forum secrets only the sun knows // O/O // Closed

Started April 23, 2021 by @MarDeColores this is not it kids

tune

(I apologize for the long wait, holiday crazy went on longer than I anticipated. :)
"Mn." Kuno nodded, taking a long sip of the tea. He felt a bit nervous that Theo was peering at the food he'd brought for them with such scrutiny. Did they not like yula-ofe? He was about to backpedal and go get something else, but Theo picked up a dumpling before he could make a move. Well, that was for the best. He didn't know what else he could have gotten for them. "Selija." Kuno grabbed a dumpling from the plate and took a small bite. Sol, these were good. He could probably eat them every single day. Not that he would, since there were so many other wonderful dishes he could eat. But they were that good in his opinion. Kuno glanced over at Theo, not sure what to say. He should probably ask how the food and tea tasted. "Does it taste–" Kuno started, reaching for his cup of tea. A shout cut him off, rising above the faint murmur of the celebration and piercing into the quiet of the garden.
"Canyu-pol sa ka!" Shortly after the shout, a scream sounded. Kuno shot to his feet, his hand knocking the cup over. Tea splashed over the table, but Kuno didn't notice. His mind was already on the queens and the fact that they were unarmed and probably in danger. He had to get to them. Kuno had thought that the war was over. He'd hoped that it was over. But it seemed like that wasn't the case.

Theo glanced up when Kuno began to speak, but then the shouts cut him off, and they flinched. Moving away from the spilled tea, he came up next to him, his brow furrowing and their muscles tensed and stiff. He recognized that word, but their mind struggled to catch up.
“What’s going on?” They asked. Vivi hid beneath his clothes.

(Cool, no problem! :)
"The canyu's people are attacking," Kuno said, his voice quiet and slightly shaky. "They… I have to go. I need to protect the queens." He took a few steps down the path, then paused. What was he supposed to use to protect them? He didn't think he had enough–if any–components for attack spells. That meant.. he had to pick up a sword again. Kuno had thought that he wouldn't have to ever hold that weapon in his hands again, but fate seemed to have other plans for him. And… there was Theo too. Kuno glanced back at him, pressing his lips together. "Come with me. It isn't safe out here anymore. My room is near the back. They probably won't get back there." Kuno held his hand out towards Theo, his eyes full of urgency. "Come, we have to be quick."

Theo’s blood turned to ice. Indrians? Here? Why? Questions upon questions flooded his brain. This could really mess with his original plan. Or, perhaps it could set it in motion. Whatever the case, they needed to see what was going on for themselves.
Kuno’s voice cut through his thoughts. His room…
Theo only had enough time for quick deliberation before taking the other man’s hand. They could feel Father and Mother’s breath on his neck, but he couldn’t tell if they were angry or not. They just seemed to watching, emotionless, yet keen.

Kuno gave Theo's hand a quick squeeze and started hurrying towards his room. The sounds of screams and clashing blades grew fainter as they moved farther away from the front of the palace. Kuno had been really glad that the queens gave him a room at the back of the palace because it was so quiet. But the silence now made him very uneasy. They arrived at his door after what seemed like an eternity, thanks to the worries swirling around in his head.
"We're here," Kuno said, though it was entirely unnecessary. He let go of Theo's hand and pulled his key out of his pocket. "Make yourself comfortable. The door lock should keep anyone out, but if it doesn't…" Kuno unlocked the door and started inside. "I have a knife you can use." He knew a knife probably wouldn't do much, but it was better than nothing. Kuno started towards the cabinet where he kept his old weapons. The first thing he grabbed was his sword, slinging the sheath over his back. The weight was terribly familiar. Sol, he wished he never had to hold it again. "Here," Kuno said, turning back to Theo with a sheathed knife in his hand. "Just stay here and stay quiet. I'll come back as soon as the queens are safe." He held the knife out to Theo, already starting towards the door. Sol, he had to focus. If he headed out there in his current mental state, a child might be able to get a good hit on him before he could take them out.

