The Eyes to See

               “Oh please, you know your combs are too fine for me.  Besides, mine’s only barely shoulder-length, unlike yours,” Hikaze said tying back his hair in a much more casual ponytail than before.  Anastasios still opted to work his back into a long braid despite how tired it made his arms to start it.  “Want me to help with that?” Hikaze offered.  Anastasios shot him a glare.

               “You’re the one who made it like this in the first place!” he spat.

               “Yeah, that’s why I offered.”

               “You and I both know you can’t braid for shit.  It’ll just turn into an even worse mess than before if I leave it to your clumsy fingers.”

               Hikaze held in a retort that 100% would have made Anastasios flip the table onto Hikaze’s head.  He raised his hands in a defensive gesture instead.

               “Just figured I’d ask.  Not gonna put the beads back in?”

               “Not much point,” Anastasios replied as he brought his hair around to the side of his head to make the process easier on himself.  “That and I don’t have the pins I usually use to put them on handy.”

               “Oh, sorry…”  Hikaze wanted to say that, had he known that, he wouldn’t have messed up his hair so much, but that was a lie.  He wouldn’t have been able to keep from messing with Anastasios over that.

               “Whatever,” Anastasios growled, seamlessly working brown fingers around golden locks.  “The cuffs you gave me still match my shirt, so it’s not like I look awful.  If anything, I stand out less.”

               “Stasi, nothing about you will ever not stand out,” Hikaze stated, jabbing his thumb at a table that was not so casually trying to sneak glances at them.

               “Well, that’s the price I pay for being this fabulous!” Anastasios said in a cocky tone as he finished off the braid and tossed it back over his shoulder.

“And yet the second I start calling you ‘pretty;’, you get all bashful,” Hikaze teased.  He watched with amusement as Anastasios’ cheeks started to burn.

               “That has nothing to do with anything!  You’re just mocking me at that point.”

               Hikaze held his heart in dramatic anguish.

               “Ouch!  I’m wounded!  You make it sound like I don’t know how to give a proper compliment!” Hikaze replied in mock dismay.

               “Your taste has always been all over the place,” Anastasios replied.

               “Correction: Kazuya’s taste was all over the place, a fact that only Esaias would know by the way.”

               “A fact that was brought up in one of the books in the house’s library,” Anastasios growled back.

               “You are so luck I hate reading otherwise I’d call you on your bullshit and read every biography on those two in the place.”

               “Clearly you inherited his stupidity, so why wouldn’t you also inherit his taste?”

               “Are you fucking with me?” Hikaze asked, starting to get angry.  And, like that, Anastasios’ teasing face dropped.

“Yeah…  I know full well what happened back then would not have happened were either of us of the same inclinations as our past selves,” Anastasios replied.  A silence settled over them that went unnoticed in the clamor of the restaurant.  Neither of them had talked about what had happened.  Like there was this implicit understanding not to.  It had been the entire reason Hikaze had asked him on a date today, but Hikaze could tell that it put Anastasios on edge. 

               “Exactly.  And if you weren’t different from Esaias, then it wouldn’t have happened either.  That happened because we’re us, not them,” Hikaze grumbled.  Before the conversation could get any further though, their food was served.  Heaping plates were placed on either side of the table for each of them, prompting both of their stomach to growl in excitement as soon as the smells hit their noses.  “Okay okay, enough serious talk though, I’m starving,” Hikaze said before tearing into his food.

               “Glutton,” Anastasios muttered before politely starting in on his own food.

               The two finished their food, Hikaze snatching the bill out from under Anastasios which resulted in a very brief game of keep away (that Hikaze won, as always) before heading back out.

               “So what now?” Anastasios asked, stretching after having sat still for so long.  “We going back?”  The last vestiges of sunlight glowed in the sky and the first evening stars already speckled the sky.

               “How about a walk on the beach?” Hikaze offered.  “To help the digestion.  I wasn’t the only glutton at that table.”

               “I need at least that much food if I’m going to have to keep putting up with your nonsense tonight,” Anastasios quipped back.

               “Ahhhh,” Hikaze sighed as he started down the cobblestone street towards the water, “I could really go for some of your loukum for dessert though.”

               “After everything you just ate?” Anastasios spat.

               “I always have room for your food,” Hikaze replied with a grin.

               “Well, I’m fine with making some, but aren’t you forgetting something?” Anastasios asked, a mocking grin sneaking over his own face.

               “… … …?” Hikaze cocked his head at the question, not understanding what he was talking about.  After a few moments though, it seemed to click, and Anastasios burst into a fit of laughter at how his face dropped.  “No… Please… Don’t taunt me…” Hikaze sighed.  “Two weeks… I just have to endure it for two weeks… … … Uggghhhh, can I?  Can I actually endure two weeks without snacks?”

               “Was it really worth it?” Anastasios asked, skeptical.

               Hikaze paused to think before looking at Anastasios.

               “Absolutely,” he replied, draping his arm over Anastasios’ shoulder.  They couldn’t have a date at a festival with a third-wheel like Celia around.  Every moment they’d had would have been ruined, not to mention their wallets would be empty from buying her food.

               “Well, you destroying my hair aside, it has been nice,” Anastasios admitted.  “Good to see you’re taking something seriously for once.”

               “… Yeah, I’m trying.”

Half way down the path that ran alongside the beach, the sound of plucked strings and percussion reached their ears from a stage near the beach.  A melodious voice and upbeat tune followed as they got closer.  A crowd of people danced and swayed to a foreign song as a trumpet announced its entrance.  The two boys shared a glance and broke into a pair of toothy grins.  They quickly kicked off their shoes, tossing them haphazardly into the rocks along the edge of the sand with a careless disregard for having to look for them later and joined the crowd.  The two were used to dancing together at this point- they had been idols in their past lives, partners as close as could be, and Hikaze had been accompanying Anastasios to formal events for a couple years now as his escort.  Meaning they’d done lots of dancing, and their skills had attracted plenty of admiring gazes.  And that didn’t change here either- a duet perfectly in sync amongst a sea of solos that could match neither footwork nor rhythm.  Their feet were a bit unsure on the sand, and, more than once, one of their feet slid an extra inch further than intended, but they still danced- goading each other into twirls and dips as their legs barely avoided becoming a tangled mess that would bring them down on the sand.  The 6 inches Hikaze had on Stasi didn’t stop the older man from spinning him under his arm and trying the same dips Hikaze used on him with just as much if not more allure.  The two times he did it, Hikaze subconsciously held his breath as Stasi’s golden, cat-like eyes stared down at him mockingly, daring Hikaze to try to one-up him and pretending he’d already won.  They danced one, two, then three songs before losing count, eyes never leaving each other, hands only ever parting from the other for the briefest of moments, and only keeping enough interest in the crowd around them to keep from bumping into anyone- but most quickly learned to give them a wide berth, and a spacious radius remained around them from start to finish. 

By the time they stopped, it’d grown dark enough that Hikaze’s hair was a dark void amongst the first evening stars and Anastasios’ golden features glowed in the torchlight.  It had to have been at least half an hour, but their feet complained like it’d been longer, and to be fair, they’d been doing plenty of walking before this.  The band broke down their instruments on stage and the crowd dispersed, forcing them to stop, but they probably would have gone on for another half hour, stamina permitting.  They stumbled back over to the rocks to dig around for their shoes.  Hikaze, completely unable to find his in the dark, had to rely on his friend’s special sight to retrieve them.  They both took a while to make sure their feet were free of as much sand as possible before slipping back into their shoes, both grimacing when they wiggled their toes and felt the remainder of the irritating grains.  Hikaze groaned and sat himself on one of the rocks resting against the boardwalk, large and almost flat enough to lay down on if it wasn’t so bumpy.

“That was nice.  I liked that,” Hikaze said, offering his hand to Anastasios and pulling him into his lap.  Anastasios must have been in equally as good a mood because he obliged and allowed his head to rest on Hikaze's shoulder and nuzzled his nose against his neck.

“Yeah.  Same,” he said quietly.  Hikaze felt Anatsasios become uncharacteristically relaxed in his arms and his heart sped up.

“Yeah, I liked that a lot,” Hikaze said, kissing the crown of his head.  He felt Anatsasios tense briefly and a shudder from him flustering, but he didn’t pull away, so he took it as a sign that the affectation had been permitted, if not enjoyed.

“So, this is a date, right?” Anastasios asked.  Hikaze fumbled, and Anastasios spat profanities as he struggled to keep himself from falling onto the rocks.  “Arceus, man!  Be more careful!  I could die if you drop me right now, dumbass!”

“Sorry!  Sorry!  It’s just-…  When did you figure it out?” 

Anastasios watched with minor amusement as his friend’s face became a complicated mixture of dejected and embarrassed.  “Really?  Even if your ability hadn’t been slipping all day, did you think I wouldn’t notice you were dressed for a date?” Anastasios cackled.  “Dude, you put on cologne.  I’d have to be you not to notice.”  Most of the reason Anastasios had excused himself to change was because his clothes were not date clothes by any means.  And then, during the dance when he’d turned off his ability to help Anastasios predict what he’d do next, Anastasios had all but Seen the love pouring out of him.  He’d been having too much fun to bother caring then, but remembering it now brought a tint to his cheeks.

Hikaze cringed as Anastasios pointed out the obvious signs.  “I knew that cologne was too much,” he muttered.

“Wear it again,” Anastasios said with a teasing smirk.  “I like it.”

Now it was Hikaze’s turn to have his face turn bright red.  “You’re doing that on purpose.”

“Yup!  Isn’t that how this started?  Neither of us could pass up the chance to get one over on the other?”  Hikaze had no retort for that.  He had started the flirting precisely because he’d managed to get one over on Anastasios one time, even for a split second, and the look on his face in that brief instant had done something to the boy.  “I should also add, you were also trying to hold my hand more, and it looked like you were trying to be weirdly considerate.  It was a date.  Anyone would notice.”

Hikaze grumbled, uttering Old World Kantonese under his breath.  “Yeah, it was.  I mean… I know how things are with us, and so do you.  We even-”  A hand came up to slap itself over Hikaze’s mouth.

“Silence,” Anastasios spat, cutting him off before the word could even formulate in his head.

“Still, that’s not something we can just ignore…” Hikaze said prying Anastasios’ hand off.

“Yeah...”  They’d already crossed the line of “friends” a while ago.  Admitting it, however, was a completely different issue for both of them.

“So I wanted to try…  To see if it was doable.  I don’t think we really have to change how we act with each other.  We get along great as is.  I just… wanted to give in a bit… to these impulses.  I wanted to see if doing that would go anywhere.  If it did, then I could prepare myself for this.  If not- if we hung out and it was super weird whenever we held hands or you rejected my invitations, then I’d know this is as far as it goes.”  He laid back, taking Anastasios with him to lay flat against the uneven stone.

