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Free as a Bird in a Gilded Cage

Summary:

Quackity was just a normal casino owner on the Antarctic Empire, he never meant to commit such blasphemy and grow wings, now he has to hide before the royal family kills him, but they might have different ideas on the subject

Or: Quackity on a Royal Wings Au with a lot of angst

Chapter 1: Wings are a Curse

Chapter Text

It was another successful day for Quackity, he grinned as he counted the golden coin he received, it would be enough to last him a month! He put the coins on his pouch, and started to walk to the front door, making sure to close it and lock it before making his way back home, it wasn’t that far, just a five minutes walk

he entered his small cabin, it wasn’t what you would expect of a famous dealer, it wad small with only a living room mixed with a kitchen, and a room with a small bathroom, but it was home for him

Entering his room and throwing the pouch on his table, he entered the bathroom, taking out his clothes and showering while humming a song that came to mind, he left the shower and looked at himself in the mirror

grimacing and tracing the long scar that crossed one of his eyes and part of his mouth, a sharp golden tooth replacing the lost one and the eye being lighter then the other, almost white

he felt the ghost pain on it, shivering and letting out a pained hiss, remembering the unfortunate day he gained the scar, the day he crossed with one of the princes, everyone told that it was his fault, not believing that their beloved royal family, loved by all, was capable of such thing without a reason

but he knew the truth, he was just trying to help, the youngest prince, known as Tommy, had fallen from the sky next to his old house, broking one of his wings, he healed him back to the best of his abilities, even sleeping on the couch and letting the youngest take his bed, and not wanting anything in return for his good deed 

their reaction was far from what he expected, the oldest prince Techno appeared on his doorstep one day, slamming his way inside, he didn’t seem human, wings raised creating a terrifying shadows, pupils so slit that they were almost invisible and claws so sharp they seemed like razors

He remembered as the time seemed to slow down as the prince raised his arm and brought his claws down on his face, the youngest prince just walking away with his brother as if nothing happened, leaving him to bleed out on the floor, no matter how much he begged, he felt betrayed, in the end he finally gathered the energies to get up and go to the nearby healer, stumbling all the way, but nobody stopping to help him, the prince only mercy was giving him a clean cut, but when he returned home, his home was set ablaze, and he knew who did it

his home, his precious home, reduced to ashes and the only crime he committed was trying to help

However every time he talked about it to others the response was always the same, defending the rulers of the kingdom

”you shouldn’t have touched the youngest prince’s wings, it was disrespectful, of course the oldest would act that way, it was your faultHe heard many times from his friends and even family, he understood that wings were something sacred, giving by the gods themselves, but what was he meant to do? Leave the young kid in pain? maybe he should’ve have, that way his face would still be intact, he learned better then to try to help others, in this empire, you can only think of yourself to survive

he put on his pajamas and went to bed, scar aching, but also a strange ache on his back, but he blamed his mattress, he should get a new one soon, maybe treat himself with some sweets too, it was a long time since he had them

He woke up in the middle of the night with a burning pain on his back, it was as if his body was set on fire, he bit his pillow to muffle his screams, as tears cascaded down his face, closing his eyes tightly, curling on his bed, as his back throbbed 

he sniffed, cried and yelled on his pillow, the pain was unbearable, as if millions of knifes were stuck on his burning back, his visions started to get darker and darker, he didn’t know when he passed out from the pain, but as he woke up, it was already dawn on the next day, he groaned at the stupid headache he woke up with

His eyes shoot open and he yelped, falling from bed at seeing the pool of blood that he laid in, pain flared on his back and he hissed, getting up, his body felt heavier, and checking for any injuries, not feeling anything, but he felt something tickle his cheek, putting a hand up to his ear, or where his ears should be, feeling fluff instead

he stumbled to the bathroom, freezing in front of the mirror at the reflection that greeted him, his scar was now a golden yellow, his once brown eyes now a vibrant yellow, his ears were replaced by yellow feathery ones, his hands had sharp razor claws, his teeth were sharp like the ones of a shark, but the most significant change was the pair of small fluffy yellow wings on his back