Theo resisted the urge to pull away from Kuno and run in the direction of the noise. Instead he focused his mind on committing the way to his room to memory as they ran deeper into the palace.
Their mind was also whirling, but for different reasons. Half of it was focused on the here and now, watching as Kuno opened the door and went through his cabinet. The other half was frantically coming up with a plan in order to properly gauge the situation while not getting in the way of danger.
The knife. His gaze fixed on it and they took it from him. “Thank you…” he said uncertainly. He wasn’t sure if they should be thanking him at a time like this, but he really did just do them a favor. Theo had brought their own weapons to kill him with, but having access to his own knife would make it possible for him to set up his death as a suicide. Of course, it’s not as if he could do it now; he was about to be out the door. However…
Vivi poked her head out from beneath his dress. His fingers curled around the knife handle as they whispered to her.
“Follow him. Come back and tell me what’s going on. Stay safe.”
He lowered the snake onto the ground, and she silently slithered behind Kuno and out the door.

Kuno broke into a run the moment he left his room, sprinting through the hallways as fast as he could. As he grew nearer to the front of the palace, the screams shifted into focus. There were mostly just screams, but every once in a while he could hear someone's shouted orders. Probably one of the queens, if he had to take a guess. Kuno took a deep breath right before he pushed through the doors and stepped into the battle. It was absolute chaos out there, exactly what he'd been trying to avoid ever since the war. But the queens were in danger. Kuno gritted his teeth and unsheathed his sword. For them, he would do anything.

It was just like the war. If he didn't know better, he would think that it had never ended in the first place. Kuno and the rest of the group of warriors pushed the last of the furniture against the door. Hopefully, that would keep the attacking canyu-followers out for now while they regrouped.
"Kuno! Sol, are you okay?" Kuno turned to see Elia rush towards him, eyes wide with worry. "You're hurt!" She continued, eyes going to the cut across his forehead.
"I'm fine," he said quickly, wiping away the blood as well as he could. "It's just a cut. There are other people who need help more than I do."
"Kuno, don't say that. I know for a fact that you–" Elia started, but Kuno quickly cut her off. He had to get back to Theo and let him know what was going on.
"Elia, it's fine. I have to go check on someone, but I'll be back as soon as I can to discuss our next move, alright?" Before she could answer, Kuno turned and started back towards his room. His arm stung where one of the canyu-followers had cut him, but he moved it to the back of his mind. He had stuff in his room which would help quickly enough.

His parents were not here. Theo knew that. So why did were their presences so strong now? Why did it feel as though they were standing right behind him, breathing down their neck? They played with the knife, sheathing and unsheathing it.
Are you angry with me? he asked.
They did not reply.
Are you disappointed?
He was met with silence. Perhaps they—
Theo!
Your Highness!
Ack! What are you doing here? Hisssss!
Theo whirled around. Two snakes were slithering in through the window, one long and gray, the other was short and zig-zag patterned. They eyed each other warily, hissing and bobbing their heads at each other.
“Vivi! Ko!” Theo momentarily forgot about his parents. They went over to the window, holding out their hands in a placating gesture. “We don’t have time for this. What’s going on?”
It’s really scary out there—
I heard weird sounds and vibrations in the ground so I—
They spoke over each other, their words eventually dissolving into more aggressive hissing and glaring.
“One at a time, one at a time,” Theo said, his human voice drowning them out. They offered his hands again, and the two snakes climbed up the arm that was nearest to them.
“Vivi, what did you see? You’re not hurt, are you?” He asked.
No, Your Highness, not hurt. The humans were fighting each other in that weird way they usually do. After a while I couldn’t see the pretty human anymore, and it was scary, so I came back.
He nodded, then turned to Ko. “It must’ve been the fight that you heard. I believe a group of humans from my native kingdom came and attacked the humans here,” they explained.
Ko flickered her tongue. What’s a kingdom?
Theo sighed. “Not important right now.”
No new information had been gained. They would have to wait until Kuno returned. Hopefully none of his countrymen had killed him before they could get his chance.

