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

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

tune

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.

"Nothing, just…" Elia glanced at Lainei. "Tell us if there's something wrong, okay? I know this is going to be hard, no matter what the outcome will be and we just want you to know that we're here for you. Everyone is. You don't have to go through this alone." Kuno blinked, the answer surprising him. He'd thought they wanted him to do a sweep of the area, or maybe figure out something else. But they'd just… wanted to let him know they were there for him. It was nice, he supposed. Though he didn't like that they saw through him so easily.
"I… uh, thanks," Kuno managed, blinking at them. "If there's nothing else, I should go check in on Theo."
"Ah, yes, your assistant, right? How is he doing, by the way? If they want to get out now, I'm sure we can manage it," Lainei said.
"I already offered that. They said they didn't want to leave." Kuno explained. The queens nodded slowly, seeming vaguely disappointed in the answer. It was understandable–the fewer people they had to worry about, the better. "Don't worry, I'll take care of him." He bowed his head to the queens, then hurried out of the room. Theo would probably be in the library still. Kuno needed to figure out where he was staying and direct him to somewhere safer if it was in a dangerous part of the palace.

Theo closed his eyes. He still felt lightheaded, so he tried to breathe deeply. What was going on? They had gotten sick before, but this was something else. Slowly, slowly, he pulled themself to their feet, holding on to the bookshelf. Something in his head cleared, but he still felt unsteady.
“You didn’t bite me, did you Ko?” They asked.
Of course not, you would have found the bite mark first thing.
Theo chuckled softly. “Just wondering.”
Still moving quite slowly, they made his way around the library. Maybe you were moving too much, so your body wants you to stop moving, Ko suggested.
“I’m sure… I’m sure I haven’t been in here that long,” he murmured. They stopped and shut their eyes again, putting a hand over his face.
Theo?
“Just… just give me a moment,” they murmured. He sank to the floor again.

Kuno pushed the door to the library open quietly. His movements were slow, the events of the day starting to catch up to him. "Theo?" Kuno called, glancing around the library. "Are you still in here?" He started walking through the shelves, looking up and down for Theo. "Theo?" Something caught his eye at the edge of one of the bookshelves, something that didn't look like books. In fact, it looked like Theo. "Theo!" Kuno gasped, hurrying towards them. "Is everything okay?" There was a chance he'd just sat down to take a break, but Kuno wasn't taking any chances after everything that had happened today.

Theo tried to breathe, but it never seemed to be enough. Heavy breathing turned more labored.
“Why is everything so bright…?” He kept his hand over his face, not realizing that Kuno was there, calling their name. Suddenly, the lights in their vision seemed to dim, and they became aware of Kuno’s presence.
“Kuno…” he murmured. “Oh, I’m fine. It’s alright. I just feel weird.”
That seems to be a horribly inaccurate description of your predicament right now, he heard Ko say. She had slithered onto their shoulder, though Theo couldn’t tell if that made things better or worse.
“Shut up, Ko…” he coughed. “I’m fine, I’ll get over it.”
There was a ringing in his ears now. They groaned and swayed a little, so they shut their eyes and tried to steady himself. The ringing grew louder. His muscles failed him, and everything went dark.

Kuno dropped down in front of Theo, eyebrows furrowed in concern. They didn't look alright, not at all. He had no idea what was wrong with them, though. "Theo, I don't think–" Theo started to sway, his eyes closing, and Kuno was suddenly very sure that he wasn't okay at all. "Theo!" Kuno lunged forward, catching him before he could fall over and hit their head. "Ajix," he cursed, carefully laying Theo down on the ground. "Theo, nanar wuj!" Kuno leaned over him, gently tapping his cheek. Sol, this wasn't doing anything. He needed to get Theo some help, and this sure wasn't it. He did know a spell for waking someone up, but the ingredients were back in his room. He hadn't thought it was a spell for everyday use, though he was regretting that now. Kuno had no idea what had happened to Theo, but maybe if he could wake them up and ask, he might be able to help. Kuno carefully picked Theo up and started towards the door as fast as he could. Sol, let this not be something serious. He didn't want to… he didn't want anything to happen to them.

Just before Theo fell, Ko slithered out of the way. She circled back and curled up on his chest, hissing and flickering her tongue at them. She stayed there, hitching a ride when Kuno picked Theo up.

Mother and Father were angry. He was sure of it. He could feel it. They could feel something else too. Fear, perhaps? Was it their own? It was big, rooting itself at the base of his skull. His fear was like a chalice, holding Mother and Father’s rage inside. What had they done? Was this their punishment? Were they hurting him?
I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I don’t know what I did but I’m sorry. Please. I want to die, but not like this. Not by your hand. Please. I’m sorry.

Kuno received a few strange looks as he hurried back towards his rooms, but he ignored them. They could wonder about it all they wanted. He just needed to get Theo awake.
"Sol, please help them," Kuno murmured in Oprei, trying to open the door to his room without jostling Theo and his snake too much. It took too long, but everything was taking too long in his opinion. He kicked the door closed and headed straight for his bed to lay Theo down. "Where is it, where is it?" Kuno muttered under his breath, starting to riffle through his many jars of spell components. "Ah, thank Sol." Kuno pulled a jar full of dried flowers about the size of his thumb from a shelf and crossed back over to Theo. Kneeling beside them, Kuno retrieved one of the light orange flowers and placed it on their forehead. "Nanar," he whispered, gently pressing the flower into Theo's forehead. It burst into a shower of orange sparks a second later. Now all he could do was wait. If Theo didn't wake up… Kuno didn't want to think about what had happened to him.

After some seconds, Theo stirred. Ko flickered her tongue and slithered off of his chest, which heaved, rising and falling. Their eyes fluttered open, but then they quickly closed again. His lip curled back and a moan forced its way out. Everything felt heavy. Everything was brighter than it should be.
They stayed still, breathing heavily with their eyes closed. For a moment they could not remember anything. What was going on? Where was he? Then he felt something cold touch his hand, something scaly. A snake. Ko. Memories began filtering into his mind. They tried opening his eyes again and found Kuno facing him.
"Kuno…" they rasped. "Wh– what…"

"You're awake," Kuno whispered, the statement more for him than it was for Theo. "You collapsed in the library. I didn't know what had happened to you, so I brought you here to wake you up." He set the jar of flowers on a nearby table. "Are you thirsty?" Not the most constructive question, but it was the only thing he could think of. "What can I do to help you feel better?" He asked next, hoping it was something he could do. If not, then he supposed he could take Theo to the healers. The only problem with that option was that the healers were very busy with everyone who'd been injured earlier in the day and probably couldn't help Theo for quite a while.

Theo stared at him for what felt like a long time. Everything was heavy. He didn’t want to move. He was now aware of the pain at the base of the back of their skull. And yet, more then that, the strange emotions from earlier returned, now more violent than before. Something like sorrow, like grief, or regret, stood at the forefront. Their brow knotted together and their lip quivered. What was happening to him?
He answered none of Kuno’s questions. Instead he murmured, “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry, Kuno.” They took a careful, shaky breath. “You— We’re at the brink of war, and I’m sure you’re stressed already, and I just had to go and pass out like this. I don’t want you to worry about me. You shouldn’t have to. I’m just…” the pain made him groan and shut their eyes again. They trailed off, clenching his jaw and small beads of sweat forming on his forehead.