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Oh, how long has it been?
I wonder, and wonder and wonder.
How long has it been since you came back? Since you came back to me, and gave me the love I desire so much?
Please, come back to me.
I love you.
I love you.
I love you.
I love nobody but you.
I love you, only you.
Nothing else matters. Nobody else matters but you. You, you, you.
I want you. I love you. I want you here so I can love you, I want you here so you can love me.
Everything is so fuzzy these days without you.
You don't come to bring me food or water, or stroke my face and kiss me on the lips.
How long has it been since I've seen your face?
I can't remember when I met you for the first time. I can't remember how, or what you did to me, but it feels wonderful.
You made me feel wonderful. You made me feel loved, you made me feel love. Love, for you, you only.
You made me forget everything else that didn't matter. You touched my hand, stroked it gently and squeezed it, and I would fall every time.
Fall for you. You, you, you.
I miss you.
I love you.
I love you.
I love you.
Please come back.
Please.
Please.
Pleas
e
"What did you do to him?"
The sorcerer smiled. "What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean."
Mizuki stepped closer, their sword held against the sorcerer's neck.
"Oh, how cruel of you, Mizuki," Rui sighed, shaking his head with a smile. "After all we went through together.."
"Don't you fucking dare." Mizuki hissed. "What the fuck did you do to my friend?"
"Why do you want to know?"
"ANSWER ME!"
Mizuki slashed at Rui's arm. The sorcerer laughed as he watched the blood drip down onto the floor.
"Looks like you can't kill me after all." Rui hummed, a calm smirk on his face.
Mizuki narrowed their eyes. "Shut the fuck up. I'm not killing you because you haven't answered me."
Rui clicked his tongue. "But what if I never answer?"
"Someone will find a way." Mizuki muttered. "I don't know what happened to you, Rui. Why did you do this?"
Rui chuckled. "Wouldn't it be a delight to understand the mind of a villain?"
Mizuki took a step back, sheathing their sword as she glared at Rui.
"..You're a monster." She spat.
"Am I?"
Mizuki muttered something under their breath, turning on her heel and walking out of the room. Her footsteps echoed as they slammed the door closed.
Rui chuckled, weakly pulling at the chains bounding him.
"I hope he doesn't starve, at least."
Where are y ou?
Whe r e are y ou, please
come back
come back, I miss you.
I miss you, so so so so so so much.
Do you not love me anymore?
Do you not need to use me anymore?
I can still do things.
I can still love you.
I can still love you, I can love you better than anyone else has before.
Just come back.
Come back. I need you, I need you here. I need you here with me, please please please.
How long has it been since you left me?
I want y ou here.
i wa nt you.
I want y o u so mu u uch
My stomach hurts.
I want you to sw i ng t h a t pendu l u m in fr on t of my fa ce again
I want to fa ll for you
agai n
p le as e
"You still won't spill?"
Rui smiled at the ginger, tilting his head to the side. "Mizuki threw a temper tantrum and left."
"Just tell us where you took him." Akito spoke, leaning against the door with a bored expression. "Come on, you can't be gatekeeping him that hard."
Rui snickered. "Well, how unfortunate. Looks like I am."
"Okay, asshole. He's not your property."
Rui's shit-eating grin only seemed to grow wider. "Really, now?"
"Oh, don't fucking give me that." Akito cringed. "You're so fucking weird. Just spill already."
"Nope."
"Bitch."
Akito took a step closer. "You're a fucking asshole, you know that?"
"Am I?" Rui asked, "Shame. I only saved him from your unfair clutches."
Akito tensed up. "You think you saved him?!" He cried out, "You kidnapped him! How the hell is that saving- what did you even do to him?!"
Rui laughed, the chains chiming and clacking against one another as he shook. "You have no right to pry into my personal business, Shinonome." He stated. "What I do with my dear Tsukasa-kun doesn't matter to a measly little knight like you~!"