“Well, did it go anywhere?” Anastasios asked, rolling onto his torso to use him like a mattress and resting his head and hands on Hikaze’s chest.  The smug and flirtatious smile on his face did Hikaze no favors in gathering his thoughts, and he suddenly realized his throat was very dry and he was quite thirsty.  A fact he chose to blame on the insane amount of exercise they'd just done.

“Ummm… well….”  Hikaze felt his cheeks start to burn.  “I… think… it did,” he squeaked out.  The smugness of Anastasios’ face doubled and so did the burning sensation on Hikaze’s face.

“Hmmm?  That’s some nerve you have to try to woo me of all people,” Anastasios teased. 

“You let me, didn’t you?” Hikaze quipped back, managing to gather a handful of cognitive function in his flustering head.  “You could have stopped it anytime.  You're not the type to put up with that sort of thing if you don’t want it yourself.”

Anastasios’ smug look dropped to a pout.  Hikaze knew him too well.  Even flustered, he could still muster up enough knowledge of his friend’s behavior enough to quip back.  “Well you were just so eager to come out today, who would I be to rain on your parade?” Anastasios replied, clearly trying to mask his intentions.

Hikaze gave a snort that was half amusement, half frustration.  “But that means you have a soft spot for me,” he replied, wrapping his arms around the other man’s waist, “and that means you’re at least willing to give it a shot.”

“Why are you only smart at times like this,” Anastasios muttered, averting his gaze.  Hikaze did not miss the rosy color creeping up his olive-brown cheeks. 

“It’s not that I’m smart, I just know you too well,” Hikaze said with a smirk.  He brought up a hand to tuck so stray hair that’d come loose from Anastasios’ braid back behind his ear.  “So, did you feel like it went anywhere?”

Anastasios didn't immediately reply, instead choosing to pout childishly while he muttered under his breath in Greka.  “Well… it wasn’t terrible…  but it felt like every other time we hang out… just… more.”  Yes, it’d been exactly the same as every time before except now there was affection, a feeling on top of that friendship that had always been there, like building blocks added to a base.  It didn’t feel new or different, it just felt like more.

“Yeah… more.  I’m glad.”  Hikaze held Anastasios a bit tighter.  “That’s what I was hoping for.”

“I have no idea what you're talking about,” Anastasios said despite the nostalgic smile on his face.

“You brat, when are you gonna quit that?” Hikaze asked with an exasperated smile.  “The secret’s already out, and it's just the two of us.”

“It’s the principle,” Anastasios replied.

Hikaze rolled his eyes but couldn't suppress the smile on his face.  “Okay, so, to make it fair, we both gotta know how it’s rigged, but we each deal with it our own ways.  If something can or can’t be done, you have to tell me, but I can't ask you for direction.”  Those were the rules he and Esaias had played by, and it'd always worked out well for both of them.  Esaias still won most often, but Kazuya occasionally slipped by him with skill and speed.  But both of them won more than the stall owners, and that was what was the most fun.

“Sounds fair to me,” Anastasios replied with a grin.  “Now, who should our first victim be?”

“The pull lottery?” Hikaze offered, motioning to stall behind them with an abundance of ropes hanging from the ceiling.

“You want to crush the best one first?  Come on,” Anastasios jokingly chided.  “I personally think we should get them last.  It'll be way more fun.”

“But what if we forget, or we get bored?  Come on, let's get the best one done first,” Hikaze tempted.  “It’ll be a good warm up too.”  Anastasios didn't need much convincing- either way, it'd be a fun time.  After all, the pull lotteries were the only ones they worked together on.  No skill on anyone’s end could help with those, so those never counted as part of their competition since they relied solely on the Ofthalmós eyes.

“Fine, fine,” Anastasios laughed.  “Might as well put some wind in our sails.  Why don't we find out if my eyes are better than Esaias’?”

Hikaze couldn't help but laugh.  Anastasios being this cocky reminded him so much of Esaias before a performance.  He acted so professional, but underneath it all, he had an unshakeable ego and loved using his skills to humble liars and swindlers.  The fact that this was a side he let out almost exclusively with Hikaze only served to get the boy even more riled up.

The two made their way over to the stall and looked over the possible prizes.  Mostly small trinkets, some vouchers for various stalls and businesses around the festival, and a few higher ticket items like stationery, soaps and accessories made from wood, leather, or bone, but apparently the crowned jewel of the stall- the item everyone probably pulled out their money for- was a jewel-encrusted dagger. 

“I don’t need your eyes to know that ain’t winnable,” Hikaze pointed out.

“It’s not even real anyways.  Someone just slapped a cabochon on the hilt of some basic dagger and gussied it up,” Anastasios whispered back. 

“Ah, festival game booths,” Hikaze sighed whimsically.  “So, since we can’t take down the big prize, we’ll just have to go for the next best things.”

“And I’ll submit a report to Lady Aria about this vendor tomorrow.  I’m sure she’d love to hear all about a dishonest merchant in her country.”

“Hearing you call her that still confuses me,” Hikaze sighed.  “Alright, which one am I aiming for.”

“Pull a blank first.  Let’s get his hopes up,” Anastasios cackled.

“Dude, when it comes to this stuff, you’re even worse than me,” Hikaze laughed.

“If they don’t want to get scammed, then they shouldn’t try to scam other people.  Basic common sense,” Anastasios fired back as he fished out four large copper coins from the satchel at his hip.  A play was 5 copper pieces, and one large copper gave them two each.  That’d be plenty enough to swipe any big ticket items and put the fear of Arceus in the stall owner.

The two walked away with a small armful of goodies after a lot of begging and pleading from the stall owner.  None of it was stuff they actually wanted- they’d only taken it to upset the stall owner, but, if they kept this up, toting around their winnings was going to get very tiring.

“We’re gonna have to find some way to unload all this,” Anastasios noted.  The satchels at their waists weren't as convenient as the backpacks of old with their seemingly infinite luggage space.

“Yeah, may not hurt to rethink how we go about this,” Hikaze added.  “Otherwise we're gonna get buried.”  They couldn't just teleport back to the house either to drop stuff off as they pleased.  “Hey, how about we-… Stasi?” Hikaze looked over to see that, in the moment he hadn’t been looking, Anastasios had vanished.  Well… not so much vanished as stopped.  “Stasi?”

Anastasios turned his attention back to Hikaze as if remembering they were actually on a date.  “Sorry, just thinking.  Gimme a moment.”  He turned his head back to the stall he’d been staring at and Hikaze’s gaze followed.  It was a stall with a ball-throwing game, and there were two kids at it who were clearly aiming for something that was a bit outside their skillset.  The stall itself seemed rather fair, as far as Hikaze could tell, but, from their conversation, they were trying to win a present for their mom, and it just wasn’t going well.

“ ‘s not like we need any of this right?  Let’s just give it to ‘em,” Hikaze said.  No psychic powers needed for that mind reading.

“You sure?”

“Yeah, besides,” Hikaze said as he walked over and leaned into Anastasios’ ear, “I’ve already got what I came for today.”

Anastasios bolted back and covered his ear in a flustered rage as Hikaze cheekily pointed at him before snatching Hikaze’s winnings out of his arms.  “Gimme those!  Stay here.  And not a word out of you!”  Hikaze obliged, but Anastasios still nearly slugged him for the smug grin on his face.  By the time Anastasios trotted back with empty arms, his smile was a lot warmer and he wrapped an arm around Anastasios’ shoulders and just barely stopped himself from messing his hair- namely because of the glare the older boy was shooting him.

“You can just say you’re a softie you know, no one here’ll get mad,” Hikaze teased.

Anastasios huffed and pried the arm off his shoulder.  “It served both our interests.  They wanted something to bring home to their mother, and we needed to unload.  We should be more considerate of what prizes we’re taking home from here on.  We can’t afford to do the kinds of competitions Esaias and Kazuya did.”

“But you remember what those competitions were like though,” Hikaze teased.

“Not at all, I can simply infer from our earlier conversation the lengths to which those two might have gone,” Anastasios replied stubbornly.  To drop the ruse at this point would only serve to invite even more teasing from the other boy.  His heart was still calming down from the last one.

Hikaze rolled his eyes, but his smile never faltered.  “Fine, whatever you say Your Stubbornness,” Hikaze quipped.  “How about just 5 stalls then?  We don’t have to completely sweep ‘em, just play for kicks and whatever we actually want to win.  Y’know, like normal people.”

“Oh, so you’re saying you don’t want my advice?” Anastasios asked with a smug smile. 

“Hey, I never said that.  I just meant less of the actively using your powers to screw them over bit.  It’d be no fun if you’re the only one who knows how to win,” Hikaze insisted.

“Geez, you’re so demanding,” Anastasios scoffed, although the smile on his face betrayed his true feelings on the matter.  They couldn’t go as crazy as they used to, they knew that now, but they could still have fun.

They played at a few other booths, trying to pick games that didn’t resemble the ones from their past lives as closely to make their brief jaunt in this section more fun, but, in the end, they spent more time walking around arguing over which stalls to do than actually playing though.  Since they’d agreed on five and they’d already done one, they wanted to be sure about the other four they picked and walked up and down the street to see their options before deciding, which, in the end, resulted in more arguing than playing.

“Okay, okay, I’ll pick two and you pick two, how about that?” Hikaze said finally.  They’d spent the better part of ten minutes bickering after nearly an hour of walking, only for Hikaze to be reminded that this was supposed to be a date, and this wasn’t what you were supposed to do on a date.

“Finally, a reasonable proposal,” Anastasios spat.  “You have way too many you want to do.  You can’t possibly have all of them!”

Hikaze grimaced and tittered.  He couldn’t tell Anastasios he saw that many prizes that he thought would suit him and was hoping to earn point with that. 

“I’ll be magnanimous and let you pick the first one,” Hikaze replied, forcing down the urge not to try and bite Anastasios’ head off.  No fighting today, he reminded himself.

Anastasios responded with a smug smirk that made Hikaze want to put his fist right in the center of that pretty face of his and began looking around, trying to remember any places he’d noted.  Anastasios’ eyes were drawn to a booth where you could shoot prizes off of a shelf with a cork gun.  One of the prizes, Hikaze noticed, was a bright red leather cuff with a spin-lock clasp and a black feather tooled into the hide.  He hadn’t seen it before, but that was probably because he’d been arguing with Anastasios.  It was obviously going to be one of the least winnable prizes, probably weighted down by something he couldn’t see, but damn if he didn’t want it, and Anastasios definitely saw that.

“Wanna give that booth a shot?” Anastasios asked.

“I mean yeah, but I don't need your eyes to know that cuff ain't winnable,” Hikaze said with a resigned scoff.

“Does that mean we’re not gonna play?” the smart-ass asked with a teasing grin.

“…No,” Hikaze replied with a smile.  “Were gonna knock their socks off!”

