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Mirio could still hear Tamaki’s screams in his mind as he raced down the steel tunnels, with Hadou only a few steps behind him.
“Hadou! Which way?!” he shouted as they neared another intersection.
“Left!” she shouted back in time for the blonde to keel to the left and down the new tunnel without slowing down. They could see it now, their goal, the massive vault door with only a small number of well armed soldiers between it and them.
Mirio’s eyes narrowed at the sight of the soldiers, and the guns were now pointed at them, yet they didn’t stop moving. He was so close now, and Tamaki was counting on him, he couldn’t afford to stop. Tamaki’s screams had faded to whimpers and pained pleads before going completely silent.
“I think you gentlemen should put those down! Guns are dangerous and you might hurt someone!” the beautiful blue haired girl shouted cheerily at the soldiers who, obviously, didn’t listen and started to take aim at two charging figures. But before they could fire, however, she smiled, and made a downward sweeping gesture causing the guns to, quite literally, fall apart in their hands. Before they knew it, they were knocked out by Mirio’s fists and the two of them paused in front of the final barrier between them and their friend - only to catch their breath momentarily.
“You’re sure Tamaki is in there, Hadou?” The blond asked through his panting.
“Undoubtedly, but how we get in is the problem….” Hadou muttered in frustration. “I didn’t think it would be so big… much too big for my Disassembly Magik to work like I thought.”
“We can’t just sit here and hope something comes to us!” Mirio paused then, strangely calm, and said, “I’m gonna break through it.”
“What?!” The girl turned on him in shock but the blonde young man was already jogging a ways down the hall before turning around. “Mirio you can’t just use that Magik so casually! It’s –“ It was all Hadou could do to leap out of the way as Mirio started to spark and glow, then run full tilt into the metal with a bang.
Cautiously, Hadou stepped through the smoking and sizzling Mirio-shaped hole in the door and then felt her blood boil with rage. The room wasn’t that big, with only two people minus herself and Mirio in it, one laid out limply on a cold metal table and the the other seated comfortably on an almost throne-like chair. Hadou’s eyes had immediately snapped to the figure on the table who she recognized easily.
Tamaki’s usually beautiful olive skin had turned a frighteningly grey color, wires and needles forced into his arms and neck. The beautiful flowers that he had grown for Mirio in his navy blue hair were turning a wilted brown, and some had even fallen to the table around his head making his state of health terribly obvious. She could see the energy being pulled sluggishly from him through the wires into a torturous looking machine. The man in the plush, throne-like chair looked far too pleased and comfortable sitting there while bleeding away Tamaki’s life.
Mirio didn’t hesitate to throw himself forward, only to growl in frustration when he ran into an invisible barrier. Hadou looked down at the ground and took note of the Magik Runes carved into the ground between them. The bastard really had prepared for everything… She glared at the said bastard seated like the disgustingly arrogant man he was, and his perfectly white smile made her sick, she couldn’t wait to smash it in.
“So rude of you to barge into a man’s home like this, and to not even bother to knock, tsk tsk~” The man wiggled a finger at them, like they were naughty children, and Hadou could feel Mirio’s rage growing.
“What are you doing to Tamaki?! Let him go!” Mirio demanded as he pounded at the barrier, but before the weasel could say anything more to enrage Mirio, she pulled out her blade, the blade entrusted to her by her Me’meir, from its sheath.
“Do you know what sword this is, Tenshin-san?” She asked him viciously.
“The Devourer.” His disgusting smile vanished, she was the one smiling now.
“Right you are! Then you must know who I am and what it can do.” And with that she swung the blade known as The Devourer at the barrier and watched with glee as it was “devoured” by the sword and the Runes faded away.
The minute the Runes were gone Mirio ran to Tamaki’s side, trusting Hadou to handle the man responsible for the whole situation. The dark haired God of Nature was unbearably still as Mirio’s shaking hands cupped his face.
“Tamaki… it’s me, Mirio, It’s gonna be okay now.” The blonde whispered gently as he caressed his love’s pale, much too cold cheek. “Hadou and I are here to get you out of here, don’t worry. But if-” he choked for a moment, and he swallowed down a large lump before forcing himself to continue. “If you could move, even a little bit…” The form remained scarily still, and Mirio held the frail boy closer to his chest, burying his face in the navy locks as he whispered shakily. “Anything... please wake up…”
However, his attention was abruptly pulled away when he hear Hadou cry out as she was launched across the room and into one of the walls painfully.
