next to it had an electronic padlock of some sort. “Shinoa, could you see if you can unlock the cage with that keypad there?”
“I’ll try.” The pixie flew up to the lock and examined its parts. In addition to the various keys, there was also a slot most likely for a access card. “I think it needs a passcode, let me try to bypass it and unlock it from the inside.” Shinoa spread her hands over the keypad and concentrated on filtering her magic into device.
The blond shuffled nervously on his feet as he waited for the pixie to open the lock. He glanced back at Yuu who still remained in the corner, watching him blankly. It was almost unnerving how still he was.
“I think I might have-“
Suddenly, some sort of electric wave shot from the padlock and struck Shinoa, causing her to lose her balance and fall.
“Shinoa!” Mika ran forward and caught her before she hit the ground. Then the room was shrouded in red light and a shrieking alarm started to ring.
“Damn it, I-I must have set off the alarm! Mika we have to leave now before we’re caught!” The lavenderette struggled to her feet and grabbed Mika’s arm to drag him out of the room. But the blond refused to move and stayed near the cell.
“We can’t leave Yuu-chan here, Shinoa! We need to get him out of here now!” Mika pressed his back to the glass and vehemently shook his head. He would rather dethrone himself than leave Yuu here to be at the mercy of the Hiiragis.
Shinoa however seemed to have none of it and glared hard at the Prince. “I know we can’t leave him here, but if we don’t leave now the guards will swarm this room and we’ll both be stuck here. How will we rescue Yuu-san then?!” Her wings twitched with barely restrained frustration and her jaw was clenched almost painfully.
Mika bowed his head and squeezed his eyes shut to avoid the inevitable onslaught of tears. I can’t leave him here though… However, the blond knew he had no choice. If they were caught, there would be little to no hope of saving Yuu. And not only that, but two additional Moors would have to be rescued.
But it still hurts…
Reluctantly, the Prince turned back towards the cage and pressed his hand to the glass. A few tears dripped down his face as he gazed sadly at his almost-lover. “Yuu-chan… I’m sorry, I have to go.” He didn’t care if Yuu didn’t seem to register his voice, he only hoped deep down Yuu still heard it.
How could someone he have know for so short a time do so much to his heart?
With a final choke, Mika bolted away from the cage with Shinoa in tow and flew out of the room, mere moments before the guards arrived to lock down the corridor.
If either one of the Moors had stayed for only a second more, they would have seen the single tear that escaped the corner Yuu’s eye.
~o~0~O~0~o~
The journey back to The Woods was filled with tension and heartache.
Shinoa had quietly explained to the rest of the group what had happened inside their side of the complex once they had safely mounted and left the Hiiragi manor. Thankfully everyone seemed to understand Mika’s need for solitude and let him ride ahead of the group by himself. Buzzbee even seemed to understand the Prince’s downtrodden mood and remained calm and quiet on the fly back.
Mika knew that continuing to replay what he had seen inside the complex would only serve to feed his heartache, but the memories were too invasive. All he could imagine was Yuu undergoing torturous experiments that forced him to transform into whatever he was, completely helpless and crying out for someone to save him.
That particular thought soured Mika’s mood further.
Lacus and Rene met the group on the platform of the stables. Fortunately, neither asked questions about what they had seen and simply let them leave for the Palace.
The Palace I was supposed to show Yuu-chan.
As much as he did not want to, Mika knew he had to immediately report to the Council about their findings. The sooner a decision could be made about a course of action, the better. He was scheduled to report to them immediately upon his return.
When they entered the Council Chambers, the delegates were already seated and whispering amongst themselves. But as soon as they saw the group enter the room, all talking ceased. Shinya and Guren still sat off to the side and watched Mika earnestly.
Mikaela saw his friends give him a pitying look as they moved off to their seats. He begrudgingly made his way to the front podium where Ferid and Krul already waited. The look in their eyes told him that they could easily tell what he was about to report.
The Prince had to grip the sides of the podium hard to ground himself for what he was about to announce.
“Council, as you know, myself and a few others went on a surveillance mission to the Hiiragi manor to… investigate if they were the perpetrators for the kidnapping of Moors and conducting experiments.” There was silence as the delegates awaited his answer.
“And… we found that they were.”
Suddenly all hell broke loose as Moors started to protest and yell over each other.
“I told you they were behind it, and did anyone listen to me?”
