Chapter 6: Chapter 6: Painful Memories

During the time of the second tragedy, Aki was finally used to the new terms for addressing royals and learned the layout well enough to leave by himself. He had Yani's mother to thank, as she was always patient and caring to Aki's struggling.

"Your parents have been acting weird lately. Do you know why?" Aki asked as he was sitting under the gazebo beside Yani who was reading a leather book. The front cover was in another language that went over Aki's head.

Yani set his book down with a sigh. "They won't say it, but I think it's because of that red king. He's been scary, but he seems worse lately. Even Shade doesn't like being around him."

Aki frowned slightly. "He's scary even to Shade?!" He exclaimed before being shushed by Yani. "Oops. Sorry. But it's scary since we've hardly heard anything from the other kingdoms…"

"I heard Maria's and Rainer's kingdoms are on lockdown. But I'm not sure about Dreue's and Snow's kingdoms. I'll admit, it's a bit unsettling…" Yani closed his book and rest his arms on it. "We can sneak out tonight to see if anything is happening."

"Yani! That's a really bad idea! If something is happening, we could get hurt," Aki protested as he glanced over his shoulder to make sure they were alone. "I'm supposed to protect you. If the queen is cautious, I doubt I could do much to protect you."

The young prince giggled and pat Aki's head. "Yeah right. I'm the strong one! I'll be the one to protect you, Aki." He then brought him into a hug. "I promise."

Aki hugged him back with a wide grin. "I'm gonna protect you too!"

"I'm older than you, so I get to do it! You're my servant, so you gotta be the one thing always loyal to me." Aki released him and nodded.

"I'll always be loyal to you! I'm even gonna be the best servant ever! Better than Shade!" Aki boasted.

A wicked laugh made Aki scream in surprise as they both looked over to see a woman strutting towards them. She wore a black robe that was frayed, tipping her large witch hat.

"Tough words for a tiny human! Think you can take me down? On a good day, I can destroy an entire planet like that! You can barely hold a tray without dropping a cup" She snapped before laughing hysterically.

"What do you want, Shade? You rarely ever look for us," Yani asked in a cold tone.

The woman faked a hurt look as she pouted out her bottom lip. "Trust me, little prince, I was enjoying a little cat nap until your mother called me. She wants me to escort you both to bed, it's a safety procedure she wants us to follow for the time being. Hop on cuz I'm feeling generous~" Shade leaned back and was consumed black smoke, once it cleared, there stood a black tiger with silver stripes.

Without arguing, the boys left their seats and climbed onto the tiger's back. She began running back towards the castle at a hasty speed. Aki desperately clung to Yani who was holding onto Shade with all his might.

One thing Aki needed to know was that demons are far more than shade dealers. In the world he lived in, they were gods with their histories. Every time he asked about Shade, it was drastically different each time. All he knew was she was ranked as a demonic witch, which she earned by obliterating worlds, though she also stated it was by creating worlds. He never knew which was true.

Shade stopped by Yani's room and waited for them to get off. "Your mom instructed that you do not leave your room unaccompanied. Do you understand, young prince?" she asked in a stern tone.

"Yes. Let's go, Aki," Yani ordered before heading into his room. Aki waved to Shade before following him.

His room was divided in half. The other side belongs to Yang. He was already in bed and probably asleep. Though he'd sometimes fake it to ignore them.

Yani climbed into his bed, sitting quite close by the window. "The Yellow Rose Kingdom is right next to ours. We can go see Dreue and ask if he knows what's going on."

Aki sat on the edge with an uneasy feeling. "Your mom said not to go anywhere on your own. You should stay here…"

"I'm not going alone." Yani smiled as he pointed at Aki. "I order you to take me to see Dreue."

"…Permission to decline the order?" Aki restated. Using a line Shade said she'd use to get out of work sometimes.

Yani kept smiling as he shook his head. "Nope. Now let's go…" He then opened up the window and looked down below. They were on the second floor and the only way down was using the damaged wall. Yani carefully sat on the window seal with one leg out of the window. "I'll get you down."

Aki looked out the window with wide eyes. "Master! You can't jump out from that high! You could get hurt!" he protested in a loud whisper.

"I've been practicing. You'll be safe." Yani held his arms out to him with a smile. Aki hesitated for a moment before getting onto his prince's lap and leaned against him. "Don't scream." Yani held him before jumping out of the window without hesitation.

