Work Text:
He didn’t really notice himself come into existence. One second he wasn’t there, the next he was standing in a large, tent-like area. He saw another standing close behind him, a woman. He quickly figured out that he was the Narcis King, and the woman was the Feral Queen.
The Narcis King didn’t know how he knew this, but he had one goal: Kill his and the Feral Queen’s twins, Valere and Zale. As for where he was, he had no idea. …Maybe asking the Feral Queen would work?
“Where are we?”
Looks like she beat him to it. The Narcis King felt his pride take a hit.
“I don’t know.” He answered, looking around. “You’re the Feral Queen right?” The Feral Queen didn’t say anything for a moment.
“That name’s too complicated. Just call me Feral. And you’re the Narcis King, huh? Can I call you Narcis?” The Feral Queen asked, getting closer. The Narcis King was startled by the nickname.
“N-no! You can’t call me Narcis! Titles are very important, and you should learn to use them!” He exclaimed. The Feral Queen just giggled.
“Whatever you say, Narcis!” She said, booping his nose. Suddenly, a strange feeling washed over the two. “I think it’s time to go. I’ll be at Wolf Rock, you should drop by sometime!” The Narcis King nodded.
“Ivory Towers, and you should, too.” He replied. “Bye, Feral.” In a flash of light, the scenery around him changed. There were impeccable structures made out of ivory, and real plants grew around the place. After a bit of exploration, the Narcis King found that there were dozens of statues and paintings of him on display, and his private chambers had five mirrors lining the back wall. The whole area was being tended to by countless servants, all there to praise him and do his bidding. The Narcis King grinned.
Oh yeah, he could get used to this.
The next morning, there was a knock on the Narcis King’s door while he was eating breakfast. The Feral Queen burst through seconds later.
“Heya, Narcis! Nice place you’ve got here!” She called happily. “A bit fancy for my tastes however…”
“F-Feral Queen?!” The Narcis King exclaimed, once again taken aback by his nickname. He composed himself. “I wasn’t expecting you, how are you?”
“Sheesh, what happened to calling me Feral?” The Feral Queen growled in annoyance. “Anyways, may I join you for breakfast?” The Narcis King nodded, and she took a seat next to him.
After breakfast, the Feral Queen began to make her way out of the Ivory Towers. Something urged the Narcis King to stop her.
“Feral, wait.” He called, grabbing her wrist. The Feral Queen jumped at hearing her nickname. “I was hoping I could give you a tour?”
“Hm, sure. Just drop by Wolf Rock later so I can show you around there.” She replied. The Narcis King grinned, he was about to do what he did best: Show off. Feral followed him around as he led her through his domain. Her wolf-like eyes went wide as she took in the gleaming surfaces. By the end, she looked thoroughly impressed.
“What did you think?” The Narcis King asked, eager for the Feral Queen’s, no Feral’s, approval.
“Pretty good, Narcis.” The Feral Queen replied. “Wolf Rock isn’t nearly as sophisticated, but I think you’ll enjoy the chaos of it. Everyone needs a little disorder every now and then.” She winked. “Don’t forget to stop by tomorrow. See you around!” The Feral Queen teleported back to her domain, Wolf Rock, leaving the Narcis King with an odd fluttery feeling in his chest. He shrugged it off, passing it off as excitement from getting the chance to brag.
A few hours later, the Narcis King decided to drop by Wolf Rock. He looked around at the stone formations for a moment, trying to find somewhere to take shelter from the rain until the Feral Queen could let him in, before he heard a familiar howl. Feral pounced on him, knocking to the ground.
“Heya Narcis!” She said with a grin. The Narcis King realized Feral was on top of him and his face heated up.
“Hey Feral.” He replied, deciding on a whim to turn up the charm. “Nice place, almost as pretty as the Ivory Towers.” He grinned up at Feral. “Of course, you’re the prettiest thing here.” Feral froze, processing Narcis’s comment for a moment, before turning red and flinging herself backwards.
“Ah- I wasn’t expecting that from someone as proud as you!” She giggled. “Anyways, while our twins are locked up, I’ll give you the tour of Wolf Rock!” Feral stood up, helping Narcis to his feet, and led him through the caverns. They were full of glowing blue crystals and various wolf-like creatures, who seemed to bow to Feral. At the end of the tour, the two were in an empty, secluded cavern at the top of Wolf Rock.
“I saved showing you this for last.” Feral explained. “It’s my private cave, anything I need to do alone I do up here. You’re the first one I’ve let see this place.” The woman smiled, blushing a bit. Narcis shot her a grin back.
“Hey, Feral?” He asked.
“Yeah?”