People didn't stop Kuno all the way to his room. They got out of his way quickly, usually with a look of shock and awe. Kuno was pretty sure it was because he was covered in blood–mostly other people's. And also probably because of the quick battle he'd just fought in. Sol, why did they have to come back? Their queen and king were dead. There was no reason to fight anymore… unless they'd found the heir. Maybe that was it. Kuno bit his lip, the taste of drying blood making him shudder. Sol, he needed to clean up. Hopefully, his appearance wouldn't startle Theo too much.
Kuno stopped in front of his door, unlocking the door as quickly as he could.
"Theo? It's me," he called, not wanting to walk in unannounced. Just in case Theo thought he was an intruder. "Um… it should be safe out there for now," Kuno continued, closing the door behind him and starting towards his room. "Those insul canyu followers have been subdued for now. Though I must warn you, there might be another war looming on the horizon. If you want to return to your home, I'm sure we'll be able to help you." Kuno didn't like the idea of Theo leaving, but he wanted them to feel safe above all.

When he heard Kuno’s voice, he set the snakes on the windowsill and turned to meet him. Theo had to do a double take when they saw him, but otherwise the blood did not surprise him very much. They could see the wounds on him, but most of the blood did not seem to come from them. He couldn’t help but wonder if this is how he looked that day.
His gaze was hard. Another war… “My home is far away from here, and I have no existing family.” Thanks to you. “I do not mind staying, despite the risk.”
They stepped closer, searching Kuno’s face. He opened their mouth, hesitated, then asked, “Tell me, do you know why they came?”

Kuno nodded quickly, glancing at Theo for a moment before disappearing into his room. He caught Theo's hard expression and guessed it was because of the mention of war. He understood it. Kuno quickly collected a bottle of dry solar qbi-kiqei from his cabinet. He also set down his sword in there, not wanting to look at it anymore. He could deal with it later. Kuno let out a soft sigh and walked back into the main room where Theo was.
"Alright. We will protect you as best we can." Kuno gave him something like a comforting smile and settled down on a pile of cushions. He uncorked the bottle and plucked out a couple of blossoms. Kuno set them down on his lap and held his hands over the blossoms, bringing his hands together until his thumbs were touching. "Hou wu polze vin." It wasn't the proper way to do the spell, and therefore it wouldn't work as well as it should, but it would be enough. Kuno picked up a flower and pressed it against his forehead for a few seconds. The bleeding slowly stopped, though the cut was still open. Kuno quickly pulled his coat off and did the same thing to the cut on his arm.
"Well… I don't know for sure. But my guess is that they've found their heir." Kuno let out a heavy sigh and pulled the tie out of his hair. "Maybe they see an opportunity to take back Opria."

Theo watched him treat his wounds with mild interest, half of their mind still remembering that smile of his. When he heard Kuno’s next words though, all other thoughts fled from their mind.
Their heir? This was about him? Why would they be looking for them? He had planned to return to Indri after he finished business here, there was no need… Then Theo paused. Perhaps it looked as if he had died along with his parents, and they believed they were being held prisoner or something along those lines… They had been so focused on avenging Mother and Father that he must have forgotten assure the people of their safety. Theo let out a sigh. Vengeance was all he wanted, he didn’t want another war. They had to fix this….
“Maybe,” was all he said. When he looked back to the windowsill, both of the snakes were gone.

"I pray to Sol their heir doesn't show their head," Kuno muttered, letting his head fall back against the pillows. "I can't…" He trailed off, eyes focused on the ceiling. Kuno didn't really know what he was trying to say. He didn't want the canyu heir to show up because it probably meant that he had to kill them too. He would do it, of course. Anything to keep his country safe. But he'd thought he was done with it all. He'd already gone through a war and he'd finished it with his own two hands. So he should be done. It should be over! It wasn't… it wasn't fair. Kuno gritted his teeth, blinking quickly to get rid of the tears starting to prickle in his eye. He didn't want to cry in front of Theo, or anyone for that matter. He was the hero, Opria's saya. He had to be strong for them no matter how he really felt.