"Stop. Spouting. Bullshit." Akito spat angrily, "If I have no right to pry into your business, then you never had any right to take Tsukasa away from the kingdom! You had no fucking right to kidnap him and do god knows WHAT to him-!"
"But what if he wanted that in the first place?"
Akito went silent.
"..Excuse me?"
Rui's smirk seemed to grow only wider. "Looks like you don't know my dear knight as much as you thought you did."
Akito clenched his fists, his teeth gritted.
"Shut up."
You're here
you're her e.
I can see yo u
hi
:)
I love uou
i love yoy
love love love
mwah
mwah
:D
mgghh
tired
immmm tiredß
mmmħhhh
You cam ebback
You came back
today!!!
I saw you
come
in
n n
and i was
mhhappyy y yy y y y
y y
y y
y y
Happptpttyyyy :)))
You came
and you huggd
me
and you kissed me and you did everything you usually do to me and i lo ve e you
love you
I love you
I love you you you you
km tired
can you
give me food
i cnat
move
not allowed to mo e v
can you give me food
pl s
m hubgry
tireedd
fuzzy
memorie
s
god
what am i doi g
wh o wven ambsi anynroe
mnjjhhgsg
fnffjd
It's been so long.
How long has it been since Tsukasa went missing?
We kidnapped the sorcerer, but he won't tell us anything.
He keeps talking about how Tsukasa is 'his' or how he must be 'missing him' or whatever.
Liar.
Big, fat, fucking liar.
I hate him.
I hate him, I hate that damned sorcerer!
I can't believe I used to be friends with him.
I wonder what happened to him. Why is he like this now? Why did he decide to learn dark magic, why did he decide to turn his back against the kingdom and try to destroy it?
Why did he kidnap Tsukasa? Why did he ruin everything?
He's going to die anyway. He can't just not tell them where Tsukasa was.
He can't..
I want Tsukasa back. I miss him.
We all do.
He was a good knight, he was a great comrade, an amazing friend and magnificent brother, and not just to Saki. To everyone, too.
Things haven't been the same since he went missing. We know he's been kidnapped by Rui. We finally caught him, but now he's being stubborn and foolish. This is more than just a game, can't he understand that?!
I just wish Rui would tell us already. He keeps yapping about how much Tsukasa apparently loves him, but he won't tell us what he did to him or where he took him.
I actually need to rip his head off. It's not a want, it's a genuine fucking need.
We all need it.
imm tire d d
your ebeee
J live uou
i live yoh sk muych
kjjhhhghhhgggnngf
whstsveven goung on
m
im ks
feels woeirf
i csnr think bour ajything
but yo u
iou
you
yoh
you
yojt you
you
inoohe uou
mi
i love you
hahahaa
youre hee
youre here
wuou hys stare at me
but youre here
ymstandjng there
youre here
thats
you
you
youwre herbe
inljvebuou :2]]]>]>\>>| nueenmlp
im getjrg tired
h theink
i mightbwaht
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n
Rui finally spilled.
He's barely recognizable. It's actually disgusting.
One of us did it. But whoever tortured him to the verge of death sure isn't spilling. But when we came in, he was finally willing to tell the truth.
It's almost laughable.
A day later, we finally killed him and announced it. To say that the kingdom was happy was an understatement.
Mizuki and I are going to the location Rui offered tomorrow.
He said it was somewhere in the forest. If Tsukasa's not there I'm actually gonna kill myself and go to hell to murder Rui again and again. Trap him in a time loop where he just dies for all eternity or whatever.
Before dying, Rui warned us.
Something something, love, something something, he won't even remember who you are. Bullshit.
I'm sure whatever the sorcerer did to Tsukasa can be reversed. Right?
If he even did anything to Tsukasa at all. Maybe he's just trying to scare us or whatever. We'll see who gets the last laugh, though.
Tsukasa is alive.
He has to be.
Everyone sends Mizuki and I good lucks and wishes as we hop onto our horses, preparing to leave towards the location.