“Toogata! Remove the wires! They’re killing him!” She screamed at the blonde as she wrestled with the man, Tenshin, slamming each other against the walls the floor viciously. Mirio didn’t have time to hesitate, he silently begged Tamaki’s forgiveness for any pain and yanked the wires from his skin as quickly as he could. Despite his efforts, Tamaki still let out a heart-wrenching scream.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry Tamaki.” He apologized profusely as he cradled the again unconscious God in his arms and lifted him off the table with immense care. “I’ve got you, it’ll be okay.” He soothed even though he could see Tamaki’s skin growing more and more translucent and the last few flowers wilting still. Now Mirio was going to start panicking. Tamaki should have been getting better now that Tenshin wasn’t taking his energy anymore. But he wasn’t. He was getting worse. “Hadou! He’s still fading! Why is he still fading?!”
“Give me a minute Toogata! This guy isn’t exactly easy!” She growled and flipped the man back into the ground again but this time pinned him there. “There! Finally!” She exclaimed as she gleefully shoved his face into the ground. “As a representative and member of the God (and Goddess) Guardian Guild I sentence you to be Devoured for your crimes against the God I protect and serve, Tamaki, the God of Nature and Life. May the Goddess of Death and Stones grant you mercy in the future, for today I will not.” And then she proceeded to stab the man through the heart and watch him become swallowed by the blade just as the barrier had been, but with a lot more screaming and begging, which she ignored entirely. When the deed was done she joined Mirio where he was kneeling on the floor clutching Tamaki close. She placed a hand on the dark haired God’s forehead and frowned.
“That Bastard took too much from him… He can’t heal if he doesn’t have enough energy. And this metal, underground structure is hardly going to help. We should take him back to the glen.”
“The glen?”
“Yes, the glen where you first found him Toogata. That’s where he’s the strongest. Besides when he’s with you.” She added playfully, trying to lighten the mood a little. Mirio smiled, but still looked somber and very worried. “We should get a move on…” She nudged gently as she watched Mirio get to his feet with Tamaki, and they both broke into a hasty jog down the halls. “Once we get above ground I can transport us with Transport Magik.” She said when they got closer to the exit. And the minute they stepped into the fading sunlight she did the necessary gestures and moved them in an instantly back to the beautiful, quiet glen where Mirio had first met Tamaki, asleep and waiting for him.
“I’ll let you two be…” She whispered as Mirio placed Tamaki down onto the soft grass and flowers that covered the small open space among the trees. “I hope you wake up soon, Tamaki... But if you don’t, know- just know that it has been an honor to serve you as your Guardian, but my greatest joy was to be your friend.” And then with a small snap she was gone,it was just Mirio and Tamaki. Mirio turned to face the other, eyes going blurry with tears that he forced back as he struggled to say anything to the ghostly face of his love.
“Tamaki… Please forgive me… Maybe if I had found you sooner…” He couldn’t get anymore words to pass his lips. The silence hurt. Everything hurt. It felt like half of his soul had died. He knew Tamaki was still here, at least a little. He could still touch him, feel him, see him, but he was so cold, so still, so quiet and so delicate like the smallest of touches could shatter him. Tamaki might still leave and there would be nothing more he could do about it. He soon felt the burn of tears and let them run freely down his cheeks as he sobbed into Tamaki’s motionless, too translucent chest.
He couldn’t say for how long he cried, but at some point he must have fallen asleep because when he woke up it was the morning of the next day. After he had rubbed the sleep from his eyes, though, he almost jumped out of his skin at what he saw. All around him and Tamaki were a large number of animals that were now residents of the Park, deer, foxes, porcupines, snakes, rabbits, hawks, even his own horse, Millie, that he rode around the Park sometimes with as its Park Ranger.
“Are… you all here to protect Tamaki?” He wondered aloud. All of the animals just moved even closer in response. One especially bold fox cub curled up right on Tamaki’s chest contentedly. “I guess that’s as close to a yes as I’m gonna get, huh?” He said with a laugh as Millie walked up next to him, nudging him worriedly, and he stood up slowly, wincing at all the cricks he had developed from falling asleep on the forest ground, no matter how soft the grass on it was. “Thanks Millie, I’m okay. I guess I can trust you all to keep an eye on Tamaki until I come back?” All of the eyes that looked back at him seemed to say, ’of course you silly human’ which made him chuckle as he hauled himself onto Millie’s back and gripped her mane, and let her take him back to his cabin to get some food and proper rest. But he would be back and continue to come back every day for three very long years.
