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In a small kingdom, an unstable army and crime in its alleys, a story was told about a prince. In an abandoned castle of a ruined kingdom lay the prince, cursed with a spell set by his own mother. The prince had become dangerous, a threat to his kingdom and others.
The small kingdom where the rumor came from began to worry, what if he reached that place, what if he left the kingdom in ruins as he had done with his own? Those were certainly concerns that reached the ears of several people, among them, people who would not stand idly by, either for doing the right thing, for redemption or for a mere reward.
In the council, it was requested to send a group to capture the prince, without giving more reasons or warning the king. The knight Rick Flag, leader of the kingdom's army, knew there was something twisted about the whole thing, so he took on the responsibility of being in charge of the mission. But the orders from the council were his big surprise; they didn't want him to take troops from the kingdom's army, but a group of bandits. And his surprise was even greater when his old partner and friend, Robert DuBois, was mentioned to him. But first he had to take care of his old friends.
"That magic crap ain't even real, mate," mocked the bandit whose name was Digger, a nickname actually. He wasn't what Rick would usually call a friend, but he certainly wouldn't call him an enemy either.
"I don't care if you believe the prince is real or not, Harkness, you'll be rewarded anyway," Rick explained.
"Oh, now we're talking," a smile came across his face.
"I'm in!" exclaimed the former Harlequin, Harley Quinn, deserting her post at the castle and turning her life to crime.
Rick simply sighed, adjusting his armor, "Good, but you should know that it won't just be the three of us.
After the brief uncertainty, the knight Rick Flag explained the people they would be going with on this crusade in search of the prince. The witch who controls the rats, a bounty hunter and the deserting knight, Rick's old companion, the only one he trusted completely.
Under the soft moonlight, on the kingdom's outskirts, the group readied their horses, meeting for the first time.
"What the fuck is that?!" shouted in a whisper the bounty hunter, named Christopher. In front of him, next to the hooded witch, lay a shark man completely oblivious to the situation.
"They had him imprisoned in the kingdom's dungeon, the council thought he would be useful to us” said Rick indifferently.
"I think he's nice," added the witch.
Then, as the others discussed the shark in their gear, DuBois approached Flag, both of them moving away from the small group.
“You sure 'bout this?” Robert muttered wearily.
“What other choice do we have?” Flag replied. He knew perfectly well what was going on in the minds of his team, there was not a single shred of moral duty, only ambition for the reward that was offered, he could not take his troops because he would disobey a direct order, so he decided to trust the common sense of his team. And Robert decided to trust his former partner's judgment. Maybe something good could come out of all this.
Before dawn, they set out on their journey to the kingdom, it was a day's journey only, a day in which they should learn to work together.
Robert, especially, seemed distant, he did not turn to look at his team, much less at the witch and her partner Sebastian the rat. Noticing that, Flag pulled his horse closer to Robert's.
“Don't you like the girl?” he said almost sarcastically. The other simply grunted in response, "Robert, I know it was a long time ago, but I remember perfectly well that you hate rats.”
“Then why did you ask me to come?” he answered wearily and indifferently.
“It was the council's orders," there was silence after his answer, until he finally added, "And because I know I can trust you.”
Robert finally turned to look at him, he could notice the knight's green eyes under the glow of the moon, looking at him. It wasn't the first time he had seen him that way, but what was strange to him was that he was still looking at him like that even after he had deserted and abandoned him. He couldn't admit it, but working alongside Rick Flag again made him feel some hope for regaining what he lost.
A few hours passed, the horses getting tired and the team bored, they decided to take a little break, hunt something to eat, and that's when a conflict started, if it can be called like that.
“All right, you bandit, let's see if your tools are as good as you say they are” provocated the bounty hunter, Christopher, to Digger.
“They're boomerangs, you idiot, and of course they're as good as I say, better than your cheap arrows," sneered Digger. He pulled out one of his own carved wooden boomerangs, it looked worn but still had a sharp edge. Both Christopher and Digger looked at a deer that should serve as food, Harley watched them in amusement at the way they competed, Cleo remained asleep next to Nanaue.
Sitting by a tree, Flag and Robert watched them, irritated but with no intention of intervening.
“You really think it's gonna work?” Robert muttered, "They can barely work together.”
“I don't know," sighed the knight, "But it's the duty, if it helps me keep the kingdom safe, I'll take the risk.”
He heard a snort from Robert, he was not surprised, Flag had always been like that, looking for the common good. So he decided to put his trust in him and him alone.