I just hope to Miku he's okay.
He has to be.
"I finally have you, right here, right where I want you to be!"
The sorcerer paced back and forth around the basement. His steps echoed with each one he took. A blond knight was sat on the floor, a chain connecting to a metal collar leaving him helpless as his hands were tied in front of him.
"What the fuck do you want with me?!"
The sorcerer paused, stopping in his tracks. He looked back towards the knight, a lustful grin on his face. "Oh, what an easy question."
"I want you, my dear knight."
He walked up to the blond, lifting his chin gently. The knight pulled away, grimacing.
"Don't you dare touch me."
"Really?"
The sorcerer frowned. "Now, that just won't do." He shook his head, sitting down criss-cross in front of him, like a giddy little child. "But it's okay. We have all the time in the world, my dear knight~!"
"I am not yours." The knight hissed, leaning back. The sorcerer shook his head once more, digging out a small pocket watch.
"Look at this," He offered it towards the knight. It was a golden pocket watch, nothing special. "It's nice, isn't it? A gift from my mother, it was."
The knight narrowed his eyes. Was the mage attempting to have some sort of strange.. small talk with him? Whatever it was, he wouldn't let it work.
"You seem tense." The sorcerer pointed out. He let the watch fall from his hands, yet still held onto the chain attached to the pendulum. The watch dangled in front of him, swaying lightly. "Let me help you!"
The room went silent. The sorcerer pulled the pendulum to the side and let it go, allowing it to swing back and forth, slowly, slowly, slowly. The ticking of the clock was the only sound in the silence of the dim-lit basement.
The knight frowned, looking to the side.
He wasn't falling for this.
He wasn't falling for this, he wasn't stupid! The sorcerer was a fool, he wasn't falling for his measly tricks so easily.
"It's weird how if we were just born somewhere different, raised somewhere different, we would have been entirely different people." The sorcerer spoke. His voice was quiet, barely above a whisper. The knight noticed how he wasn't looking at him nor the pendulum- his gaze was trained on his lap.
"Don't you think that too, knight? We're not ourselves. We're not our thoughts, or our brains or our bodies. All we are is the character we make inside our heads. But what makes that character? Do we decide?"
An airy chuckle escaped his lips. "No, far from it. Experiences shape who we are as people. What others say to us, how they perceive us, how they act around us, they all influence who we are. Like patchwork plagiarism."
The knight closed his eyes. He would rather cover his ears as well, if they weren't tied behind his back. The ticking of the watch seemed to grow louder. His ears were just playing tricks on him, surely.
"We could stay here forever if you want to." The sorcerer hummed softly. "It just depends on when you want to listen to me. It's inevitable anyway."
The knight shook his head. "I'm not listening to you."
"Shame."
The sorcerer sighed. "I suppose I'll try another time, then. Good talk, my knight."
He pocketed the pendulum, shaking his head and muttering underneath his breath.
Yet still...
The knight could still hear the ticking in his head. It seemed to grow even louder: the irritating tick, tock, tick, tock of the watch in his ears.
Tick.
Tock.
Tick.
Tock.
He gritted his teeth.
Tick, tock.
Tick, tock.
Tick, tock.
"..The watch is gone now." The sorcerer whispered. "You can open your eyes."
"Liar." The knight spat, "It's still there."
"No it isn't." The sorcerer cracked a smile. "Open your eyes, I'll prove it!"
Warily, the knight cracked one of his eyes open, then the other.
He blinked.
...There was no swinging pendulum. In fact, he didn't see the pocket watch anywhere.
"You- you just made it invisible," The knight hissed, narrowing his eyes. With each annoying tick, tock, the volume grew louder and louder.
The sorcerer shook his head. "Nope. It's gone."
"Make it stop."
The smile of the red-eyed mage in front of him grew all the more predatory. "I already did."
"Liar."