“That’s more like it,” Anastasios said with a grin as he got out his pouch of coins and laid down one large copper on the table.  “Let me handle this one.  I’ll give you the next one in exchange.”  An offer too good to pass up for Hikaze.  A free booth with Anastasios’ help was sure to be a good time.

“What're you gonna aim for?” Hikaze asked, seeming a bit hopeful.

“You'll see.”  The man behind the counter handed Anastasios the cork rifle with a smug sneer.  Contrary to Hikaze's hope, Anastasios took aim at a small stuffed animal.  Without missing a beat, he knocked it down and reloaded.  The next was a box of snacks.  Then a small accessory made from beaded shells.  All small, cheap trinkets.  But by the time Anastasios had used ten of his shots to take down seven prizes (missing some on purpose to avoid tipping the vendor off that he was using a cheat), the stall vendor was starting to get it.  Five more prizes later, he had his hand shoved over the cork in the barrel and was forcing the muzzle to the table.

“Alright!  Alright!  You're gonna clean me out at this rate.” 

Anastasios handed the rifle back, the same smug sneer that the vendor had been wearing before now on his face. 

“How'd you know which ones are weighted?” he grumbled.

“A bit of guesswork,” Anastasios replied.

“I’ll give you anything you want up there, so just don't tell anyone.”

“The wristcuff,” Anastasios said, pointing to the bright red accessory.  The vendor grimaced, but Anastasios could already tell he was relieved that he hadn't picked the actual nicest prize there- a jeweled necklace.  The man handed over the wristcuff, and Anastasios eagerly accepted.  “You can keep everything else, including the change,” Anastasios cackled.  The cuff was definitely worth more than the coin he'd paid, but Anastasios had no doubt he'd already swindled more than half its worth out of others before the two even came into the street.  Anastasios spun the cuff around his finger and turned to Hikaze with a grin.  “And that's how you do it.”  He gently took Hikaze's dominant wrist and wrapped the cuff around his arm.  Hikaze turned his arm and looked it over, a big smile on his face. 

“Thanks, no way I would’ve been able to get that one myself,” Hikaze admitted, continuing to admire his new accessory.  While he could have done what Anastasios did, it would have required a lot of instruction from the Seer on what to aim for, and that no doubt would have tipped off the vendor.

“Yeah well, you have to give me some chances to look cool too,” Anastasios answered gently pressing his lips to the cuff on the underside of his wrist.  Anastasios grinned as Hikaze turned red.  It was his turn to be flustered now.  “And just to be generous, I'll let you pick the freebie.”

“Couldn't ask for better presents,” Hikaze replied, slightly out of breath.  Apparently, this was Anastasios’ response to the earcuffs and the honey from earlier. 

               By the time the two boys had finished their self-allotted games, the sun was dipping towards the horizon, and the growl of Hikaze’s stomach reminded both of them that it was time for dinner.

               “Didn’t you eat enough earlier?” Anastasios asked, incredulous. 

               “Oh, don’t act like you aren’t hungry,” Hikaze spat.  “We’ve both been doing a lot of walking and playing around.  You may have stopped growing, but you still have a teenager’s metabolism-”

               Hikaze was cut off by the sound of Anastasios’ stomach agreeing with him.  A grin plastered itself on his face as the older man scowled and turned bright red.

               “Not a word!  You hear?  Not a single word!”

               “Wow, Stasi, I didn’t know our Young Patriarch was such a glutton,” Hikaze teased, completely forgetting his earlier attempts to not pick any arguments.  Anastasios’ fist moved to come down on his head, but Hikaze managed to dodge, setting the pace for this confrontation in his favor.  “Hearing that, you’d almost think our little Seer Prince was human and not some stuffy perfect doll.”  Hikaze couldn’t help but cackle as Anastasios grew ever redder, the only thing stopping him from actually taking Hikaze out being the crowd around them.  Of course, as soon as Anastasios managed to guide him into an alley, they’d end up in a tussle on the ground, but it was rare that Hikaze got the upper hand when it came to teasing, so he couldn’t help himself.  While he was laughing though, the end he feared came to pass, and Anastasios shoved him into a dim alley and up against the wall, mounting a box as he did so in order to get the height he needed to bring his fist down on the taller man’s skull.  “Ow!  You used your knuckles on that one!”

               “Yeah, and that’ll teach you to make fun of me,” Anastasios sneered, quickly clambering up two more boxes and out of Hikaze’s reach- or so he thought, but Hikaze leapt up, managed to grab him by the ankle, and pulled him off, successfully toppling the boxes in the process.  “Happy with yourself?  We almost got crushed!” Anastasios scolded.  Hikaze had just barely managed to use his legs to brace them from the boxes, but, in turn, the arm he hadn’t used to hold onto Anastasios had taken the brunt of their fall.  Anastasios shoved the boxes off of them and helped Hikaze sit up.  “How’s it all feel?  Any broken bones?”

               “Sure hope not.”  Getting his arms or legs broken on the first date was not going to make this end well.  He took inventory of his limbs.  His legs were probably a little bruised, but they didn’t complain when he stood up.  The boxes had felt pretty empty, which was good news for him.  His arm, on the other hand, was scraped up from wrist to elbow from bracing their fall.  He wasn’t sure if he was glad he’d worn a sleeveless hakamashita because that meant that he didn’t get it all torn up or annoyed because now his arm was dripping blood. 

               “Arceus, what are we gonna do with you.”

               “This wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t been a little brat in the first place.”

               “Or maybe, you just need to learn to reign in your appetite,” Anastasios spat back as he fished a roll of gauze out of his satchel.

               “Why do you have that?”

               “It’s a better question to ask why I wouldn’t,” Anastasios replied in disbelief.  “Hold out your arm.”  Hikaze complied, scowling as Anastasios spread a poultice on the gauze and slapped it on his arm before wrapping it up.  “How long have we known each other now?”

               “I stopped counting after the first hundred years,” Hikaze replied.

               Anastasios glared at him.

               “We’ve known each other six years now,” Anastasios spat back.  “And we get into so many scuffles, it’d be irresponsible of me to carry this sort of stuff around.  One or both of us is getting beat up on a weekly basis.”

               Hikaze thought that over a minute and came to a frustrating realization. 

               “Aren’t I the one constantly getting beat up by you?!”

               “Well yeah, I stopped going easy on you years ago,” Anastasios replied with a smirk.  Over the years, Hikaze had grown bigger than Anastasios in terms of both height and muscle mass, but the smaller boy was lithe and acrobatic with a deadly knowledge and ability to exploit the weak points on the human body.  If he chose to settle things with a Pokemon battle, it was a courtesy.  “Plus, I can’t afford to show up at a meeting with nobles covered in cuts and scrapes like some child, can I?”

               “But I’m the one escorting you to those meetings,” Hikaze pointed out.

               “Oh, the wonders of makeup,” Anastasios cackled, lightly slapping Hikaze’s cheek as he crimped the gauze in place. 

               Hikaze snorted in displeasure but didn’t retort.  Admittedly, as much as he wanted Anastasios to get his, the idea of Anastasios’s pretty face getting beat up left a foul taste in his mouth.

               “Now, how ‘bout some dinner.”

Anastasios decided to be magnanimous and not point out that he’d just contradicted not wanting to dirty Anastasios’ nice handkerchief.  “Come on, you idiot, now that we have food in us, we need to start checking out everything else.”  He gave Hikaze a shove on the back to urge him along, and that seemed to get him back in form because he instantly grabbed Anastasios to drag him off towards some other stall he was interested in.

Much of the day went on like that with them going about things as they normally would have except for Hikaze’s brazen intimacy.  Things like holding his hand under the guise of not getting separated in the crowd, feeding each other instead of passing whatever street food they acquired back and forth, and Hikaze swiping stray crumbs off Anastasio’s face (he at least had the good sense to use his hands.)  Most of the stalls were food and wares, though, and while they did converse about the wars, particularly the odd ones.  Hikaze jokingly put on a ridiculous or scary-looking mask to joke around more than once, and Anastasios had to stifle his laughter and urge him to put them down each time while the stall attendant glared daggers at them.  But their stomachs could only hold so much, even being the ravenous young men they were, and few of the wares actually interested them enough to buy.  Except one.  Stalls selling jewelry were hardly uncommon at festivals like these.  The two had already walked by several, even having checked out a few, but Hikaze rarely wore accessories save for when he was accompanying Anastasios in an official capacity, and Anastasios’ taste was very particular.  So it surprised Anastasios when Hikaze quite literally grabbed him and dragged him over to one by his entire arm and plucked something off the display.

“Stasi, try this!”

“Woah, what-”  The two boys fumbled for a moment as Hikaze reached for Anastasios’ ears to attempt to gently remove the golden ear cuffs but ultimately struggled between having to deal with Anastasios trying to push him away and the cuffs being more firmly secured than he'd expected.  “Will you stop?!” Anastasios snapped, finally managing to grab Hikaze’s hands.  “You're gonna tear them off!  Just let me!  Mew Almighty.”  Anastasios gingerly removed the cuffs from his ears for Hikaze to see that they were more wraps than cuffs.  “Alright, now what did you want me to try on?”

“This.”  Hikaze carefully worked a metal ornament onto Anastasios’ ears.  Anastasios could already tell that it seemed to use less metal than the one he'd been wearing before, but it felt even heavier on his ears.  “Oh, I have pretty good taste,” Hikaze noted, admiring his selection. 

“Just hand me the mirror,” Anastasios sighed.  Hikaze obliged, and Anastsios inspected the jewelry placed on him.

The ear wrap was a thin bronze wire that ran along the fold of his outer ear, clung tight to the edge of the shell, and blended in well with Anatsasios’ olive-brown skin.  Enough that, unless you got right up to it, you couldn't even see it.  However, the jewels attached were an entirely separate matter.  The overall design of the wrap was very similar to the one Anastasios had put on originally, but now, instead of five flat, gold slips, there were three delicate drops of a bright nephrite.  The cuff itself also had three nephrite cabochons set along the wire that, when combined with Anatsasios’ skin tone, made them look like piercings.

“You’re right: it does suit me rather well,” he admitted.  “But your sense of taste had nothing to do with it, I look great in anything.”

“You’re not wrong,” Hikaze ground out, frustrated.  “But you usually pick out jewelry made with gold, right?”

Anastasios nodded.  “Of course.  It's the color of my house.”  The golden color of House Ofthalmós’ eyes and hair was a signifier of how much psychic ability they held, and the amber ring at the center of Anastasios’ irises indicated his existence as a Seer of the highest caliber.  Gold wasn't the color of the house just because it suited them but because the members of House Ofthalmós had been likened to the precious metal countless times over the millennia.

“So, you never would have considered many other metals, would you?” Hikaze pointed out. 