After Digger managed to hunt successfully thanks to Christopher's provocations, they sat down to eat a little before continuing their journey. With the exception of Robert, who decided to stand guard to avoid dealing with the group.
“Maybe the prince is lonely and needs friends," said Cleo after a few moments of silence.
Then Digger let out a few laughs in mockery, "That's stupid! Why would he have killed his kingdom then?"
“Maybe he just wanted to have fun!” laughed Harley.
“Hey, stop it!" Flag interjected, "We have a mission, just focus on that and you'll get your reward.”
“If exterminating him is necessary to keep the peace in the kingdom, I'll gladly do it," added Christopher.
Flag gave a long tired sigh “The council ordered to take him alive in preference, Christopher.”
“I already wanna see how this madman handles himself not to kill the magic bloke," mocked Digger.
“You're in no position to talk about killing people, Digs," said Harley ironically, not because he planned to mock, he simply knew Digger well.
“Hey, stop it, again," Flag intervened again, "Just hurry up, the sooner this is over the better for everyone.”
They made their way to the abandoned castle, the knights Flag and DuBois remained in front. It didn't look like a dangerous place, instead, it remained deserted.
“This is disgusting," Chris added, looking at the skeletons lying on the ground.
Cleo's face completely displeased, approaching Nanaue, who still didn't know what was going on, Harley looked at the place intrigued while Digger rode his horse, totally afraid and she sensed that, she made fun of it several times on the way provoking a bad mood to the bandit, who assured he wasn't afraid of the mission.
Suddenly then, the two knights in command, Rick and Robert, stopped “We arrived” said Rick as he got off his horse.
They walked through the corners of the ruined kingdom, traveling down alleys to avoid being noticed, if there was anyone there. Then, they finally arrived at the castle gates thanks to Sebastian the rat's directions.
“Well, we'll split up” ordered Flag “We'll meet in the main hall of the castle, if you find anything don't hesitate to let us know. And... Be careful.”
“Sure thing, sir knight," mocked Digger, imitating the salute used by the knights of the kingdom. Harley and Cleo laughed at this, Flag was not offended at all, which surprised him.
Then, everyone made their way into the castle by separate entrances. Digger managed to get away from his mate, Harley. There were a lot of valuable things in that castle, so he didn't hesitate to do some looting. But while he was still searching for treasures, keeping jewels and other valuable things in his pockets, he entered a small alcove, it was worn out, although with very valuable things, but the moment of entering he heard a sound coming from a door, probably leading to another alcove.
"Fuck," he sighed, then walked slowly to the door and knocked on it "Uh.... Hey?"
There was no answer.
He slowly pulled a boomerang out of his coat and grabbed the door handle, but as he started to turn it there was a voice.
"Go away," he heard from the other side of the door.
Digger startled with surprise, feeling a little afraid, Was that the prince?
"Uhm…" He swallowed his breath, his hands were sweating and shaking, but he tried to keep his composure "Hey.... Listen, I ain't gonna hurt ya... What ya doin' here alone?"
The answer took a few seconds, and the voice of the man on the other side of the door sounded very sad "You came to kill me, like the others."
Digger looked at the boomerang in his hand, "That's not what I came for, relax. I... I was just passing by and, uhm.... I found this castle and decided to see what I could find."
Silence again on the other side, Digger waited impatiently, he could just open the door, cut his throat and that was it, he would be the hero of the story, he would get all the credit. But then he remembered Flag's orders, they wanted him alive...
"You're here to save me?"
Digger froze instantly. Save him? Why would such a dangerous and lethal person wait to be saved? He then remembered Cleo's words.
"Maybe he's lonely and needs friends."
At first, Digger scoffed and thought that was stupid. But maybe she was right and couldn't have known unless they came face to face with him.
"What's yer name, mate?" he asked softly, lowering his boomerang.
"Abner," he answered, his voice so meek that he sounded hurt.
"Digger," he tried to sound friendly, " Oi, why don't ya open the door, eh? Talk face to face, I don't like talkin' to a piece of wood."
He stepped a little away from the door as it began to open, the boomerang still in his hand, but with no intention of attacking.
Then it opened all the way, a man of his own height, pale skin and dark hair, sad brown eyes almost lifeless, and most of all; completely naked.
"Oh, gee, shit" Digger looked away discreetly "You're, uhm.... Don't you have any clothes?"
"My clothes no longer fit."
"What are you talking about? How long have you been here alone?" he finally turned to look at the man.
"I lost track of time," he looked down.
"Uh... Well, okay, guess those were tough years," his hand trembled, but he carefully brushed aside the strands of hair that covered Abner's gaze, "I ain't the kind to have many friends either."