"What do you want me to do?" The sorcerer asked, his voice still a low whisper. The knight hated how it made his brain fog up, he hated how low and gentle it sounded, how soothing it was, like a mother consoling her child, like a lover giving comfort to their significant other. He hated how it was soft and slow, he hated how the sorcerer's voice made his brain feel.
"Make it stop."
"...Alright. Let's try this."
The sorcerer took a deep breath. "Just focus on your breaths, my knight." He offered. "Take deep breaths. In, and out. That is all you need to focus on."
The knight paused, biting his lip. He didn't want to, but-
Slowly, the blond began to shift his focus to his breathing. In, and out.
In, and out.
In, and out.
Slowly, the ticks began to fade.
With each breath he took, each inhale, each exhale, the ticking of the watch slowly began to get quieter, and quieter, and quieter-
-Until there was nothing left.
Until it was quiet again.
Somehow, his own breathing begins to slow down as well. Slowed down inhales with each breath, a slowed down exhale with each breath.
His thoughts were slowing, too. As if he wasn't thinking about anything but breathing.
Breathe.
Breathe.
Breathe.
In, and out. In, and out. In, and-
...
This wasn't supposed to happen.
Suddenly panicked, the knight attempted to snap himself out of his stupor. And yet, somehow, he couldn't.
He was focused- too focused- on breathing. It was as if his life depended on it.
His vision was blurry. It was silent, too silent.
Breathe.
Breathe.
Breathe.
He couldn't stop himself. Why couldn't he stop himself?
A cold, calloused and rough hand was placed on his face.
Breathe.
Breathe.
Breathe.
What was going on? Why couldn't he stop? What was going on, why was his vision so blurry, why were his thoughts so slow and jumbled, why did his body feel sluggish and numb-
"You can stop now."
..
..
And suddenly, it did.
He stopped.
His body went slack.
What.. what was...?
"It's okay."
The sorcerer's voice was calm and warming. Sweet, like honey..
"Everything will be okay."
And suddenly, somehow-
It was true.
The worries of the knight slowly faded from his mind. What was he even worried about the first place?
Everything will be okay.
Everything is okay.
Everything is okay.
Okay. Okay. Okay.
"Just focus on me. Look at me, my knight."
The Knight's vision focused- focused on.. the sorcerer.
He had taken out the pocket watch again, swinging it gently to and fro.
He didn't try to fight it this time. Following the pendulum as it swung back and forth was almost instinct.
"There we go."
The sorcerer hummed, chuckling. "That's my pretty little knight."
Pretty.. little knight?
That- that wasn't..
"It's okay. This is supposed to happen. Just don't think, let all the thoughts fade from your mind." The sorcerer whispered softly.
"In this moment, it's just you and me. Nobody else. Nothing else but us, my love."
..
..
..
Yeah.
Yeah, it.. it was..?
It was..
It was.
Yeah.
"Do you think your memories are important? They help shape who you are, don't they?"
The knight found himself nodding. He didn't even think about it. He just.. did it.
Yes.
Yes, it was true.
Memories.. are important.
They shape.. they help shape who you are.
"But my darling, that's not who I want you to be. That's not who you truly are. Those memories are not who you want to be, is it?"
Another nod.
No.
These memories..
not who I am.
Not who he was.. truly.
Not who he wanted to be-
...?
H-hold on, that wasn't..
The knight made an attempt to speak. But his body felt so heavy, so hard to move.. all he could let out was a low moan. His mouth didn't even open.
"Mmhhhghh..."
"Don't try to speak." The sorcerer hushed him gently. "Everything is okay. Everything I say is right and true. You believe that, don't you?"
Everything he said.. was..
Was right. And.. and True.
The knight-
He.. he believed that.. didn't he...?
..He found himself nodding along.
He did the same thing again and again each day.
Again and again. Over and over.
And every time, the knight would wake up, confused and dazed. He would look over to the sorcerer, smiling calmly and innocently in front of him.
..Something would be different each time. Something would change.
The knight didn't know what. But it would be.. different. Strange.