…he liked this shirt, he mourned the loss of it by the obvious holes that were tore for the wings to stick out

but that was not the main problem! He had wings! What the hell?! Was this some kind of sick joke to see him suffer? He groaned putting his hands on his hair and clenching his fists on it, grimace permanent on his face, at least they were small, like the ones of a baby bird, they would be easy to hide

he went to the kitchen after closing all of the windows on the house, but none of his food seemed appetizing, only the uncooked meats, he decided to say fuck it, and thats how he ended laying on his couch on his belly while eating an uncooked steak, he just hoped he wouldn’t get sick from it

Something on his mind that wasn’t there before thrilled at the taste, it seemed as if a little bird was invading his mind and he couldn’t decide if he was glad or hated it with all his guts

this routine repeated for a long time, every time someone knocked on his door worried about his whereabouts and wellbeing, he would need to create an believable excuse, and it was getting tiring, the last drop was when his food was over, thats it, he had to leave

at least in this time, he learned how to live with his new…features….learning how to flap his wings by will, and to walk with the new weight without falling or hitting things

his wings were still small, so he could hide it under a jacket, putting on his favorite blue jacket, he hid his feathery ears with a old blue beanie from his younger years, he learned how to retract his claws, which was a plus, the only problem were his teeth, he didn’t have any kind of mask, so he did the best he could, putting a scarf over his mouth, it looked as if he was ready for the winter, he was lucky he lived in the Antarctic empire, where snow never stopped falling, so his outfit wasn’t uncommon or would make people stare

He picked his pouch of coins, and finally after a month or more, left his house, walking the streets and greeting some of the usuals of his casino that stopped him from his mission to get food for small talk

finally he arrived at the market, immediately going to the butcher and asking for as many types of meat that he could get without spending all of his money, the butcher seemed surprised by it, but wouldn’t turn down such a request that would grant him a lot of coins

Quackity walked out happily with his packages, stopping in a few other shops to get other essentials he was ready to go home before a trumpet was heard, he froze

people started to close their stores, and make way, the royal family was coming, but Quackity didn’t, he stayed on the street, frozen like a deer in the headlights

he saw the royal family, the emperor Philza with his majestic black wings like the ones of a crow, the empress Kristin with her black and purple wings with speckles of white that looked like the galaxy itself, the oldest prince Techno and princess Niki with their different shades of pink wings, and the youngest prince Tommy with their red wings that ended in white, all of the royal family was there, could his luck get even worse? The answer was oh yes it could

As the soldiers that were surrounding the royal family stopped in front of him, pointing their swords at his direction “In respect and loyalty to the royal emperors of the Antarctic Empire, move out of the way citizen” one of the guards ordered, he stayed frozen, not paying attention to the royal guards, looking at Emperor Philza, who narrowed his eyes at him, pupils slit in a clear threat that made the little bird in his head screech in fear

One of the guards moved in his direction and he flinched letting out a fearful chirp, everything around him seemed to freeze, the royal family staring at him with wide eyes, he didn’t even know he could produce this kind of sound, the guards opened way as emperor Philza made his way to him, he tried to take a step back but his hand held his wrist, gluing him at the pavement

with the other hand he brought his scarf down, Quackity tried to move his head away but it was in vain, as he tried to keep his mouth closed to not show his sharp teeth, Emperor Philza continued to stare at him with calculating eyes, bringing a clawed hand to his jacket, Quackity got desperate, looking around at all of the people he knew, that did nothing, no matter how he begged to them with his widen eyes, they stayed put, tears fell down his face

as Emperor Philza, started to cut off him jacket, Quackity letting out a terrified screech, that just made him cut the jacket faster, and in a single movement, the jacket fell and his small yellow wings flared up in alarm