“While we’re alone, can I… ask you for a favor?” Feral tilted her head in confusion and curiosity. Narcis stepped forward before taking her face in his hands and kissing her on the cheek. His heart was pounding as he did, as he was unable to explain why he did it. Feral looked shocked, but her expression was quickly replaced with a wide grin, revealing her sharp teeth. “Sorry, I-”
“You’re smooth.” She commented, before kissing him back, this time on the lips.
A few hours later, the Narcis King returned to Ivory Towers, red as a tomato. He’d just closed the door when one of his guards ran up to him.
“Your majesty! The twins have escaped the Oubliettes and are working to recover the train of one of the other escaped prisoners!” They exclaimed. Narcis sighed, feeling a twinge of annoyance.
“I’ll prepare to defeat them then.” He said, letting a bit of cockiness slip into his tone, but… there was an ache in his chest. If he, by some slim chance, were to lose, how would Feral feel? He tried to shake the feeling, but it persisted for hours after. Why?
Oh. Oh no. Oh no no no. He didn’t actually care about her, much less have feelings for her, did he? He wasn’t supposed to care about anyone but himself, but thoughts of the Feral Queen were intruding. If he were to succumb to his twin, how would Feral know what happened to him?
(…I’m going to regret this.) He thought before grabbing a sheet of paper and quill and beginning to write.
A few days later, after Narcis sent the parade meant to gather the townsfolk and his twin, he approached one of the few remaining servants in the castle, letter in hand.
“Good afternoon, your excellence.” The servant said with a bow. The Narcis King held out the letter.
“Good afternoon. As you know, a confrontation with my twin today is unavoidable at this point.” He started. “He seems to be strong, not as strong as me obviously, but if, by whatever slim chance there is, something happens to me,” If I’m defeated. He couldn’t say it. He was too proud to say it. He took a breath in. “I need someone to send this letter to Wolf Rock. Understood?”
“I understand.” The servant replied, before a look of curiosity crossed their face. “What has you suddenly worried about the outcome of this battle?”
“It’s none of your concern. Just do it.” Narcis ordered, walking away before the servant could ask anymore questions.
The Narcis King didn’t expect to be so nervous when he saw his twin walk through the door. He knew he’d most likely win this fight, but he didn’t expect to have to do this so fast, given the number of traps and puzzles in the towers…
He chose to ignore his quickly mounting dread. He would not fall here. He couldn’t, because if he did that meant he’d failed. Failed the puppeteer, failed the dweller of scourge, but most of all, it would mean he’d failed Feral, and it would mean he’d have to send that letter and all his forbidden feelings would come spilling out.
No, he could do this. His twin and his friends couldn’t take Symmetry of Sin. The Narcis King was confident he would win. With that, the Puppeteer drew back the curtain concealing his perfect form, initiating the fight.
…He lost.
He didn’t know how it happened. His twin, who he now remembered was named Zale, and his friends had somehow managed to crack the code of how to stop him from using Symmetry of Sin, and he and his friends were unreasonably strong. Now he was on his knees, and the servant who had his letter had run off moments earlier.
“Impossible… An immaculate surface should win over integrity… Perception is more important than substance… ” He growled weakly. “Why do anything if no one is made envious…?” Zale came up to him, eyes devoid of emotion.
“You’re doing the hair wrong.” He said simply. Time seemed to move in slow motion as Narcis watched Zale cock his foot back and swing. The last thing he heard before everything went black was a loud crunch that could only have been his skull against the tile flooring.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At Wolf Rock, the Feral Queen, for some strange reason, was getting worried about the Narcis King. Her fears were only confirmed when a letter arrived from the Ivory Towers, addressed to her from Narcis.
'My dear Feral Queen,
'As of the time I’m writing this, I’ve sent out the parade to gather the citizens of Horloge, and Zale and Valere are on their way. If you’re reading this, it means I failed you. Our twins and their robot friend have incapacitated me and will be going after you next.
'I highly enjoyed our time together. I wasn’t made to care about anyone but myself, and from what I understand neither were you. Still, I cared about you, no matter how much the Puppeteer might hate it. So if my failure is karma for forming a connection with you, so be it.
'It pains me to think that I’ll never get to say some of the words I’ve written down in here now that I’m gone, especially three very important, very exclusive words, so I’ll have to say them now.
'I love you, Feral. More than anyone else, maybe even more than myself. And, to add three more important words to this: I’m so sorry. I understand if you don’t feel the same and I know that, if we’d had more time together, we could have had something amazing. Let’s meet again in the next life, ok my love?
'Narcis'
The Feral Queen hadn’t realized she was crying until she punched one of the walls of her cave. Those two… Valere and Zale… they’d taken away the one thing she’d truly held dear in this world.
Valere and Zale. Herself. She wouldn’t rest until one of them was dead.
And in the end, the Feral Queen would get to join her dearest Narcis King one last time before being destroyed for good.