I don’t plan to… at least, not yet. Ideally, he could finish things up here and go back to Indri with no one the wiser. They were just a librarian’s assistant who would have to leave to find other work once the librarian had died.
Kuno’s words and his pained look made Theo feel very awkward. How ironic. They weren’t sure what to say, so they just stood there, not comfortable to sit or speak. He then noticed Kuno was on the verge of tears. and that strange feeling rose up again, something vague mixed with sadness. Theo had never seen him like this before. Was he really the man who took his parents away? This picture of him certainly did not match with their expectations.
“I… I’m sorry,” he found themself murmuring.

Kuno quickly sat up, hair falling over his face and obscuring it from Theo. "It's fine. We'll get through this too." Sol, he had to believe those words. They would be able to get through this. They'd won once before, and that was against the entire might of the canyu. Now it was just a few followers. They were well organized and had very well-kept weapons, but they would be able to stop them. Hopefully, before there was any more bloodshed. Kuno let out a long breath, blinking a few more times. He'd checked that Theo was okay, so he really should be going to meet with the queens to discuss their next move. But he didn't feel quite ready for that talk yet. Maybe he could brush his hair and change into some more appropriate clothes first. They would understand. "Uh, you can stay here as long as you want, Theo," Kuno murmured, standing and starting back towards his bedroom. "I'm going to go…" Kuno trailed off, waving vaguely at his room. "If you have any sort of ideas about how to deal with this, that would be nice." The words were a whisper by the end, as Kuno really had no idea what he was saying. He was reaching, grasping for anything that would help. It wasn't fair to ask Theo for help when he'd just come here for a job.

Theo simply watched him, their gaze drifting, then moving back to Kuno again. Would Kuno’s death spark the war again? Would the people be so enraged that their savior is dead that they would call for another war? He thought about asking him outright, but he beat them to it. Half his mind listened to Kuno’s words, and the other half was still thinking. A knot formed in their stomach, one that he didn’t want to deal with right now.
“I…” at first he was surprised. Was Kuno asking them for advice? “Um, I was actually going to ask you if I could go back to the library. Organization helps me deal with… with things.”

"Oh, of course." Kuno nodded quickly, pausing in his doorway and searching his pockets for the key to the library. He trusted Theo to use the key in a responsible way. "Uh, here." He pulled the key out, crossing back over to Theo to hand him the key. "Just remember to lock up after you're done, ilah?" Kuno gave him a small nod, then hurried into his room and shut the door. Sol, he needed to get himself together. Kuno dropped down in front of his mirror, carefully avoiding looking at himself for longer than necessary. His fingers were slow as he pulled flowers out of it, as he ran them through his tangled curls. He really needed to stop stalling. The queens were waiting for him. Kuno threw his hair into a bun and quickly changed into his everyday clothes. After a moment of hesitation, he grabbed his sword and slung the sheath over his shoulder. He needed to get used to taking that everywhere with him again. Sol only knew when the canyu would attack again.

“Right, thanks,” they said, taking the key. After a moment’s hesitation he said, “Be careful,” and placed the knife Kuno gave him back in its cabinet, then headed out. Instead of heading to the library right away though, they went to their room and changed out of the dress and taking off the earpiece. They put on a tunic with bishop sleeves and tied his hair into a simple ponytail, then left tor the library.
Once he arrived, he relaxed somewhat. Their piles of books still rested on one side of the library, waiting to be put away. There was nothing but the sound of their own breathing, and the smell of old paper. Theo got to work, easily falling into an illusion where what had happened had not just happened, that everything will get only more complicated from here.

Kuno could pretend that everything was normal until he hit the main hallways. It was quiet in the corner of the palace where he stayed. At least it gave him a good amount of time to wrestle his feelings into order. He paused in the doorway to one of the main corridors and took a deep breath. And another one. Kuno ordered his face into a hard, blank expression void of any sort of emotion, and stepped into the hallway. He looked straight ahead, trying not to meet anyone's gaze. The commotion got louder as he got closer to the queen's rooms. There were more people, too, muttering about something or other. Probably making plans. The chatter didn't cease, but it did get softer as he approached. Everyone looked at him with some sort of… hope, or something. Like they were looking at Sol themself, come to rescue them from all the bad things that were happening. Kuno hated that look. He couldn't live up to their expectations. It had been a fluke, a miracle that he'd done anything the first time. His hands curled into fists and he wished that he still had the long, wide sleeves he usually wore so he could hide them.
"They're waiting for you," one of the people closest to the door muttered in Opreian.
"Thanks." Kuno gave them a nod and pushed the doors open.