“True…” he replied with a grimace.  It wasn't so much that other metals didn't look good on them, either.  Copper wasn't particularly compatible with their olivine skin tone, and, as Hikaze had just demonstrated, bronze blended right in.  Gunmetal could look good on them, but the alloy was difficult to make in the current era, making it a rarity, and their skin was often still dark enough that the contrast was minimal.  Grey metals were both easy to obtain and could look nice, but, on Seers, their Eyes always stood out more than the jewelry. 

Hikaze’s hand brushed over an ear, admiring how it looked before turning to the vendor.  “We’ll take this pair, please,” he said happily, handing the vendor two gold coins.

“An excellent choice!” the vendor replied.

“Wait, what?”  This wasn't some small knick-knack!  Jewelry, especially the sort with gems, cost significantly more in this era.  The fact that Hikaze had handed over gold was proof of that.  “Hikaze, this isn't some little trinket!” Anastasios hissed.   

“But it looks good on you,” Hikaze pointed out.  “And besides, it's not like I don't have the money.  I do earn a wage around the house, you know.  It's not like I spend it on much besides food anyways.”  Hikaze finished the transaction out and got a small box to put one off the ear wraps in.  “Do you want to keep wearing those, or do you want to go back to the old pair?” 

Anastasios answered him with an almost hilarious mix of embarrassment and grump.  “You went to the trouble, so I might as well wear them.  Arceus knows if I'll ever use them again,” he spat, snatching the box and delicately placing his golden accessories inside before stowing it in his pocket.

Hikaze whistled.  “Careful there, tsundere levels that high might actually make it seem like you like them.”  A brown hand reached up to claw-grip Hikaze's face, and Hikaze chuckled, black eyes peeling past olivine fingers to find red cheeks and ears.  Anastasios was likely already thinking of what scenarios they'd be appropriate in.  As far as Hikaze was concerned, the effort had been a success.

Anastasios excused himself to use a café’s restroom, promising to return with coffee for his insufferable companion.  He didn't actually need the facility, but he did need a moment to calm down where Hikaze couldn't see how red his face was.  Anastasios stood at the sink, eyes locked on the mirror, and his mouth upturned in a pout as one hand gently entwined its fingers with the green drops dangling from his ears.  His grip on the sink tightened as his brows grew into an angry furrow.  Even he thought he looked angry despite his flushed face.  Why was he getting so damn flustered?  He brought the hand at his ear down to stubbornly try to wipe the blush off his cheeks but only succeeded in adding more color to them.

For years now, the two of them had been flirting as a means of picking on one another- Hikaze hadn't intended anything the first time.  It'd been a joke for the two of them that he’d mixed into a spectacle.  But regardless of the intentions Anastasios knew the other man had, he'd reacted.  His heart had fluttered for even the smallest instant, and that had ignited something in Hikaze because he kept doing it.  In public and in private- serenading him with the cheesiest love songs that the Old World had to offer.  He rarely got the reaction he was trying for, but it was fun for him regardless.  Anastasios had started returning the favor out of frustration and continued when he'd seen that it got far more than the intended result.  And things had just kept going like that until the flirting became real.  Neither of them could be sure when that happened, but over the last year or so, a palpable tension had been building between them that all shattered last month.  This date was likely Hikaze’s answer to that event. 

Anastasios groaned and splashed some water on his face as he recalled the event, making his cheeks redden further.  Only weeks ago, Hikaze had been walking on eggshells around Anastasios in the aftermath as both of them had become unsure of how to define this new relationship of theirs, but that quickly changed to another odd behavior entirely.  It had started with light touching- a hug from behind as Hikaze looked over his shoulder at something, a guiding hand that lingered too long, a hand that, moments before had been ruining his hair but was now brushing it back behind his ear.  Small, almost imperceptible things that, had they not crossed that line, Anastasios would have written off.  But there was also a growing desire to his Ultrareality, when Hikaze's ability failed him at least, that was unmistakable.  Gradually, his touches lingered longer, like he was testing the boundaries of what he was permitted.  Then, one day, he gave Anastasios a kiss.  It was on his head, through his hair, and, albeit brief and casual, it had happened, and Anastasios had allowed it.  That was when Anastasios understood- Hikaze must have been waiting for Anastasios to draw a line.  He’d been very calculated and systematic about it too, making sure they were alone or that no one was looking, that there was no reason Anastasios could give besides his own discomfort.  He was only smart when it came to things like this, and it confounded Anastasios to no end why he could apply just a bit of that to his own education.  But all that has escalated to this.  It wasn't so much that Anastasios disliked this as he didn't know how to handle it.  He was used to them being… rough.  Getting into arguments that turned into fistfights, goading each other into stupid shit, and not having to worry about where they stood with one another no matter how they might screw up.  Not… presents and doting and affection.  Anastasios knew that things might change when he’d started adding straws to the Camerupt’s back, but experiencing it was a different issue.  Anastasios always had to be in control and think things through before he committed.  If things had been left entirely up to him, what was going on between them now wouldn't have been possible regardless of how much he actually wanted it.  But when Hikaze was involved, all that went completely out the window.  And that scared him.  Being this flustered by his best friend and not having that control scared him.  He was content to write Hikaze off as a bumbling fool the majority of the time, but, the reality of it was, the man was better at this than Anastasios, and he'd already made his decision and didn't feel that he needed to care about how to act.  He was content to blunder and make mistakes as they found their new normal, and he'd been showing that all month.  The handkerchief thing earlier had certainly been far too awkward- but he learned quickly from things like that.  Whereas Anastasios was scared to even take that first step forward.  He needed to be in control of himself, and it was one thing to not be in control with Hikaze…  It was another to give that control over to Hikaze.  Not because Hikaze was Hikaze, but because Anastasios was Anastasios.  Or, more precisely, because he was still Esaias, somewhere underneath.  But, unlike Esaias, he wouldn't run from something like this.  Esaias would have. 

Anastasios touched at the drops hanging from his ears one more time and felt the Butterfree in his chest blow away the anxiety.  He brought another handful of water to his face again and hardened his resolve.  If his partner was Hikaze, things would work out fine- of that Anastasios was certain.

At least until he walked back outside.  When Anastasios returned, Hikaze was gone.  Really?  Had he just been ditched on a date?  That Hikaze had asked him on no less?  Could the man really not just stay in one place for more than a fraction of a moment?  Just as Anastasios was about to wander off to go find him, he caught sight of Hikaze trotting back.

“Sorry ‘bout that.  I saw something I was curious about, and figured I’d check it out while you were in the bathroom.  Didn’t think it’d take as long as it did,” Hikaze tittered.  But Anastasios was already mad.

“I thought we came here to look at stuff together.  What happened to it ‘being twice as fun when I’m there’?  Hmm?  Or is it something you and I both know you shouldn’t be getting into?  Why would you even pay attention to something that could land you in trouble like that?”

Hikaze restrained himself as the lecture went on, every single point an excellent one… had he actually done something that warranted the man’s ire.  Hikaze let him go on for a bit, but quickly determined that Anastasios would lecture him half the day if he just waited for it to be over, so he reached into his pocket for something, carefully opening a bottle and pulling something out.

“What’s more, are you unable to sit still for even a-”  Anastasios nearly choked as Hikaze’s fingers shoved something small and hard into his mouth.  “Arsheus!  You inshufferable idiot!  You cann jush shove things into- Mmm...”  Anastasios’ frustration pacified when the flavor finally hit his tongue.  “Ish thish honey?”

“Yeah, sorry, I was over there buying this.  I wanted it to be a surprise,” Hikaze said with an exasperated sigh as he held up a glass bottle filled with small, yellow orbs.  “They actually made quite a few different kinds with different honeys.  I thought it’d be quick, but there were more options than I expected, and there’s no way we could carry all of them, so I at least wanted to pick out three for you.”  This seemed to abate Anastasios’ anger. 

“Still, I would have liked to look too,” he muttered past the candy.

“You really wanna go over there right now?” Hikaze asked, jabbing in that direction with his thumb.  The stall in question was absolutely packed.  Anastasios could see why he took a long as he did and grimaced, his mouth turning into a long, flat line.  “Yeah, thought so.  I just saved you the trouble.  I got a card too, so, if you like it, we can try to visit a shop some time.”  He flicked a tag strung to the bottle of candy with a lavender ribbon.

“It’s acceptable,” Anastasios replied, covering his mouth.  “Don’t tell Celia about these.”

“She’s already getting all my desserts for the next two weeks.  Like hell I’m giving her any more.”

The two finally reached the center square where a dense crowd was gathered to watch a stage that no reasonable person in the outer perimeter could possibly make out.  Anastasios, however, could tell this was the main event.

“Let’s go around.  It’s nothing worth watching,” Anastasios said, urging Hikaze towards an alley that led to the next street over.

“Wait, you don’t wanna see what it is?” he asked.

“It’s just Damocles’ trial.  Nothing to fuss over, even if it is the reason for the festival,” Anastasios answered.

“Oh, well come on now, aren’t you curious to see if someone will pull them out?  Don’t you wanna try again yourself?” Hikaze asked.

Anastasios spun around to fix him with a firm stare.  “No.”

“Why not?  Damocles was Esaias’ ally, right?  I know you turned it down before when nee-sama asked, but why are you so against it?  And what if someone else pulls them?”

“Damocles is incredibly picky.  There’s a reason no one’s drawn Damocles in the last 15 years, and that’s unlikely to change today.  Do you know what the requirements are to wield Damocles?”

               “Uhhhhh… no.  Esaias never told me.  Just that there were only specific situations that he could actually call on it in.”

               “Damocles only makes contracts with those it views as having the potential to rise to power; future kings, leaders of rebellions, generals, you get the type.  Esaias, for all his many, many flaws, had drive, charisma, and intelligence.  He went on to, albeit inadvertently, found House Ofthalmós so that his children and any others born like us wouldn’t have to suffer the way he did.  He was also rich and famous with fans all over the world.  Damocles saw that potential and allowed a contract.”

               “Even though you fit that criteria even more than Esaias did?” Hikaze teased with a quirked brow.  “Mister ‘Prince of the Seers’ over here?”

               “Quit it, you know I hate that nickname.  Nobles only use it to patronize me anyways,” Anastasios spat.  “If I succeeded in drawing Damocles, it’d feel like I hadn’t changed.  All my progress in becoming a better person than Esaias is nothing in the face of Damocles’ approval.  I hate that idea.  Also, wielding Damocles will decrease your lifespan.”                Hikaze felt his heart drop into his stomach.  “What?”  He’d always thought that Esaias had died from the complications of his abduction as a teenager.  That was what they’d been told anyways. 

               “The price for Damocles’ power is vitality.  Esaias added a stipulation to the contract that made it harder for him to use Damocles as a means of limiting them as an option, and they weren’t called upon often enough to be the cause of his death, so you don’t need to be worried about that.  Esaias died at his proper time.  And that was the most he ever wanted out of life- just the chance for a natural death.”