Why would he blindly obey the sorcerer's commands? Why, pray tell, why would he look at that pendulum, why would he follow it with such intensity every time? He knew something was wrong, he knew, and yet he couldn't stop it. He couldn't fight against it.
Something was wrong. That was all he knew.
But strangely, slowly, that began to fade away, too. Until he didn't know anything anymore.
His mind was constantly filled with static and buzz, his thoughts were so fuzzy and muddled, he barely even thought anymore.
One day, the sorcerer sat in front of him, smiling all the same.
One day, the sorcerer squeezed his hand gently. And that day, just like all the others, the knight fell for the sorcerer's spell.
That day, the sorcerer asked him a question.
"What are you?"
He was..
A knight.
A knight.
"No, no you aren't. What even is a knight?"
..He.. wasn't.
He wasn't a knight?
"No. You aren't a knight. You are nothing. That is what you are."
Nothing.
Nothing, nothing. He was nothing.
He was... nothing.
He was nothing...?
That.. that couldn't..
"Surrender your mind to me. Let yourself forget everything. I want you to forget everything."
Wh..
Forget.. everything...?
N.. no. He couldn't.. he couldn't forget everything. He can't... he can't do that....?
"I can help you." The sorcerer offered. "You never knew anything anyway."
He never knew..
No, no, he didn't want to. He didn't want to forget everything.
The sorcerer hummed.
"Do you remember your family?"
..Yes...
Yes, yes, he did. He remembered now. It had been so long since he thought about them..
"Who are they?"
His.. his family.
They were.. his parents.
His parents, and his.. his sister. He had.. a sister..?
"Do you remember what they look like?"
Did he...
..
..
..
Ah...
Wh- why... why couldn't he remember..? He couldn't.. remember what they looked like...
"That's right."
The sorcerer hummed gently, caressing the knight's face. "You don't remember what they look like. In fact, they don't even exist, do they?"
What..?
No, no, that couldn't...
"Just forget. Forget about it all. There's no need for such useless information to fill your mind."
The knight groaned, attempting to resist. And yet, against his own will(?), he could feel the thoughts fading, disappearing...
..
What.. was he thinking of, again..?
His mind felt.. empt y....
"Do you remember your position? Your role?"
..A..
...
It was so hard to remember.
What.. what was he again..?
"That's right. You are nothing."
No... th i ng..?
The thought seemed so...
wrong
safe
right
right
right
ri g ht
He wa s
..Nothing...
"Your friends. Do you remember them?"
His... friends..?
The sorcerer barely gave him time to think.
(As if he was even thinking, anyway.)
"Just forget about them. There's no need to remember anything anymore."
Wh..
Ah..
Memories.. but, but tha a t...
..
Thoughts.
Thoughts, feelings, things he used to know, they all faded from his mind one by one. As if someone poked a hole through his brain and all his memories were slipping out, dripping from the hole one by one. He couldn't catch any of them.
Gone.
Gone.
Gone
Gone
gone
gone geone hone
bsbeeegghhn
There was
no need
to remember
them any
m or
e
"It feels good, doesn't it?" The sorcerer whispered. He leaned forwards, planting a kiss onto the lips of his beloved. "It feels good to forget. Forget everything, my love. Forget who you are, who you used to be. You were nothing before me, and now, you are mine."
"Do you hear that, my love? You are mine."
His..
He was..
his..
His.
The sorcerer. He belonged.. to him.
that sounded..
good...
that sounded very, very good.
he lik e d that.
"You love me, don't you?" The sorcerer hummed, seductively chuckling into the blond's ear. "You love me so much. That is all you know, your love for me. It's amazing, isn't it?"
A bubbly warmth filled the cold emptiness in his body. A tingling sensation, from his heart all the way to be very tips of his fingers and toes.
Love
Love
Love?
Love.
He loved him.
he loved him
so
much.
all he knew.
It was all he knew
love
love
love
love for the sorcerer.
