Chapter Text
To say Marcassin missed his brother was an understatement. Gascon's strange decision to run away a decade ago on the very night their father died left the young prince with quite a (thankfully) metaphorical hole in his heart. It wasn't easy for him to be left with no family at the age of five, the only saving grace being that he was far from fit to sit on Hamelin's throne and the advisors had basically taken over any duties his father the late Emperor had left behind instead of thrusting them onto a grieving child.
Especially on days such as today where he'd just stay in his room all day, only leaving to go eat and clean himself. Being only left with the thought of when would Gascon return as he looks at old photos of him and his brother he had lying around.
Of course he trusted that Gascon would return one day, after all why would his big brother lie to him? But that didn't stop Marcassin from missing him dearly, he missed building things with Gascon and he was only keeping the seat of Hamelin's ruler occupied until his brother was back. While he was fifteen now and was starting to take on some of the duties himself, he wasn't sure if he was the right person for the job.
Not to say he was slacking in his duties, just feeling slightly inadequate at them. Maybe he'd grow into it with time, …But there was no doubt in his mind that Gascon would be better suited for some of these jobs than he was.
Marcassin's mind wanders back to the night that Gascon had left, and the time travelers they had assisted with retrieving Mornstar. Part of his time spent the past decade was to trying to figure out how exactly one could travel through time without the Breach Time spell so he could solve the puzzle of how they ended up fifteen years in the past to begin with.
Did it have something to do with the fairy they have with them perhaps? What was his name again? Dippy, or was it Trippy? Marcassin didn't know much about fairies so maybe they have some unknown power that caused it. Though his memories of the fairy in particular weren't the most clear save for the fact he remembered it had a lantern. Actually most of his memories about the time travelers weren't all that clear seeing how young he was at the time, he could only remember a few core details about each of them. Perhaps if he somehow managed to encounter them within the next five or so years once they look more like they did when they time traveled he'll be reminded of more things about the group.
Well save for the gunslinger known as Swaine, the prince needed no reminders to remember Swaine.
Swaine had managed to stick so vividly in Marcassin's mind unlike the others, and he couldn't quite place why. Maybe it was because he was one of the few sources of comfort he had found after his father had died, Swaine seemed to know the exact things Marcassin needed to feel even just a little better. Adults were a little magic like that after all.
The gunslinger was also quite similar to Gascon despite how they might seem so outwardly different, both physically and personality wise. They both projected an outer shell of confidence and sarcasm that hide a more caring personality in it which Marcassin had already learned to get through. That probably did something to help with Marcassin remembering him.
It did puzzle him however why Swaine seemed to share physical similarities with people in his life however. The man looked like his father if his father didn't straight out his hair, or care much about his appearance at all, but notably there were a few features on Swaine's face that reminded Marcassin of the few photos of his mother they had lying around the castle, which added up to perhaps being a strange older version of his brother. He didn't have any sorts of uncles or cousins that looked similar enough to fit the bill of Swaine as far as he was aware either.
Maybe it's a mystery for future Marcassin to solve, if he truly was still going to be the ruler of Hamelin by the time he'd be in the time traveler's era then perhaps it wouldn't be all that hard to figure out by then. Though he hoped that wasn't the case, he wanted Gascon back sooner rather than later. He wanted his family back, and it was oh so incredibly lonely without them. Marcassin didn't know if he could handle another few years without his brother.
Before he could ponder this train of thought any further, the prince heard a rumbling from his stomach. Right, it should be around dinner time about now, he should probably head down to the dining hall.
Quickly grabbing his staff as he headed for the doorway, Marcassin stopped himself from opening the door when he heard yet another strange sound, this time distinctly coming from behind him. A strange chuckle to be exact.
Marcassin whips around with staff held in a defensive position to face whoever might've snuck into his room without his knowledge, only to spot Shadar the Dark Djinn. The murderer of his father.
"Guards!", Marcassin quickly calls out upon spotting the Dark Djinn.
"If you think your guards are coming for you, you are sorely mistaken little prince.", Shadar's voice, dripping with malice says rather calmly.
This did little to make Marcassin stand down, he only gripped his staff tighter in preparation to cast a spell. He wouldn't let himself go down the same was his father did, not before Gascon could return at least, he needed to see his brother again before he'd allow himself to draw his final breath.
The prince believed- no knew Gascon would return one day, and he knew that Gascon believed in him and his magic. So he'd use that magic to stand his ground against the Dark Djinn, and ensure he'd see his brother again some day. Even if he still wasn't particularly confident in his skills, if they weren't enough now they'd never be enough, so they had to be.
"So be it then, if I have to do this myself I will.", Marcassin replies with a shaky breath.
And with that breath Marcassin put as much of his power into this one spell as he could before shooting it off at Shadar. It did nothing but stagger the Dark Djinn, but it was enough for Marcassin to make a run for it.
"Your brother made that same mistake, thinking he could hurt me. What a fool he was for that.", Shadar chuckles as he chases after the Porcine Prince.
His brother…? Had Shadar already gotten to Gascon?! Did that mean- no he couldn't let such thoughts cloud his mind. Marcassin had to believe Gascon was still out there somewhere, so he continued to run, maybe if he put enough distance between then he'd have the time to cast Travel and get himself away from Shadar. Maybe he could go looking for Gascon himself once he's out of here.
Unfortunately the Dark Djinn retaliates with his own spell, knocking down Marcassin in one hit, not dead yet but certainly in no condition to keep going. And yet he still tried to keep moving, even now on the floor.
"At least you've seemed to put up more of a fight than him, hah.", the Dark Djinn says as he descends in front of Marcassin.
"You'll… never… bring down Hamelin… by just… killing it's leaders…", Marcassin manages to cough out despite the fact he should really be saving his breath.
"Don't worry little prince, I learned from my mistakes after killing your father. Not my best plan I'll admit, only left a hole to be filled by someone who'll be just as much of a thorn in my side.", Shadar chuckles.
Marcassin was really getting fed up with his chuckling, but he couldn't help but wonder what the Dark Djinn wants to do with him. Nothing good is all he can confidently say.
"Won't stop me… from… getting back up…", Marcassin makes a grunt of defiance before everything goes dark.
And the last thing he hears is, "Oh no, it absolutely will."