“That was hardly natural,” Hikaze spat. 

Anastasios didn’t argue.  Was Esaias’ death truly natural?  Hardly.  But he’d died quite satisfied.  He’d lived significantly longer than he’d ever anticipated, hadn’t gone insane from his own powers, and had managed to have a family.  It was more than he ever could have asked for.  “Well, this time, I’m going to live even longer than you, that way you don’t get to try to brag that you’re older than me next time around,” Anastasios replied with a wide, toothy grin.

               “Oh, no way am I letting that slide,” Hikaze cackled.  “I’m gonna make sure to keep putting as many years between us as possible!”

               “As if having even another century of life experience could make you have even a modicum of intelligence,” Anastasios taunted.

               “Hey, you need him for anything today?”

               “… Nothing… pressing, why?”

               “I’mma borrow him a bit!” the teen announced with a toothy grin.

               “Hey!  Do you not see all the paperwork on my desk?” Anastasios snapped.  “I’m busy!”

“Go off and have fun, boy,” his grandfather said.  “You’ve been quite busy lately.  Take some time for friends.”

“But papous, there’s still a lot to get done for-”

“I leave far too much of my work to you, boy.  And he did ask if he could borrow you yesterday.”  Hikaze had merely done his due diligence in making sure nothing new had cropped up since then.  Anastasios grimaced and let out a heavy sigh before looking at Hikaze.  The man was wearing a sleeveless red hakamashita under a black unamori hakama- not typical casual wear, much less something Hikaze wore on the regular himself, and Anastasios’ nose picked up something soft and fragrant.  Cedar?  Sandalwood?  There’s no way this was just going to be for them to hang out.

“Alright, fine.  What're we doing?”

“Nee-sama said there's a festival going on in the island this week, right?  Something about someone trying to pull Damocles?  We don't gotta watch that, but it sounded like there was gonna be a ton to do!  Come on, pleeeeeaaaaase?”

“Just go yourself then!  You don't need me for that!” Anastasios spat.

Hikaze grumbled under his breath and rolled his eyes

“Just come, it's pointless if you don't.  What fun can I have by myself?”

“What are you talking about?  You always find something to keep you entertained.  You don't need me.”

“But it’s twice as fun if I get to do it with you,” he complained.  “Or do you not have fun hanging out with me?” Hikaze asked, feigning a pout.

“Little shit, you finally learned how to use your looks to your advantage…” Anastasios muttered.

“Huh?”

“You can’t manipulate me with that; since when have you cared if I had fun?”

“Are you kidding?  I’m always trying to find the thing that you’ll have fun with!  The best stuff is where we have fun together!  Come on, pleeeeeeaaaaase?  You’ve been super busy lately.  We’ve hardly spent any time together lately!” 

Anastasios was met with the Kantonian’s best attempt at puppy eyes, which was very terrible, but Anastasios would die before he admitted that he found that cute.  Anastasios’ glare sharpened, and he wrinkled his nose, but, ultimately, he gave in.  “Fine, just give me a moment to put on something more… commoner-like.”

“Dude, why’s it matter?  With how pretty you are, everyone’s gonna stare anyways.”

“I don’t want to get these dirty playing whatever stupid games you decide to play!” he snapped, slamming his hands down on his desk before standing and storming off.  However, before he could leave, Hikaze clocked a hint of red tinting the tapered tips of his ears.

“Thanks for taking him out,” Héron stated as he picked up another proposal document.  “He really doesn’t let himself go enough.  I hesitate to hand the position over to him when all he knows is how to work.”

“Yeah, well, it’s not like I’m selfless in doing this,” Hikaze replied, laying his head on the desk.  “I have my own ulterior motives.”

“Just be safe is all we ask,” Heron said pointedly.

Hikaze pointedly did not answer, preferring instead to slink away to the nearby couch and practice his self-control with the snacks on the table.

“Stasi made those by the way.”

“Fuck…”  Well, it couldn’t be helped.  In his mouth they went.  He’d just have to use his second stomach for the festival food.  He was halfway through the plate, thumbprint cookie in-mouth, when the doors burst open again, this time to much less alarm.

“Hikaze!  How dare you!  I hear you invited our Stasi to Damocles’ festival but didn’t invite me!”                “Shmfd…”  Hikaze quickly downed the cookie, strongly regretting that he had barely had time to taste it, before turning to face Celia.  He’d kind of been hoping to avoid her, but he knew that’d be difficult with Anastasios involved.  “Yeah, I did.  And I mean, you can come, just not with us.  Ask nee-sama to show you around.  I’m sure she’d be perfectly fine with that.  I got something I need to do.”

“How dare you leave me out of the fun!” Celia huffed, angrily banging her cane on the ground as she stormed forward.

“Sweet Mew, how many of those things have you broken over the centuries?  I get that you want to have fun, but can’t you do it without us for once?” Hikaze asked as Celia brought her face within inches of his to glare at him.  Or try.  The action fell short since she couldn’t see his face and ended up glaring at his neck instead.

“Of course not!  Do you want me to eat you?”

“Definitely not.  I just… have something I need to do with Stasi alone.”

A malevolent smile worked its way across Celia’s face.  “Oh?  Alone, huh?  Why, whatever could you want with our precious Stasi alone I wonder,” she teased.

“Yeah yeah, say whatever you want.  It’s a date.  I’m taking him on a date.  And he won’t let me be any kind of affectionate if you’re in his shadow, so please.  Don’t come.”

“Fine, I guess I can permit you some privacy just this once.  Make sure to make the most of it.  Oh, aren’t you all lucky to have such a magnanimous deity~  Oh, but you owe me an entire batch of Stasi’s lokum.” 

“How about all my desserts for the next week,” Hikaze offered, not willing to try to cajole the time-restricted Seer into making his most requested dessert for a favor that he didn’t owe.

“Make it two.”

“Deal!”  Their hands clasped together in a firm shake.

“Great, now start with whatever you were eating when I got here.  They smell amazing.”

Hikaze grabbed the display platter and slid it in front of Celia as she plopped herself down on the couch.  He gently took one of her hands and guided it to the plate so that she could reach for the desserts herself before leaving her to it.

“So, do you have a game plan?” Celia asked.  “You and I both know that our Stasi isn’t one to be courted easily.”

Hikaze let out a nervous laugh.  “Well, I think I have a chance, so I’m just going to give it a shot.  We work best when we’re just being ourselves, so I don’t see any need to do anything too different.  I just gotta pay attention and make sure we don’t pass up anything that’d actually interest him.  Y’know, actually try to be a partner instead of a friend.”

“Ah dmm shik dah shuu bh a pwobwn.”

“… Can you even taste those with how many you have crammed in there?”

“Hush,” Celia said after swallowing her mouthful of treats. 

Anastasios returned almost half an hour later; Hikaze guessed it had something to do with his hair because his waist length locks had been pulled back into a tight tail of a braid, and his bangs that framed his perfectly shaped face were drawn into a set of bronze beads set with malachite twists.  The clothes he wore were significantly more casual than the heavily-embroidered dress shirt he’d been wearing before, but his sleeveless tunic, which was embroidered with golden laurels all along the knife-shaped neckline and shoulders, was dyed a vibrant emerald green to match his beads and a pair of ear cuffs with long, flat golden bars dangled from the curves of his tapered ears.   Anastasios could wear rags and still look like the prettiest thing that ever walked the planet.  Seeing him when he was actually trying was just eye candy.  And this was his idea of casual and not eye-catching.  Hikaze had to almost literally pick his jaw off the floor.  He’d seen Anastasios dressed to the nines for events before, and each time had made his heart flutter, but the knowledge that he was this pretty just for an outing with him made Hikaze want to start doing backflips.  Hikaze caught himself gulping when Anastasios parted his lips to speak only to have a verbal bucket of cold water dumped on him.

“What’re you waiting for?” Anastasios spat, his face scrunching in annoyance.  “Are we going out or not?”

“Yup!  Yup, right away!” Hikaze replied, vaulting over the back of the couch and running to the door.  Right, this was the kind of person his best friend was.  Hikaze was a little grateful for the reminder because otherwise he wouldn't have been able to function.  Once he was next to Anastasios, his arm instinctively went to hold the other man's waist before freezing a few inches from doing so and instead going to its familiar perch on the man's shoulder.  A fact that didn’t slip by Anastasios.  He huffed and muttered a ‘coward’ under his breath in Greka, but Hikaze was still too flustered to notice. 

They turned to leave but then Anastasios stopped to address Celia.  “You not coming?” he asked, perplexed.  Normally she always tagged along whether they wanted her to or not.

“Not this time,” she replied, popping a cookie into her mouth.  “I'm being magnanimous, after all.” 

Anastasios gave her a dubious glare but ultimately decided to accept the rare offer for privacy. “Alright, let's get going.”  Anastasios and Hikaze made their way to the teleportation point, both grateful to not have to suffer another sea voyage now that regular travel between the house and the island had resumed.

Cosíma greeted them at the teleportation point, her beloved Abra hanging off her like a Mankey.

“Oooh, well don’t you two look nice,” Cosíma chuckled, looking the two boys over. 

“Oh hush, Cosmo,” Anastasios scolded.  “It’s Oki, I don’t need to dress down as much as I usually would to blend in.  Plus, it’s a festival.  People will be wearing all sorts of stuff.”

“You say as if you were ever capable of blending in in the first place,” Hikaze snorted.  “Why does our Stasi only understand how pretty he is when he’s working?”

“I know, right?  I guess it must be because we all look so similar that he just thinks he’s average,” Cosíma sighed, clearly trying to get a rise out of her relative.

“Are you taking us to the island or not?” Anastasios ground out.  It was clear to both that Anastasios had decided not to engage the argument, which struck them as odd since he was usually willing to snap off so long as the jokes were casual, but if they tried to pick on him for it, he’d probably just storm off.

“Yeah, yeah,” Cosíma replied with the flippant wave of a hand.  “Geez, you’re being no fun~” she pouted.

“Well if you’d stop making such ridiculous insinuations, then we wouldn’t have that problem, now would we?” Anastasios spat back as they all stood on the dias that acted as the house’s teleportation point.  Beneath sat a psychic-type whose entire job was to maintain and rewrite the coordinates of any Pokémon that teleported in and out of the house to make two-way teleportation possible.

 Anastasios closed his eyes, and when he opened them, his eyes and ears were met with the busy bustling of a main thoroughfare.  Cosíma’s Abra chittered as it climbed all over her back, still pretending it was smaller than it really was and demanding praise, which she happily gave.  “Yeah, you did a good job, didn’t you?”  The Abra crooned into a head scritch before settling its head on her shoulder.  “So, will you two be staying the night?” Cosíma asked teasingly.  “I won’t judge.”