And yet, intrusive thoughts sometimes plagued him. How could he get vengeance while also avoiding war? Another war… both Indri and Opria had been through too much. After thinking on it, they remembered this palace had formerly been Indrian territory. His mother and father had walked through these halls, once. Perhaps the Indrians who had just attacked also wanted this territory back, along with the heir. If that was the case, the Oprieans may fight back either way, even if Kuno was not dead.
Kuno dead…. Suddenly images of him killing Kuno filled their mind. In his sleep, perhaps… with his own knife… yes. Through the heart should do it. After that, Theo could easily arrange it to look like a suicide. The aftermath wouldn’t matter either way. Father and Mother would finally be proud of them. He would be free of them. They would leave his mind alone, and they would be at rest. They would all be at peace… right?
Then they remembered Kuno’s smile. The feeling of holding hands, the warmth that came from the touch. His kindness; how he always seemed to be concerned with their well-being, how he got him away from the oppressive crowd. Why should he die when he has been so kind to me? he thought. But I don’t understand… what have I done to deserve his kindness? I am not worthy… I want to kill…
Suddenly it was not Kuno he saw themself killing. Instead, they were pointing the knife at himself, plunging it into his chest— Or perhaps, throwing themself off of the cliff side. Yes. That would work. It would be better if he was not here. It would be better if he wasn’t around to bother anyone. They were alone now. Maybe killing Kuno wasn’t enough. Or maybe killing him really didn’t matter. Maybe nothing mattered. It would be better if they were dead. Yes…

The queens were standing at the head of a table. Sitting around were some people that Kuno recognized from the end of the war, others he knew from just walking around the palace. They looked up as he walked in, their faces lighting up with a mix of relief and concern. He gave them a look that he hoped said 'I'm okay, let's focus on something more important' and sat down in the nearest empty chair.
"All right, now that everyone's here, let's begin," Lainei said, sitting down. Elia did the same, and the chatter went silent. "The canyu have come back. They attacked us during our celebration. It was coordinated." She let out a breath. "They must have a reason to attack after all this time."
"Maybe they found the heir," someone called. "You know how they are."
"That very well could be the case." Lainei nodded, pressing her lips together. "Either way, we must attempt to negotiate with them as soon as possible. I do not want any more blood to be shed unless it's absolutely necessary." The table murmured its agreement. Kuno let out a small breath of relief. With luck, he wouldn't have to fight anyone else. Unless the canyu decided against peaceful negotiations. They might. He wouldn't put it past them.
"That is everything we have for the moment. Get some rest if you need it, or help out where you can. We'll call another meeting once we know more about the situation." Elia gave the table a warm smile, turning her attention to Kuno. "Kuno, could you stay a bit?"
"Of course." He stood with the rest of the table and headed towards them. "What do you need me to do?"

Theo found themself on the floor, staring at the library’s ceiling. A few books laid sporadically around them. Had they collapsed? Fallen asleep? He couldn’t remember…
Theo?
He felt something slide across his arm and onto their chest. A snake came into view.
“Ko… where did you come from?” His voice was raspy.
The window, it was open. But you’re lying down! Are you alright? Are you sick?
They heard themself chuckle. Slowly, they raised a finger to her, which she flicked her tongue at affectionately.
“I don’t… I don’t know. I was fine not long ago.” His gaze drifted until he was looking at the bookshelves around them. It seemed he had made significant progress in sorting the books.
You should do those… those human things that make you feel better! Ko suggested, curling around their hand.
“Yeah…” they could make some tea. That might help. They had the things for that in his room.
He motioned for Ko to get out of the way, then tried to sit up. A wave of dizziness came over them. They leaned against a bookshelf, moaning softly.
Do you need help? Ko asked.
Theo shook his head.