“They’re going to kill us all!”
“We don’t stand a chance against them, the Hiiragis already have so much power!”
Mika didn’t have the energy to try and calm the gathering down, but fortunately his mother seemed to understand and stepped forward. “Quiet all of you! Stop acting like a bunch of younglings and listen to what my son has to say!” All chatter ceased again.
“The Hiiragi’s have been using their manor as a headquarters of sorts for their laboratory where they are holding and experimenting on Moors. If I had to guess, they must be at least a few hundred being contained currently.” The blond hand to steel himself for what he had to say next.
“While were were in there, Shinoa and I also found a special holding cell where… Yuuichiro was imprisoned.” A loud gasp echoed in the room. All of the delegates turned to see Shinya cover his mouth in horror and choke out a sob. Guren seemed to be paralyzed and in shock. Mika himself had to hold back tears and keep his facade up at the podium.
Taking a moment to breathe, Mika raised his eyes back to the council and spoke evenly. “This is an act of war. The Hiiragi’s not only have violated our treaties, but have gone beyond Moors and captured a common human, who is not involved in the slightest. This leads me to believe they won’t stop there, and might continue to capture other humans and experiment on them as well. This would most likely result in mutant human soldiers. I’m sure none of us would have to guess what that would mean.”
Mika had more to say, sure he did, but suddenly he felt his throat seize up and no words came out of his mouth. He felt unshed tears sting his eyes and he had to clench them shut to prevent the oncoming waterfalls.
“This meeting is adjourned until tomorrow.” Mikaela flew out of the Council hall before anyone could bombard him with more questions or demand answers. Perhaps it was irrational of him to leave in the middle of such an important meeting, but he felt too emotionally drained to continue.
The Faerie thought about finding a lone tree to sit on and remain with his thoughts, but it was far too likely someone would spot him and therefore feel obligated to speak to him. He didn’t feel up to any more conversation, so his room would probably be the safest place.
When Mika had softly landed on his balcony, he didn’t even bother to open the doors and instead collapsed onto the carved wood and crumpled in on himself. He finally let the tears fall now that no one was watching.
Yuu-chan… I couldn’t protect you…
The first sob wretched its way out of his mouth, and it was soon followed by more.
How could I let you be taken from me?! I was supposed to be your Prince Charming! What good is a Prince Charming if he can’t protect the one he loves?
Mika paused briefly in his sobbing to backtrack on his last thought.
Love…
He supposed he shouldn’t be surprised. Yuu had wormed his way into his heart in only a matter of a couple weeks. Even then, Yuu was impossible to not love. It only made more tears fall.
Even if I could save him, I wouldn’t know how to change him back. Yuu was no longer human, and Mika had a feeling that no one would just offer to reverse whatever they had done to him.
The blond didn’t know how long he spent crying on the balcony, but after some time he heard the soft beating of wings, which were followed by a creak as several bodies landed on the terrace behind him.
“Mika…?” He heard Shinoa’s voice ask softly. So his friends had come to check in on him. Mika’s only response was harder sobbing.
After a few seconds, Mika felt several pairs of arms wrap around him in a comforting embrace. “We know how you feel Mika-kun, we miss Yuu-kun too. We feel like it’s as much as our fault he was kidnapped. We should have anticipated this.”
“Yeah, don’t beat yourself up Mika. No one could have known. It’s not your fault he’s missing, it’s the Hiiragi’s fault. They’re the ones who did it.”
“We’ll get him back, it’s a promise from all of us.” When the blond raised his head, he could see the fierce determination in his friend’s eyes. He wanted to believe them, but he was too emotionally drained to do more than vaguely nod his head.
Shinoa noticed the dark circles under Mika’s eyes and tutted. “You should really sleep Mika-san, you look worse than death.” Before the Prince could open his mouth to argue, the pixie shook her head. “Don’t even bother saying ‘I’m not tired, I need to save Yuu-chan!’ You’ll be no use if you can’t keep your eyes open. Get some rest, we’ll take over things from here.”
“Thank you, Shinoa…”
The four of them left after that, leaving Mika to crawl into his bed and get some actual sleep for the first time in days. He felt guilty sleeping at a time like this, but Shinoa’s logic was sound, he wouldn’t be any use sleep-deprived. So he allowed himself the brief satisfaction of letting go and allowing unconsciousness to overtake him, all the while dreaming of raven hair and emerald eyes.