“Of all the asinine suggestions-” Anastasios prepared his lecture, now filled to bursting with an embarrassed rage, but Hikaze pulled him back.

“Not part of the plan, but if we get too tired, we’ll leave that open,” Hikaze butted in. 

“Take the privacy when you can get it~” Cosíma said with a shrug. 

“Not necessary, thank you,” Anastasios hissed, putting his palms against Hikaze and physically shoving him away.  “We will be returning to the house tonight!”

“If you say so~” Cosíma teased as she waved them off.

“What the fuck is everyone’s deal?” Anastasios muttered under his breath, still forcing Hikaze along.  “What do they think we get up to?”

Hikaze decided to refrain from pointing out that, as far as they knew, the two hadn’t actually done anything yet, and that was why they kept getting picked on all the time.  “If we at least told them that we’ve already kissed, they’d probably calm down a little,” Hikaze pointed out.  Half the teasing was just the house trying to push them towards each other.  It wasn’t like Hikaze couldn’t understand their exasperation.  They were taking things simultaneously too fast and too slow and in the strangest order possible because of how close they’d already been.  Although, that was just for now.  The second they actually showed any sign of trying to get together-…

Anastasios came to an abrupt halt and marched around to get in Hikaze’s face (as much as he could with the height difference.)  “You really think my family would stop teasing us if we told them that?  Are you really that stupid?”

“Call it wishful thinking at least,” Hikaze sighed, meeting Anastasios’ furious gaze with embarrassed disappointment.  Yeah, there was no way anyone in the house would let that go.  They were already told to get a room on a weekly basis.  Arceus only knows how they’d respond if they had any reason to believe they might actually use that room.  “But we’re free of your family for today, so let’s just enjoy ourselves, okay?” Hikaze said, taking Anastasios’ hand and leading him up the street.

“Yeah, how’d you get Celia to agree to that?  I’m sure she pitched a fit.”

“Oh, she did.  She did,” Hikaze confirmed.  “Just… if you feel like being nice to me, maybe don’t bake anything for a few weeks.”

“Ah…”  It didn’t take any more for Anastasios to figure out what Hikaze had traded for the rare and much-coveted solitude.  “I’ll consider it if you live up to your promise to make this fun,” he said with a taunting grin.

“Well, for your information, ‘Fun’ is my middle name!” Hikaze replied confidently.

Anastasios rolled his eyes, a small smile on his face.  He’d never admit that Hikaze was right- man knew how to make sure people had a good time, both in this life and the last.  It was part of why Esaias had been able to get along with him despite their numerous differences: Kazuya knew how to get him to let loose.  And the same was true of Hikaze.  “Whatever ‘Fun’,” Anastasios quipped.  “I haven’t eaten since breakfast, so let’s start with food at least.”

“Hell yeah!”  Hikaze quickly grabbed Anastasios’ hand and pulled him forward into the crowd.

The two dove head-long into the festival, checking out any booth that caught their eye (or nose).  Block upon block of the capital was lined with colorful banners and stalls full to bursting with food and wares.  For Anastasios’ sake though, their first stop was a food stall serving crêpes.  Or at least what looked like a version of them on the griddle.  The ingredients and the way they were cut and served was vastly different, and it reminded Hikaze of a street food he’d tried once in the Old World called jian bing. 

“Stay here, I’ll be right back!” Hikaze said, guiding Anastasios to the side of the road and running up to the cart. 

“Unbelievable,” he muttered to himself.  “I can order my own damn food, thank you very much.”  Anastasios continued to grumble under his breath and cultivate his irritation until Hikaze returned five minutes later with two envelopes of parchment paper filled with squares cut off one of the large monstrosities being constructed on the griddle.

“What’s this supposed to be?” Anastasios asked as he took the paper-wrapped square of filled dough.

“Lunch,” Hikaze said, taking a bite of his own.  “You said you hadn’t had any.  Figured you’d want to start with something reasonably balanced before breaking into the junk food.”

Anastasios frowned, but he wasn’t wrong.  And the serving did look to be quite ample.  He stared at it, trying to gauge the ingredients with his special sight, until Hikaze shoved a hand in his face to stop him.

“Just eat it.  I promise, it’s fine.  You might even like it.  I got pork belly for mine.  If you don’t like yours, I’ll give mine to you.”

Anastasios grimaced before taking a bite.  The dough was thin and crispy like a crêpe, but that’s where the similarities stopped.  The inside was awash with flavorful vegetables and seasonings that eagerly filled his mouth.  And the meat in his was something very familiar.  “Is mine lamb?” Anastasios asked, a bit surprised.

“Yup!” Hikaze replied, flashing him a victory peace sign.  “I saw it on the board as we were coming up.  Figured you’d like that.”

“Fine, you win this one,” Anastasios replied, covering his food-filled mouth as he spoke.

Hikaze cackled to himself when a realization seemed to hit him.  “Hey, Stasi, wanna try a bite of mine?”

“Is it really that different?” Anastasios asked, covering his mouth again despite having swallowed his mouthful.

“Can’t know until we try, right?” Hikaze said.  “I give you a bite of mine, you give me a bite of yours?”

Anastasios answered with a dubious stare, no doubt seeing right through his intentions despite not being able to See his Ultrareality, and Hikaze could almost feel a cold sweat on the back of his neck.  “What’re you waiting for, hand it over,” Anastasios ordered, still fixing him with the same stare but offering his free hand.

“Here.”  Hikaze held it in front of his face rather than put it in the offered hand.  Shit.  Maybe that was too forward.  Maybe he didn’t like this sort of thing.  Hikaze was just about to take it back, unable to tolerate the way Anastasios glanced back and forth between him and the crêpe any further, when the older man finally tucked one of his beaded locks behind a tapered ear and leaned in to steal a bite.  He covered his mouth again as he chewed, ever proper, and waited to swallow before commenting.

“It’s actually pretty different.  They used different spices and a different sauce.  Probably to compliment the meat better,” he noted.

“O-Oh…  Which one to you think you like better?” Hikaze asked as Anastasios took another bite of his own before seemingly remembering that it was his turn to do the offering.

“… What do you think?” Anastasios asked, clearly trying to mask his shyness as he held out the food for Hikaze to grab.

“Yeah, lamb’s always been your favorite, hasn’t it?” Hikaze chuckled, grabbing his wrist and bringing the hand up to bring the lamb crêpe to his mouth before taking a sizeable bite.  “Mmmm…  yup!  Thash different,” he noted.

Anastasios pulled his hand back like Hikaze had burned him, gingerly touching the skin Hikaze’s fingers had wrapped around.  “Can’t you at least learn to swallow before you speak?” he hissed.

The boy scoffed, sounding younger now than his usual gravelly speech, and brought a dark hand up to furiously scratch at his fluffy white and purple hair. 

“Aren’t you ever satisfied?” he snarled.

“No.  But with some more current clothes, this will suffice,” Anastasios replied.  “In addition, we can work out the new terms of our contract on the way.  Keep in mind, though, that, if at any point you try to renege and make a break for it, it's back in the ball.”

“No running,” he spat.  “Won’t run.  Need to meet portrait lady!”

“… We’ll talk about that as we go.”  Anastasios hefted Skíri in his arms and motioned for the fox boy to follow.  “So, your only request is that you be allowed to meet with the woman you saw in the portrait, is that correct?”

“YES!  WANNA MEET!” he yelled, half enthusiastic, half angry.

“Are you aware of how old that portrait is?  She could be dead for all you know.”  That made the fox pause.  Clearly he hadn’t considered that. 

“… Then why is there a picture?”

“Because she’s our progenitor’s sister, amongst other things.”

The fox boy dug his clawed fingers into his pants, threatening to tear the non-existent fabric, and bit his lip.  He was using his illusions to mess with his Ultrareality again, but it didn’t take a Seer to tell that he was deeply hurt by the prospect.  Anastasios had every opportunity to just insist Aria was dead, and then their contract would end here.  However, that’d only come back to bite him later, he was sure.  Princess Aria yet lived.  So long as both her and this fox remained immortal, there was a chance that they would cross paths.  Regardless of Aria’s benevolence towards his house, this fox would certainly seek out some kind of revenge.  In addition, keeping a bodyguard for a while longer was of benefit to him.  He didn’t have to worry about any members of the house coming after him, but he was walking into the lion’s den alone.  Of that he was acutely aware.  He needed everything he could get.

“… I’ll grant you one mercy and inform you that she lives.”  The fox’s head bolted to attention, and Anastasios paused to swerve away from the town gate, opting instead to lead them along the stone barrier built to try and limit the Pokémon that might try to make their way inside.  “Her visits have dwindled over the centuries, but she and her remaining siblings are still benefactors for our house.  They’re part of the reason we’re able to maintain our independence after splitting from Kalos.  However, I can promise at least one visit during my lifetime.”  Since she’d clearly agreed with Celia about him being Esaias reincarnated, there was no way she’d be content to leave him until he passed.  Doubly so since she’d also met Hikaze, although whether or not the two boys would ever meet again was up in the air right now.  Even if they were best friends, Anastasios was sure that Hikaze probably hated him.  Given Kazuya’s history with Esaias, Anastasios might be able to fix it if he tried, but, with the current circumstances, he wasn't inclined to.

“When?”

“When what?  Use your words properly,” Anastasios stated.

“When come?” the fox boy growled.

“Dunno,” Anastasios said.  “And I can’t invite her until we deal with our current problem.  It may be a few years.” 

The boy balked, releasing several noises of discontent that might have been swear words if he’d known how to use them. 

“You should take that as a boon,” Anastasios advised, stopping at a grate in the wall that had originally been built in for drainage and prying it off.  “As you are now, you have neither the manners nor enough trust to even be permitted in her line of sight.  If you truly wish to meet her, I’ll have you undergo a very thorough education.”

“Don’t want!  Just need to meet!”

Anastasios weaseled his slim form into the gap, just barely managing to pull himself through and come out in a dim alley before offering the slightly larger fox a hand to help him do the same.

“You don’t have a choice.  Those are the terms.  In addition, I’ll be having you extend your bodyguard duty until we return to the house.  If you don’t run now, I won’t let you have another chance.” 

The fox hesitated, clearly debating between that thing which he most desired and a sweet freedom that he hadn’t known in centuries.  If he ran now, he could always try to find her himself, but how long would that take?  Maybe he could just get a general location from him…

“Where?  Look myself!” the fox boy spat.

“Why would I tell you that?” Anastasios asked.  “Telling you serves me no benefit, and I don’t want someone who tried to kill me knowing where someone I care about lives.  That should be common sense.  And even if you did find her, she has a guard at all times.  They’d never let you anywhere near her.”  Each new statement stabbed the fox boy like a knife.  He hated that this human boy knew how to make good points.  Anastasios’ hand remained outreached, but it felt like that hand was also saying that the offer was still open.