Love.
Love.
Love.
He loved him.
He loved him
he loved him he loved him.
that was all
that was all he needed to know.
He was nothing without the sorcerer
nothing
nothing
nothing
he had no life before this.
no
none
none none
just the sorcerer
just him
him
him
and love
love
love
...
..
love
"When you wake up, you will know nothing anymore. All you know and remember is me. And you love me. I am everything to you. You love me, you love me. You are no longer who you used to be."
"You are no longer anything, anything but mine."
And with that single command, the knight Tsukasa Tenma was no more.
"It's here."
Mizuki and Akito stood in front of a small cabin in the thicket of the woods. The area around them was dark, the branches and leaves of the trees shrouding the light and swallowing it up, yet the space was lit by fireflies all the same. Shimmering little specks of light flew about, and Mizuki couldn't help but reach out towards one.
The firefly flew away, evading Mizuki's grasp. The light disappeared, fading out into the darkness.
Mizuki frowned.
Akito bit his lip. "Mizuki, come on. Let's check this place out."
Mizuki shook their head, sighing. "Yeah, alright."
They placed a hand to their chest, taking a deep breath. "Let's go."
Akito swung the door to the cabin open, wincing at the creaking noise of the weak hinges. The inside was almost completely dark. If not for the lantern Mizuki had brought, which they were turning on at the moment. He took a step inside, grimacing at the specks of dust flying around the place.
In fact, this whole place was dusty. How long had it been abandoned for?
"Tsukasa?" Akito called out, a lump forming in his chest. "Are you there?"
There was a noise.
From.. somewhere. It was muffled and barely audible.
Akito sucked in a sharp breath, coughing almost immediately after from all the dust. "Wh-what was that..?"
Mizuki held up the glowing lantern, the flame dancing inside its little cave. "I dunno.. let's look around."
There was a desk with scrolls and items littered across its surface, ranging from old, dark magic spells to journal logs to dried lavender and other herbs. Akito took a quick look at some of the journal logs.
..
..
..
They were horrible. Akito stepped back, feeling the sudden urge to empty his stomach of all its contents.
"M-Mizuki," He uttered, a hand clasped over his mouth. "He.. he wrote things down."
Mizuki raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"Over there. On the table. He wrote down.. what he did. To Tsukasa."
Mizuki walked over to the table, frowning. They picked up the scroll, skimming through its contents.
..
..
..
..What the fuck?
Mizuki cringed, slamming the paper back down.
"Oh my fucking god." They muttered. "Where is he. Holy shit, Akito, where the fuck is Tsukasa?!"
Akito, feeling Mizuki's panic radiating, was quick to try and calm her down. "Stop, he has to be alive still. We can fix things, Mizuki. We can.. we can fix whatever that asshole did to him."
Mizuki bit her lip. "..Can we?"
"Of course we can."
Akito wasn't so sure. It felt like he was trying to comfort himself, too.
He took the lantern from Mizuki, squeezing their shoulder comfortingly as he scanned the rest of their surroundings. He noticed a handle on the floor.
Trapdoor. Bingo.
Tsukasa.. had to be in here.
He shoved the lantern back into Mizuki's hands, pursing his lips.
"Look," He muttered, pointing to the door. "It's.. here. He has to be here."
Mizuki gasped softly, letting Akito bend down and knock on the door.
"Tsukasa?" He called out, "Tsukasa, are you there...? Is anyone there?"
No response. Akito and Mizuki exchanged worried glances.
"I'm coming in." Akito announced, swinging the trapdoor open. He leaned back, coughing from the dust.
There was still no noise from inside. The two hopped down, and Mizuki held out the lantern in front of them, surveying their surroundings. It was almost pitch black.
And then— Mizuki noticed a figure near the back, lying limp on the ground.
They gasped, nudging Akito.
They took a step forward, and another. Until the figure was lit by the dim glow of the lantern's candle.
...
..
.
"..Oh god-"