Soft warmth was the first thing that Tamaki felt. The sun was shining down on him through the foliage above where he lay, a cool breeze buffeted his cheek too as the plants around him sung happily. Apparently they were very pleased that he was awake. He had a vague memory of pain, lots of pain and then Mirio holding him, calling for him… Mirio! The thought of the blonde human made him try to sit up, which turned out to be a harder task than anticipated. Tamaki realized quickly that he was still too weak to do much more then keep his eyes open and move, very slowly, onto his side. But the sight he came across upon turning was well worth the effort. Slumped casually against one of the larger trees that bordered the glen, fast asleep, a little more fit and maybe a bit taller, was his blonde human Mirio. The young man was almost glowing in the mid afternoon sunlight, even his terribly ugly park ranger’s uniform looked amazing on him right then. Tamaki would have even considered that the blonde was the God and not him with how magical and bright he looked to him. But he had to bite back a small giggle when he spotted all the animals that were filling the grass space where he and Mirio were.
“Did you watch over us?” The overpowering feeling of love and exasperation he felt from the creatures answered that question and this time Tamaki didn’t even bother stopping the laugh that bubbled up from his chest.
“Tamaki?” Mirio was awake, awoken by Tamaki’s laughter and now blinking the sleep from his eyes as he gazed at him.
“Good morning, Mirio…” Tamaki whispered giving the beautiful human a gentle smile, and hoped it expressed how happy he was, how much better he was. There was a lull of silence for awhile where the blonde just stared openly at Tamaki with an unnameable expression, like he couldn’t take in what Tamaki had just said. And then tears began to fall from his eyes in a torrent, aching sobs filled the space. Tamaki began to panic at that, what had he done wrong?! Why was Mirio crying? He was about to beg for Mirio’s forgiveness if he would just not be sad anymore when the said young man launched forward and clutched Tamaki so close he swore he might break something if he held him any tighter. “Mirio, wha-?“
“You’re back, you’re awake, you’re here.” The blonde sobbed into the God’s shoulder, running his wide fingers longingly through his dark hair. “Thank you.”
And just like that, Tamaki realized why, and oh so gently twisted himself free, guiding Mirio’s face from his shoulder so that they could see one another eye to eye. The blonde’s eyes were puffy and red from his tears and his nose was running a little too, and to Tamaki he was still unspeakably stunning. This silly human had saved him and had waited so long for him to come back. Never in all the centuries Tamaki had existed had he ever felt so loved as he did right then.
“I’m sorry for making you wait Mirio… I’m back for good, I have a lot to make up for…” He said as he wiped the last few escaping tears from Mirio’s cheeks with his thumbs. The human let out a weak chuckle at that and placed his hands around Tamaki’s own warm and soft cheeks.
“I want to argue about you having anything to make up for. But right now I’m just so happy I can’t…” He laughed again, and shamelessly slid his hands to Tamaki’s slim waist and lifted him up off the ground.
“MIRIO!” The God shrieked at the action but didn’t try to escape, letting himself be hoisted high before letting out a small laugh of his own.
“I love you so much, Tamaki…” The blonde whispered as he lowered Tamaki to the ground again. The breeze blew around them softly, playing delicately with Tamaki’s flowing clothes and hair. Mirio unconsciously felt himself leaning in, just slightly to stare into the God’s deep eyes of iridescent shades of purple. Then to the blonde’s surprise Tamaki, in the gentlest of whispers, answered.
“I love you too, Mirio… I love you more than words could ever describe. This is the kind of love that I think could last forever…” And effortlessly he closed the space between them.
But when they finally parted lips, gasping slightly for air, and looked around them Mirio let out a roaring laugh and gave Tamaki a beaming smile as he sank into the blonde’s chest from the embarrassment.
“I think you might be right Tamaki! If this is how much you love me I’m sure of it!”
For the sky was as clear as could be, and as far as the eye could see, flowers of every type and color decorated the forest floor.