“What kind of education?” the fox boy asked hesitantly.

“You'll be given the same education that any member of House Ofthalmós is subject to.  You’ll learn math, science, languages, and history- although the last one may seem meaningless to someone who’s lived through it, but these aren’t topics you can afford to ignore.  In addition, I’ll have you learn how to conduct yourself in high society, which will mean learning human manners and decorum.  Only the most esteemed of individuals is allowed in her presence.  I cannot afford to bring someone ignorant to the types of events she frequents outside our manor.” 

The fox boy frowned and hesitated, but then begrudgingly reached through the opening, wrapping dark, taloned fingers around Anastasios’ olivine wrist and allowing the boy to pull him through.

“We have an agreement then?  You’ll protect me until our return, and, in exchange, I’ll educate you and help you meet Lady Aria?”

The fox boy nodded.

“Confirm with your words.  I won’t have you trying to say you never said ‘yes’ later,” Anastasios said pointedly.  The fox boy scowled again but obeyed.

“Fine, yes, agree!” he spat.

“Great.  Now we have to hurry.  I’ve already lost a day to bureaucratic nonsense.”  Anastasios made for Hikaze’s house, silently hoping it was still empty. 

“You also have the house chasing after you, Stasi.  There’s no way they’re not far behind,” Celia reminded him from his shadow teasingly.  The sudden intrusion startled the fox boy.  He'd heard her in the hidden passage of the house, but he’d forgotten she was there until now, and he raised his raised his hackles in alarm.  That response only seemed to make her laugh.  Anastasios opted not to tell him that it wasn’t because she’d seen him do it.

“The House won’t be a problem.  I have something in place for them,” Anastasios assured her.  “All I had to do was get out.”

“Well, now you’ll also have to find your way back though,” Celia sighed.  “Now, pray tell, when did my cute little pet find the time to set up another dastardly scheme aside from this one?”

Anastasios couldn’t hold back the smirk that took over his face.

“While our gluttonous family god was stuffing herself with her fifth dessert helping of the evening, I got paid a little visit.  Papous isn’t the only one who gets a say in where I go and what I do.”

“Oh how I wish I could have stayed to witness Heron getting the rug pulled out from under him,” Celia sighed, clearly imagining the messy scene in her head.  The fox wrinkled his nose in confusion, but if Celia or Anastasios noticed, neither of them clarified.

“But what’s about to happen will be so much more interesting,” Anastasios assured Celia.

“Always is with you around, my pet.”

“Because I’m both exhausted and in a good mood, I’ll let that one slide.  But just this once.”  He wanted to feel bad for his grandfather, but it was hard to do when the man had so clearly intended to dangle what the boy wanted right in front of him just to rip it away and lock him in the house.  Anastasios just used the line he used the dangle the bait to tangle up his feet a little.  It was the least he should be allowed.

◊

Heron and the rest of the members of the house who’d come to the teleportation point all stood shocked for several moments.  The house was a safe haven and a prison- one that most inmates were reluctant to leave. They were all taught from infancy what types of horrors awaited them if they tried to leave the house without proper preparations.  A majority did study outside the house, either to practice a trade or find a spouse even if they weren't an investigator, but there were numerous safety nets involved every time.  Contingencies for contingencies.  Even if they were nervous, they were mostly safe.  Even still, only the oh so special house investigators and those who were truly fed up with the way the house operated were the only ones who could leave with so little consideration for what may befall them.  Anastasios was not only not an investigator, the type of job that Anastasios had fled to do, but was also their much-anticipated future leader who had already spent so much of his new life trying to right the twisted ways the house had fallen under.  Heron had all but already handed the position over to him.  And he had, in their eyes, flown readily into a blazing fire.  With nary a shred of the fear that they now felt themselves.  As was expected of him as Patriarch, Heron was the first to gather himself.

“We know where he’s going.  There must be another Pokémon with that city as its teleportation point.  Find it and bring him back.  He cannot be allowed to fall into enemy hands.”  Anastasios was a valuable member of House Ofthalmós in every sense of the term.  The boy held power and knowledge that even kings would kneel for.  Despite the well-known practice House Ofthalmós had of not marrying into other families regardless of gender, Heron had gotten countless letters not just from nobility but even royalty to try to set Anastasios up with their daughters- many thinly veiled as tea party invitations or networking events amongst young nobles, but invitations with obvious motives nonetheless.  If word got out that Anastasios had made his way into a black-market auction as an item for sale, it could tip the scales of war.  But, above all, despite his attitude, Anastasios was Heron’s precious grandson.  There was no way he could allow harm to come to the boy.

Heron continued to bark orders to the other, still stunned, members of the house for several moments until a hand clapped him on the shoulder.

“Everyone can calm down, he has permission to go out, it’s fine.  You can make preparations, father, but I think you can leave this matter to him.”  Heron turned to scowl at the speaker- a man of fair complexion, chestnut hair, and almond eyes.  An appearance that couldn’t be linked to the house no matter how hard you looked at him. 

“Niall.  You may be my son-in-law, but you’re overstepping.  Anastasios can’t be allowed to go anywhere near this,” Heron replied with a scowl.

“That’s odd…  He told me he’d gotten your permission.  If he could find a reasonable bodyguard aside from the Lady, then he’d be allowed to do as he pleased; is that not what you agreed on?” the younger man asked, stroking his well-trimmed beard with feigned confusion.

“It was not actually meant to happen.  Both he and I understood that.”

“Oh, but patér, you forget the kind of child he is,” chuckled another man, this one much more closely resembling House Ofthalmós’ famed appearance- Anastasios’ uncle, Yiorgos. 

“And you, I know you reported to him first.  You know you were supposed to report to us together so that he could remain under my watchful eye.  Why did you explicitly disobey me?”

“Come on, patér~  You basically taunted the kid.  That was hardly fair,” Yiorgos replied.

“So you instead lead him straight to the flame?!?!” the Patriarch roared. 

“Heron,” Niall said, getting his father-in-law’s attention again.  “Anastasios may be your heir, but he’s also my son.  When my adorable son who never makes any unreasonable demands and is constantly perfect and self-reliant in every way finally needs a bit of help, what else can I possibly do?  He never acts out; let him be a teenager.”

“This isn’t just being a rebellious teenager, Niall!  Do you have any idea what could happen if he falls into their hands?!  It’d be bedlam!  No one of any power can be allowed to lay hands on that boy!  He’s only a teenager!  His powers aren’t even fully developed yet!  What could he possibly do?!”

“Do you believe the Lady when she claims my son is your Progenitor reborn?” Niall asked.

“That’s beside the point!  I don’t want my grandson to have to be in that kind of situation!  How can you say you’d be willing to let that happen to your son?”

“I’ve known for a long time that boy isn’t normal.  But he’s still my son,” Niall said, ignoring Heron’s answer.  “He asked me for a favor for the first time since he was born, Heron.  How could I say no?  I’m surprised that you could.”

Heron’s brows knitted together, and his mouth formed a tight frown.  His fingers curled into fists.  Throwing more people at this wasn’t the answer either, he knew that.  It was only liable to get more members of the house placed in danger.

“We should at least try to keep track of him though.  Someone should monitor him through his room until we can properly bring him back,” Heron stated.  Those around him exchanged glances.  It was an implicit rule that the bedrooms of each member of the house were sacred places.  Cases like what happened with Théo were an exception: so long as they didn’t need to know, no one pried.  It helped keep the peace somewhat.  It didn’t completely stop their powers from prying into each other, but it helped mitigate it at least.  But no one had ever pried into Anastasios before, nor did they want to.  No one was sure what they’d see, and they didn’t want to find out.

“I’ll do it,” Yiorgos volunteered.  “After all, I did enable the boy, even if he’s not aware of it.”  Anastasios had been convinced that Yiorgos was on Heron’s side their entire time talking, and he’d worked hard to make it seem that way.  Lies were impossible in House Ofthalmós, but masking intentions was easy- a trick that the teen still hadn’t realized yet.  If he’d made it clear they were on the same side, Anastasios might not have made his getaway properly, thinking he actually had an ally in the house that could help.  Plus, he didn’t need that much of a scolding from his own father.

“You will keep me apprised of his status every morning.  Is that clear?” Heron said sternly. 

“Of course, patér,” Yiorgos sighed, scratching his head.  “I don't want anything bad happening to my cute nephew either, you know.”

Heron held in another outburst.  How could these people, his own family, claim to want nothing to happen to him but still willingly send him into the fire?

“Everyone back to what you were doing,” Heron barked.  “We still have a lot to do.  This isn’t over.”

◊

The sound of rattling metal and echoing footsteps jolted Théo awake.  It took a moment for him to remember, but he quickly remembered that he was in the dungeon of an old, abandoned fortress on the outskirts of Old Kalos.  When had he fallen asleep?  He suppressed the urge to groan at the intense ache in his body from laying on the cold stone and glanced over at his companion.  The boy next to him was sleeping soundly.  Arceus only knew how with how hard his “bed” was. Maybe, after so long like that, he’d just gone numb.  Or his body was trying to recover from the multiple beatings he’d gotten.  Théo moved to sit in front of Hikaze just as a dim lantern came into view.  He wasn’t sure if he should be relieved when he saw that it was the man called “Minoru”.

“How’s he holding up?” Minoru asked, seemingly rather concerned.  It was the least he could be considering he’d raised the boy, as far as Théo was concerned, but Théo wasn’t sure he could be honest about his condition.

“He’s recovering,” Théo replied, trying to sound optimistic.  “The makeup job isn’t perfect but the facial swelling has gone down a lot.  He should at least look presentable in a couple of days.” 

Minoru put a hand on his chest and let out a sigh of relief.

“Thank Arceus.  When Raoul just started wailing on him, I got concerned.  He doesn’t hold back.”

“Then you should have stopped him.  Hikaze’s just a kid.  Most kids can’t take that kind of beating.”  Truthfully, Hikaze couldn’t either.  If he didn’t get proper medical attention, there might even be permanent damage.  The swelling had gone down, yes, but that didn’t mean that there weren’t other internal injuries that Théo couldn’t account for.  He’d seen that kick in the wagon.  The boy had probably gotten even more than that before Théo even came into the picture.

“I’m not in any position to defy him,” Minoru replied.  “If I try, we'd both just end up dead in a gutter.  It’s better for both of us if I at least try to placate him a little,” Minoru pointed out.

Théo didn’t respond.  He still felt like Minoru could have done more for his son before it got to this point.  Why did it take Raoul saying he was going to dispose of the boy for him to step in?  Something just wasn’t adding up for Théo, but he didn't have the abilities to figure it out right now.

“Well, he’ll at least be sellable.  After that, though, its out of my hands.”  Théo watched as Minoru seemed to puzzle over something for a few moments, the flickering of the dim lantern obscuring his true expression.

