Chapter Text
Since young, Prince Gion Zecchino of Italy has been recognized as a prodigy.
By age eight, he received the prestige as a Mage of the famed Babel Tower.
Whether its academics, politics, etiquettes, sports, or magic, he excels in it, bringing boundless honor to the Italian royal family.
However, his genius comes with a teeny tiny problem.
"Baa~”
A pair of ocean blue eyes lock gazes with similarly colored eyes, well he tries to but it is hard to do so when your opponent has eyes at the sides of their head instead of the usual. Reality hits the Italian harder as the fluffy brown creature bleats again.
Oh no, Gion had cursed the Crown Prince into a sheep.
It truly had been an accident. He has felt his mana going awry lately. He still has a finely tuned control over his mana while using it, however outside of the times he utilizes it, a heavy sensation has started enveloping his physical being for quite some time.
He had ignored it.
He should not have ignored it.
And now, somehow, in midst of his annoyance of being compared with two people held on an undeserving pedestal, again, the unwitting Crown Prince stammering with his sheep-like demeanor ends up turning into a sheep.
Gion hasn’t done anything really, just throwing an irritated glance towards his older half-brother.
Not that Nonno cares.
His cheek still throbbed in pain from how hard the elderly had struck him. The tangy copper taste also unfortunately does not leave his tongue, completely saturating itself with his salivas.
He can’t even get it treated yet, as Nonno had ordered him to fix the situation before any else, even though the sheep-Giovanni was clearly in a hale and healthy condition, normal aside from his ‘sheep-ness’.
Well, it is indeed his fault, but the way his grandfather punishes him without even verifying the situation left a bitter taste for the young teen. But then again, the former king has always prioritized the Crown Prince over his useless second grandson, so Gion doesn’t understand why he has to be upset over this expected biased treatment.
In the end, while scouring the countless magical texts and tombs available in the palace with the aid of multiple court mages, he found multiple ways to reverse the curse. He proposes a few methods to the King Emeritus and the one deemed as the safest was chosen.
In the end, Giovanni was no longer a sheep stumbling through the palace and Gion got punished with house arrest.
“Mana oversaturation? Is it dangerous for my son?” His mother, clad in a formal blue dress, worriedly asks the doctor specializing in mana related disease. The gentle woman had been under so much distress over the past incidents that Gion felt a twinge of guilt towards her.
After multiple more incidents of accidental unleashing of his magic to unsuspecting dwellers of the castle, it was decided that Gion should be referred to a professional. The King had been worried when the flowers at the dining table had unwittingly turned into croaking frogs with Gion’s mana signature all over them.
“On the contrary Your Majesty. His Highness will not be majorly affected by his condition,” the aged wizard that professions as a doctor calmly explains to the Queen, “Mana oversaturation happens when the mana collected is much more than what the body can absorb. This is common occurings for mages that exhibit magnificent talents at a very young age, such is what is happening to Prince Gion. When the mana is unabsorbed, it lingers around the physical body, and it uncontrollably increases the potency of magic.”
“Is there any cure to help him?”
“There is no cure as only time will resolve this condition, Your Majesty. The body takes time to accommodate more mana, this needs to occur naturally or we risk hurting His Highness. I do say give it a few years, most Mages tend to completely stabilize their magic at the earliest age of seventeen and the latest at early twenty.”
Gion is currently fifteen. Woe is a prodigy.
“How can I control it?” he asks, curious about his newly discovered illness.
“Avoid emotional triggers. Magic volatility is greatly caused by emotions. Most magical outbursts are caused by emotional or physical distress. The best option for now is to try your best to remain composed in any situation.”
Gion nods at the advice, it wouldn’t be so hard, he is used to keeping his emotions under lock and keys.
It will be fine.
The not-instant method doesn’t bode well with Nonno so now Gion is essentially kicked out of the palace until he is twenty. From how eager the elder is at commanding the servants to pack Gion’s belongings so the teen can ‘broaden his horizon’, it is obvious he wants Gion away from Giovanni as far as possible for as much as possible.
Well, at least the banished prince has Livio with him.
And the Babel Tower of Magic.
And the rest of the world, except Italy apparently.
His first stop is Japan, obviously.
Shintarou had sneered and laughed at his predicament, the audacity of this recluse that had barely stepped a foot outside the confines of his private estate.
But Shintarou’s estate brings about a sense of comfort and calmness, an aesthetic chosen purposefully for the sake of the unfortunate erratic prince.
Gion’s 16th birthday passed peacefully in Kyoto, with a walk in the Kiyomizu-dera and a nice dinner with Livio and Shintarou. The two of them had baked him a cake, flavored with his favorite coffee and quality cream. A look at the kitchen reveals that an attempt at sekihan had been made, but failed again, just as it had years before.
He had received a pendant from Livio, and a guide on Japanese beasts from Shintarou.
“If you ever need an idea to get creative.”
If Shintarous isn’t one of the most frail people Gion knows, the Italian will deck the bespectacled prince with the hard bound book in the privacy of the estate.
Later, when time passed enough in Italy for his birthday, he receives calls and messages from his parents and Gina, wishing him a blessed birthday and well wishes and safety in his journey.
He replies to them all with delight.
Late at night, right before he falls asleep, a message comes in, wishing him a special birthday.
He ignores this one this time, no need to taint a good memory just yet.
A week later, Gion finds himself packing again, out of his own volitation this time around.
Babel Tower has sent a request to him, their Mage, to meet with the elusive Mage specializing in foretelling in South Africa on official Tower business.
Since Gion’s businesses are doing well, he can afford to leave the rest of the work to his hired CEOs for a while and perform his duty as a Mage afflicted with the Tower. Gion, without expecting anything, has offered Shintarou to join them, as the teen IS a high ranked mage, but as assumed, it is like moving the stonehenge with only a spoon.
Futile.
Unfortunately, he has no method of direct teleportation to South Africa, unlike with Japan, hence they both need to resort to classical methods.
Long hours on a plane, ughhh.
They made a stop at Saudi Arabia.
He had known Arafat from years ago, when Gion was the odd child in the sea of teenagers.
Arafat too, had laughed at his predicament. At least he has the decency to attempt hiding his mirths.
Gion tells him if he continues laughing the older prince will be turned into a desert eagle. This only serves to bemuse the Arabian prince.
In the end they leave Saudi with an armful of chocolates and expensive bottles of perfume, a birthday gift, apparently.
Somewhere, a dejected tan skinned prince sulks in his room, aggrieved by the curt reply he received late from the only person he cares about.
He secretly wishes he can be a cat, and maybe Gion will deign to look his way voluntarily.