He heard everyone around him gasp, some people whispering to each other, while others stayed silent, he saw Emperor Philza’s eyes go from needle like pupils to dilated ones, letting out a croon, that made his inside bird calm down immediately, but Quackity didn’t, as he took advantage of the moment of distraction to get out of the man’s hold and run away

he heard a startled squawk, and a surprised chirp from the rest of the royal family, but he didn’t dare look back, even when he heard the sound of wings flapping, he ran, and ran, and ran, even when his lungs burned and legs ached begging for rest

He barged inside his house, he knew what he had to do if he didn’t want to be killed, his groceries were left somewhere, maybe they fel when he started to run, but that didn’t matter, as he grabbed his saw knife, and put at the base of one of his wings, the limb twitching in protest, but he kept it held firm in place with his other hand

His inside bird screamed and screeched, as he bit his tongue to keep quiet, blood filing his mouth as his sharp teeth punctured his tongue, he started to press the knife down, screams muffled

he didn’t even get midway through before a hand grabbed his hand extending it and twisting it making the knife fall to the ground with a clank, he locked eyes with Prince Techno, memories of that day, the day he got his scar, flashed between his eyes, would he have mercy to make a quick clean cut on his throat too? 

“What. Do. You. Think. You’re. Doing?” Techno said, pausing between which word, all spat with venom, and a growling sound on the back of his throat, Quackity wanted to cry, breathing quickening, panic flooding his veins

as he fought against the man’s hold, he didn’t know why, he knew he was just prolonging the inevitable, each flap of the hurt wing sent shots of pain through his body, he clawed at the armor uselessly, his efforts did earn him something though, as the prince tsked, before dragging him forward by his held arm to his chest, holding Quackity firm in place, Quackity was starting to struggle further before Techno started to make a purring sound that made him become boneless, all of his fear and anxiety fading

why was he scared again? Seeing this, Techno smirked, picking Quackity up with ease, putting his head on his shoulder, before leaving his house, Quackity saw they get further and further away, helplessly with difficult reaching a hand for the cabin, as if that would do something

and with a flap of strong giant pink wings, they were in the air, Quackity squeaked, holding tightly into Techno, would he drop him? Was that what this is? Quackity sure hoped not

”You’re gonna be in so much trouble for this when we get home” Techno simply said, and Quackity cried, he didn’t meant for the wings to appear, but again he would be punished for something that he didn’t meant to

they arrived at the castle, Quackity was now in front of the rest of the royal family, Techno by his side destroying any chances of a escape attempt

”Do you know why you’re here?” Emperor Philza asked, voice cold like his empire “I-im sorry- i-i promise i’ll get rid of them! I didn’t- I didn’t mean for this to- happen!” Quackity said between sobs and chirps, he felt humiliated under their judging gazes

”Oh mate” Philza crooned full of adoration, making him shiver, Emperor Philza was in front of him now cupping his tear strained checks, looking at him with a soft gaze, almost giving Quackity whiplash

”Im not mad because you have wings, im mad because you hid them and according to Techno tried to cut them” Philza said his grip on his cheeks tightening making him yelp, in a second the hold became soft again

”But that’s okay, you’re here now and we can treat those beautiful wings of yours” Philza said one of his hands going to his wings brushing gently against the fluffy down feathers, it felt quite nice, his wings leaned in the touch making Emperor Philza chuckle

”Please..just let me go” Quackity begged in a broken whisper, Philza just smirked “Can’t do that mate, you’re one of us now” he opened his giant black wings, each feather shining, in a majestic form, making Quackity a little embarrassed of his small wings that he didn’t bother to clean or take care of “Welcome to the family” Quackity froze, and he swear he could hear the lock of a cage at those words

The moment he got his wings, he didn’t stand a chance, it was already a lost game he sobbed as Philza hugged him and the others approached him, eyes full of adoration and love, but at the moment he accepted the hug, even if it was fake, he would take any form of comfort he could get