Digger's mind was playing tricks on him, or so he thought, because he couldn't help but think about how attractive the man in front of him looked, and having him naked didn't help at all.
"You're the first one who hasn't come to kill me," he said softly.
Digger's heart skipped a beat, "Shit" he thought, he knew if any of the others got to where they were they would try to murder him.
"Uhm... Why, have people come to try to kill you?" he played dumb.
"Many... Now they are dead…" his voice hid pain and a lot of guilt "They all remind me of my mother…"
"What?" Digger began to feel scared, there was really something fucked up with this prince.
"She gave me this curse," his voice began to crack, "I can't starve, I can't get physically sick. The perfect prince, a perfect leader, a hero.... But she harmed me in doing so, and I.... I was only trying to defend myself when I killed her."
Digger's blood froze. The guy killed his own mother! But he knew it wasn't that simple, if she hurt him it made sense. And if he had wanted to murder Digger he would have done it already, it wasn't the best time to touch his heart, but the bandit trusted his instincts.
"Well... You must be cold, right?" He smiled at the prince as he took off his coat and handed it to him "Why don't you wait for me here, eh? I'll... Uh... I'll get some clothes, okay?"
Abner took the coat and looked at Digger, there were tears in his eyes and his voice cracked "Yeah...."
"I'll be back, mate, easy," he smiled at him, hiding his concern "Just.... Don't move from here, s-so I can find ya, this place is really big."
The prince didn't protest, nor did he move; he remained completely rigid as Digger walked out of the room and down the long stairs repeating "Shit" over and over in his head. What was he supposed to tell the others? How would he tell them he found the prince without them trying to catch him? Would they even believe him? He reached the first floor of the castle, the main hall where they agreed to meet.
"Harkness!" He heard Flag's annoyed voice- "Where the fuck were you?"
"Well... I," his words were stuck in his throat, trying to form an excuse until Harley spoke for him.
"He was robbing, I can see several things shining inside his pockets," she exclaimed pulling one of the stolen items out of his pocket, annoying Digger obviously.
"This doesn't belong to anyone! I can take it with me!" he justified himself, and to his luck it worked.
"Anyway, did you find anything? A clue or a trace of this prince?"
"Nothing," he pretended to be indifferent, "Maybe he's not even real, as I've already told you."
"Of course it's real! I've seen it!" Chris exclaimed as he entered the room.
While everyone turned to look at Chris, Digger waited for a moment to get out of the situation he had gotten himself into, of course the prince existed, but he wasn't a monster, at least it didn't seem that way to him.
"Sebastian saw him too," said Cleo, who subtly turned to look at Digger, "He's hiding, two floors down."
Digger frowned in complete confusion as he looked at Cleo, because it wasn't true.
"How the fuck is that rat supposed to know where he is?" Robert replied in annoyance.
"Well, the rat told us where the castle was," added Flag, who looked annoyed.
Robert didn't answer, just looked at Flag and gave in. At that moment, everyone seemed convinced and decided to follow Cleo's instructions.
"All right," DuBois sighed, drawing his sword, readying himself for a battle.
A battle that wouldn't happen, because the place they were heading to was nowhere, and the only ones who knew that were Digger, Cleo and Sebastian, of course they stayed in place.
"You should get your coat," said Cleo.
Digger turned to look at her, he didn't say anything, just gave her a confused look.
"Sebastian saw you two," she smiled slightly, "He thought it was cute the way you helped the prince. I was right after all, wasn't I?"
It seemed that Cleo's words bothered Digger, because he only remained serious and looked away as if he was ashamed of something, of having been sensitive perhaps.
"I don't think I've ever seen you be nice to anyone before," Cleo continued.
"Are we going to go after this guy or what?" he interrupted angrily.
"Right, let's go."
As they climbed the stairs, Cleo kept an eye out to make sure none of the others were following them. And when they finally arrived, Digger asked her to go in alone; and so she did.
"Hello, doll," said Digger as he entered the alcove where Abner stood exactly where he had told him to, "Well, ain't ya obedient. Anyway," he walked over to him and helped his coat cover his body, "I didn't bring any extra clothes, mate, so you'll have to go out like this, I'm sorry."
"Go out?" the prince stood rigid, shocked by what he had just heard, he looked at Digger with wide eyes and sighed almost in fear "Go out of the castle?"
"Something wrong?" Digger looks at him startled.
Abner looked almost frightened, he looked towards the door and stepped back a little. Then he spoke sadly, "I've never been out…"
Seeing the fear in the prince, Digger approached him, patted him on the shoulder and smiled "Come on, mate! Nothing will happen to ya, promise."