Aki felt his stomach drop and closed his eyes tightly. All he felt was a rush of cold air and feeling weightless. He kept his eyes shut until they were on the ground. His entire body was shaking and was breathing heavily.

"Do you have a plan on getting back up?" Aki asked as he looked up towards the window.

"…"

"We'll figure it out later." Yani hugged before helping Aki onto his feet. "We can't risk going to the central market, so we'll go through the woods and climb the wall over."

Aki glanced over to see the dark woods that waited for them. What made the Black Rose Kingdom so scary was the woods that surrounded them. It was dangerous for anyone to enter and even residents risked the chance of getting lost for days until they perish.

"As your servant: I won't let you go," Aki stood in front of him.

"I'm not listening to you. You follow me…" Yani attempted to walk past him but was held back.

"Yani, you're not thinking right. You're making hasty decisions and have no plan. We're going inside right now!" Aki glared at his back. Yani pushed him away and kept walking. Fed up, Aki brought his hands to his side and took a deep breath. "I'll be reporting this to your mother, master."

"…You said you were loyal!" Yani shouted.

"I am! That's why I have to protect you!" Aki shouted back.

"I don't want you to! You protecting me is an embarrassment to the Black Rose Kingdom! You're just a worthless human!" Yani quickly covered his mouth after letting his outburst slip out. Tears swelled up in his eyes as he ran into the woods blindly.

Aki felt his heartache, but he ran after Yani regardless of what had happened. He didn't chase after him because he was obligated as a servant, he chased after him because Yani was his friend…

"Yani! Please come back! It's not safe to do all this! We can talk! I'm sorry!" Aki shouted as he ran as fast as he could. He could barely see Yani with the thick fog and could only go off of his footsteps.

His friend was just barely out of reach. When Aki reached out and grazed Yani's hair, the prince screamed and fell. Aki tripped over him and tumbled.

"Y-Yani?! Are you okay?" Aki asked as he struggled to breathe properly. His lunged burned and every breath of air was painful.

The male was slumped over and sobbing audibly. "N-no!" he choked between his sobbing. "I've never been okay! I hate everything! Everyone's against me! Even you!" He screamed. "Mom tells dad everything I do wrong! I don't want to be punished anymore! I hate this hair! I hate not knowing what's going on! I'm scared!" Yani cried even harder as he held onto his ankle.

Aki was trembling enough that he could only crawl over to Yani. Since he was only in shorts, Aki could easily see Yani's reddish ankle swelling up. He hugged his friend tightly, making sure he wasn't touching his hair. Aki didn't release him until Yani's screaming turned into whimpering.

"I'm sorry for saying I'll tell your mom. I just didn't want you to get into serious trouble. I was hoping you'd just come back if I said that… I'm sorry…" Aki sniffled. "I'm scared too… but running around in the dark won't get us the answers we want. We should just wait for your parents to make an announcement. Can you stand?" Aki asked as he stood up.

Yani tried to stand but would've hit the ground if Aki hadn't caught him. "I'm such an idiot…" He leaned against him. "You're not worthless… you're my everything. I was just mad…" Yani confessed as he closed his eyes.

"I know you didn't mean it. So it's okay!" Aki struggled slightly but managed to carry Yani on his back. If it weren't for his lighter anatomy, Aki couldn't carry him back.

Even though he was certain they were walking back the way they came, Aki and Yani didn't feel any closer to getting home. All they saw were decrepit trees that twisted into each other and fog around them.

After what felt like hours, Aki struggled to see what was ahead of him as it only grew darker. It was hard to keep a brave face as he feared the worst.

"I got us lost… we should sit to figure out what to do now…" Yani commented. Aki sat down in a small clearing and helped Yani sit. "It's kinda cold here… will you be okay, Aki?" Yani asked as leaned against the tree.

"Of course! So long as we're together, we'll be okay…" Aki brought his knees up to his chest. "But we're gonna get in a lot of trouble for leaving. So I'm more worried about you."

Aki struggled to see Yani's expression, he felt a cold hand hold onto his. It was trembling slightly. "I don't want to dread anything right now. We should just sleep until it's safe to keep walking."

So, they huddled close together for warmth and struggled to sleep. It would be a long night, but tomorrow's events made Aki wish it would never end.