Both men looked at each other, Abner smiled slightly nervously and Digger smiled back. They remained like that while the prince took courage, but just before he could do so, the door burst open revealing a very altered Cleo.
"We have to go," she mentioned as she closed the door behind her. Looking at the prince, she stood in front of him, "Is this the prince?"
Abner looked down, fiddling embarrassedly with his hands. Looking at this, Cleo smiled a little.
"He's cute," she looked at Digger, still smiling, "He doesn't look like a monster."
"Monster?" Abner muttered.
At that moment someone knocked on the door, it was Flag.
"Hey, what's going on in there?" Rick exclaimed as he pounded on the door until he finally opened it, he looked perplexed at his companions in front of him next to the prince.
"Oh, shit," Digger mumbled, grabbing Abner protectively.
"What? What the fuck?" out of sheer inertia he drew his sword, expecting to attack.
Both Digger and Cleo asked Rick to wait and calm down, though they seemed more disturbed. Abner simply stood silent and rigid looking at the imposing figure of the golden armored knight in front of them, blond hair, green eyes shining with determination, he had never seen such a thing.
"Come on, man! Does he really look like a monster to you?" expressed Digger, bringing Abner's attention back to him. A man who didn't hesitate to help him, but he didn't look anything like a noble knight.
Rick remained on the defensive, as if waiting for some movement. He looked at Abner from head to toe, he was dirty, covered with nothing but Digger's coat, he looked tired and, above all, sad.
"Harkness, take him downstairs," Rick ordered, but not before handing him a rope to tie Abner's hands.
Taking it, Digger looked at the knight in annoyance. Turning to look at the prince, he looked more concerned and gently took his wrists and tied them together.
"Sorry, doll, rules are rules," he muttered, somehow Abner felt safe with Digger's voice and the delicate way he tied his wrists.
As Digger tied his wrists, Abner turned his head to look at Cleo, the young woman looked at him the same way, smiling at him with that characteristic tired face of hers, and that made Abner feel even safer.
They descended the stairs, the prince's bare feet treading carefully on the dusty marble floor as Digger held him by the shoulder firmly, but still gently.
Arriving at the grand entrance hall, Robert and Chris were the first to react, Chris aimed his arrows and Robert drew his sword, both intending to attack the prince.
"What the fuck, why haven't they killed him yet?" Chris exclaimed angrily.
"Oi, asshole, why don't you shut yer bloody mouth?" Digger replied angrily.
"What the fuck is this?" Robert looked equally annoyed "Did he hurt you?"
"No, he did not attack us, listen, it seems strange," his voice was firm, everyone looked at him, "But as far as we know the prince and his curse was only a myth to be proven, and it is still so. We found this man helpless and very weak, we don't know how long he has been in this place and we don't know if it is this prince, so I will not risk murdering an innocent man, nor will you. We will take him to the kingdom, and there it will be decided what to do, is that clear?"
Chris still looked at him incredulously, but he lowered his bow and put it away, trusting Flag's words, then he added, "Okay, but if the guy gets too smart, I won't hesitate to kill him," after saying that, he turned to look at Digger.
"Come on, I don't think he looks like a bad guy who goes around murdering innocents!" Harley finally added, approaching Abner and looking at him intently, "He's adorable!"
Abner didn't understand what was going on, he just looked down and concentrated on Digger's grip, he doesn't know why, he felt safe with him and also with Cleo. Finally, Digger's voice distracted him from his thoughts.
"We should go, mate."
He hesitated a little as they left the castle, the ground was cold and rocky, the marble stairs were broken and could hurt his bare feet. Digger was slow to notice why the prince didn't want to walk outside.
"Something wrong?" Digger asked in confusion.
Abner simply looked at his bare feet, then Digger understood so he remained thoughtful for a few seconds, looking around, looked at his horse at the foot of the stairs and then looked back at Abner.
"All right, c'mere," he murmured as he clung to the body of a completely confused Abner, carefully placed a hand on his back and bent down to lift his legs with his other arm, carrying him.
The prince was confused, but didn't put up any kind of resistance despite being a bit startled. He looked at Digger's smiling face, his own cheeks beginning to feel hot.
"Don't get excited, prince, I'll only do it this once," he winked at the prince and then started walking towards his horse with Abner in his arms. Once there, Digger helped the prince mount his horse, "She's Pinky, don't worry, she's friendly ain't ya, girl?"
Abner watched as the bandit stroked the horse's muzzle in a friendly manner, Digger smiled broadly as he did so.
"Harkness, hurry!" he heard Flag's firm voice. And they set out on their return journey.
However, it wasn't long before the sky began to turn gray, warning of an impending storm. They could not return to Abner's kingdom, they had advanced a considerable distance, so Flag gave the order to look for some shelter to wait for the storm to pass. Thanks to Sebastian's help, they found a cave large enough to take shelter in time.
Robert told Digger to take charge of the prince, so they sat a little apart from the rest. The bandit sat across from Abner, who was finally wearing clothes but remained with his hands tied, though he put up no resistance just the same, he seemed to like being tied up.
The prince watched as Digger sharpened his weapons, curiosity arose in him as he looked at the bandit's battered hands, full of scars and other marks, so he asked softly.
"Did someone hurt you, too?"
Digger paused in his work, looking up a little confused. He glanced sideways at the others; they were listening.
"Why you ask?"
Abner pointed to Digger's hands and explained, "Those are scars, my mother and other people leave same marks on me. You didn't notice them?"
The bandit didn't know what exactly to answer, he hadn't paid much attention to the prince's body when he was naked in front of him. He looked sideways at the others again, they didn't seem to be looking at them, but the silence indicated that they could hear them.
"No, I didn't really notice them. But I doubt my scars are the same as yours," he touched the scars on his hands, "I got hurt many times by my own recklessness, handling sharp tools with bare hands ain't very good for the skin, huh?" he laughed lightly.
Abner smiled slightly at the bandit's laughter. Then there was a short silence until Digger spoke.
"So... They hurt you, right?" Abner nodded and Digger continued, "So that's why you killed them? Because they hurt you?" the prince reaffirmed, "Well.... And what exactly do you do, some kind of magic?"
Meanwhile, the others watched intrigued, trying not to be so indiscreet. Digger, however, knew well that they were listening.
The prince simply held up both bound hands in front of Digger, he looked confused until he saw Abner's hands glow in color, a few dots came out of that flash and the rope fell burnt to the floor releasing his hands. There were no words, Digger's jaw almost dropped to the floor and the others watched no longer caring about discretion.
That changed a few things.
*He's actually magic!" Digger whispered as the team gathered to discuss, Abner remained seated away from them.
"We should deliver him to the council, the guy's the prince we've been looking for," added Christopher.
"We're not going to give him up," Flag finally said, everyone turned to look at him in intrigue.
"What?" Christopher seemed to be the most confused.
"The council asked for him alive for a reason, didn't they?" Robert was fully aware of the things going on inside the castle because of the constant encounters he had with Rick.
As they argued, Digger's gaze rested for a few moments on Abner, observing the way he calmly sat waiting, he wasn't a monster, the bandit was good at detecting lies from his own experience telling them, and that prince wasn't fooling them. A shriek from Sebastian brought him out of his mind and made him turn to look at Cleo; the girl was looking at him with a smile.
"If we don't take him to the council we won't be able to come back," Christopher added, "They'll think we're dead!"
"Isn't that good for us?" Harley added with a half smile on his face, "They won't be looking for us anymore! Besides, we have a man-eating shark man! I doubt we'll have to worry about surviving out there!"
Flag looked worried, but he understood that there was no need to expose the life of the prince or his mates or him, he didn't want to entrust that kind of power to royalty, much less the council.
Meanwhile, Cleo approached the prince, sitting down in front of him. Abner watched in intrigue as the rat jumped off the witch's shoulder and lay down on his leg.
"This is Sebastian," said Cleo, "He seems to like you."
Abner smiled slightly and then turned to look at her.
"I didn't think anyone would like me..." There was something melancholy in his voice.
"Well, I like you, you seem nice," smiled Cleo, "And it looks like we'll be together for a while."
Abner looked at her puzzled, he didn't know exactly what she meant until Digger approached them.
"Let's go, mate," he said in a strangely serious tone.
Both the witch and the prince got up and joined the group. The storm seemed to have ceased.
"What's your name?" Robert asked to the prince.
"Abner," he replied softly. "Uhh…Abner Krill."
The prince watched as the man raised his hand to give him a formal greeting, he hesitated a bit to greet him back, he looked around at the others around him, they seemed a bit intrigued. With some hesitation, he decided to reciprocate the greeting.
However, to Abner's surprise, the touch was friendly despite the man's serious attitude.
”So, what do we do now?" Said Christopher.
No one of them knew what would happen, the prince trusted them, he didn't even know why, but it was better than being all alone in that castle, he didn't feel abandoned anymore.
None of them felt it anymore.