“Actually,” he said finally, “I’m planning on taking him out of here.  We can't leave the organization right away, but his mother and I don’t want what Raoul has in store for him.”

Théo couldn't hold in a scoff.

“If you can't stand it for your own offspring, I can't fathom how you can force it on others.”  Théo felt a chill as something dangerous flashed across Minoru’s eyes.  It was brief, but the hatred he felt from the man could almost curdle blood.  And then the malice was gone, like it’d never even been there in the first place.

“That's just how it is in this business,” Minoru replied with an almost regretful smile and a shrug.  “Your people should know that by now.”  A bit of the previous malice returned, this time in his words, but it wasn’t nearly as powerful as his gaze had been.

“House Ofthalmós uses its powers to maintain the global balance,” Théo stated defensively.  “We don't “trample just because we can.” 

Minoru scoffed, clearly not taking the words seriously.

“Anyway, give Hikaze this when he wakes up.”  Théo held out his hands, and Minoru reached through the bars and dropped some small brown squares in Théo’s hand.  “Give those to Hikaze.  They're his favorite.”  Minoru also set down two flasks of water before walking off.  Théo looked down at his hand. In it were three small, misshapen hard candies.  Caramels?  Théo was tempted to put one in his mouth to test it, but, if they really were the boy’s favorite, that would be pretty mean, given his state.  Théo opted to deposit them in one of the now empty wooden bowls whose contents he'd used to treat Hikaze earlier and scooted it over into a dim corner nearby so that it wouldn't get confiscated if Raoul came by.

Minoru returned back up the stairs, leaving behind the damp cool air of the cellar of the fort’s prison.  Their organization had taken over this abandoned fort that had once been a stronghold of the Kalosian border but had fallen in the war.  Kalos, like many other countries, had been horrifically overwhelmed by Amara’s armies, but the true blow had been their failure to bring House Ofthalmós in line.  Instead, they lost an entire battalion to the demon that possessed that house, crippling their military.  And then to add insult to injury, instead of hrlping those who were struggling, House Ofthalmós focused on saving their own skins.  Any support they’d been offering until that point virtually dried up, and Unova had suffered immensely for it.  If it weren't for that, then…

Minoru’s ears caught the echoing sound of distant arguing as it bounced off the crumbling stone walls, and he followed it to his destination.  As he got closer, it became clearer that both voices were female.  He was relieved that neither were Raoul.  Arguing with him never went well, and especially not with the mood he was in right now.  But Helvi, the woman who’d played the role of Hikaze’s other, had probably tried to convince her older sister, Hestie, who had been playing the role of his aunt, to try and talk to Raoul about his decision to dispose of Hikaze.  It was a genuinely poor decision on multiple levels, but Raoul held too much power for them to try and offer their own ideas, and he was too self-absorbed to take suggestions from anyone else.  The only person he cozied up to was that man, and that was purely because he was their leader.  Raoul was a dangerous combination of power-hungry, narcissistic, and opportunistic with just enough stupidity to destroy any carefully crafted plan he touched but enough luck to be able to walk away unscathed every time.  Minoru genuinely hated working under him and had known as soon as he was told to relocate that the careful plan he’d been given to follow and had obeyed for over ten years would all come apart sooner rather than later.

“Come on, please just talk to him,” Helvi pleaded as Minoru turned the corner into the mess hall.  “If anyone can convince him, it’s you!  You’re his partner!  You two have worked together for years!  Surely he’ll at least consider it if it's from you!”

“But why would I?” Hestie shot back.  “He’s the one who makes the decisions around here.  It's not our job to question him!  Don’t tell me you’ve gotten soft now and started thinking he’s actually your son?”

“You’re not the one who had to raise him!  Why should I toss away eleven years of my life and what should have been an excellent plan to finally have a leg up on those damned Eyes of Arceus because that fool can’t be patient enough to put up with a child?!”

“Then you do it!  You tell him his plan is ridiculous.  See how far it gets you.  Besides, we can just try again when the next generation pops out their brats.”

“And do what?  Murder the whole family until we get one who’ll do what we want?  Then we’ll have the Kantonian Emperor breathing down our necks for taking his pawns!  And we can’t keep waiting decades at a time for a new opportunity.  You’ve seen the drive they’ve gotten since that royalbrat they call their Progenitor reborn was born- they’ll be back to being a world power in no time!  Already that’ve had more contact with the Isle of Ray than they have in the last several decades!  We won’t be able to do anything to nip it in the bud at this rate!”

“And you thought one child would change that?”

“Maybe not, but then at least his children could-”

“Face it, Helvie, Raoul is right.  It was a garbage plan from the start.  It's better to just scrap the whole thing.  Did you really want to dedicate another ten years to a kid that's not even yours?”

“It’s not about that!  What about the ten years I already put in?!”

Well, it wasn’t like Minoru didn’t understand that argument.  Here they’d been saddled with a mission neither of them cared for that had been a gamble to begin with and ultimately having to deal with it being torched because of their incompetent superior’s impatience and inability to deal with kids.

“Give it up, Hestie, we already managed to nab a few of them.  One of them even agreed to cooperate!  Why should we need to rely on some other house’s abilities when we can just use their own against them, and all it’ll take is one generation.  You said it yourself: they’re getting too powerful again too quickly- better to fight fire with fire.”  Helvie waved her off and folded her arms, making it clear she was done with the conversation.

“Helvie-!”

“Now now, Hestie, Helvie’s right.  What Raoul says goes, and we all knew this was a gamble from the beginning.  We don’t even know if he inherited the ability, and trying to raise him normal because of that was only going to make it that much harder to bring him around when the time came,” Minoru said, cutting in.  Hestie glared daggers at him.  She thought they’d been on the same side!  They’d just talked about this a couple hours ago too!  Helvie made a smug sound of satisfaction as she curled her lips in a smirk, satisfied that she’d gotten one over on her younger sister again, before walking away.  As soon as she was out of earshot though, Hestie turned her rage on her ‘husband’. 

“What the fuck was that?!” Hestie spat, trying hard not to raise her voice to keep it from echoing down the hall.

“Watch your mouth,” Minoru spat.  “Women shouldn’t cuss like that.”

“I’ll cuss however I damn well please!” Hestie hissed.  “You made me look like an idiot!  What happened to us being in agreement about trying again with Hikaze?  We both thought it was a viable plan, and now you’re making it sound like we never should have tried in the first place!”

“I had to get you to stop somehow.  Imagine if Helvie knew what we were thinking and told Raoul- then we’d all be on the chopping block.  I get why you wanted her on your side- you’re family-, but she’s too loyal to him.  She doesn’t see how insane he is.” 

Hestie scrunched up her face but recoiled.  She’d, admittedly, never held a particular amount of concern for the boy who was supposed to be her child, but the way Raoul had suddenly snapped and beaten him within an inch of his life over a child’s spat had made her freeze- too horrified to even act.  Yes, he was their pawn, but that level of brutality against a child?  One who was supposed to be such a rare and valuable tool no less?

“So what, we’re just going to steal him back out from under Raoul’s nose?  Then it’ll be like we’re the traitors who didn’t follow orders!  We’d be kicked out and chased down until we’re all dead- there’d be no point!”

“Relax, I already sent a Pidove to him explaining the situation.  I doubt Raoul’s had that level of forethought.  With any luck, we’ll be the ones getting lauded with praise while he gets demoted for ruining the plan.  If I get a return message telling us to call it off, then there’s not much we can do, but I doubt he’ll be keen to let something so rare get pawned off to someone else.  The royal brat’s attendant on the other hand will be an issue.”  They’d all seen the way the Ofthalmós man they’d just taken had stood his ground in front of Raoul to protect Hikaze.  While Minoru was grateful for the opportunity it afforded him, it also likely meant that the man wouldn’t let Hikaze be whisked away so easily.  “You can make more of those candies, right?”

“Here?” Hestie asked, incredulous.  “I can barely get a fire lit in this place, let alone keep a stove!”

“Well try to see if you can.  If not that, then something else the kid will readily eat.  He might not come with us willingly otherwise.”  Hikaze was stupid, but he'd likely seen that his parents wouldn’t stick up for him, so Minoru wouldn't be surprised if there was a lack of trust now.  But the boy was still a child.  Children could be easily swayed with kind words and treats, and that was precisely what he intended to do.  Ideally, he'd like to separate him from the Ofthalmós man, but given the man's treatment of him, neither were likely to make that easy, and he didn’t want to be making unnecessary enemies of anyone right now. 

“You know you’re asking a lot, right?  Making candy under that psycho’s nose?”

“If he causes you trouble, just show him this.”  Minory tossed her a small satchel.  When she opened it, dozens of folded paper triangles were inside. 

“… Am I supposed to add these?”

“Only to the final batch.  This is Plan A, after all.”

Hestie gave a breathy laugh and closed the satchel.

“Remind me again why you aren’t the one in charge?”

Anastasios stood stunned for a few moments before motioning his father in.  Niall was not a biological member of House Ofthalmós- that was Anastasios’ mother, Anathéa.  Niall had come from Western Unova, and had a pale complexion, red-brown chestnut hair, and almond-brown eyes set behind thin square frames.  Anastasios had always been very self-sufficient, and, after taking the seat of Patriarch’s Heir, he hadn’t spent nearly as much time hanging off his parents as most other kids did, but they were good people, and he certainly respected them. 

Niall took a seat on a loveseat facing the bed and motioned for Anastasios to join him.  The teen hesitated before joining him.

“Not gonna sleep?” his father asked.

“I need to be tired when I go to investigate.  I packed some medicine, but it’s better for the body to sleep naturally,” Anastasios explained.

“But it’s not healthy to try to operate on so little sleep, and you’ll need your wits about you to get this done without getting hurt.”

“I know.  I know my limits.  I should be fine after I get my sleep tomo- err- later.” 

Niall brought a hand up to pat his son’s head.

“Why put yourself through the effort?” Niall asked.  His voice sounded more inquisitive than accusatory, but Anastasios still felt offended nonetheless.  “I know you care for Théo, many of us do, but this is what the family's investigators are for,” he pointed out.  “And, since one of those very investigators is now missing too, they're not just going to pretend it's not happening.”

“It has to be me…  What if they find Alyá, but not the others and decide this is enough?  What if they dismantle this group but can't or won't track down the aníschyros who have been sold off?”

“Stasi…” his father said sympathetically.  “I think we all know the danger that would cause.  Regardless of how they feel about the non-Seers, you and I both know that they wouldn’t put children in danger like that.” 

Anastsios grimaced and looked down at his hands which had bunched into fists at his knees.  He also knew that he shouldn't think like that, but he couldn't help getting anxious over the worst-case scenario.  He didn't feel any better about it even when his father reached up to gently rub his back.

“And you've done a lot of work to change how the house perceives non-Seers in the family.  It's still far from a perfect world, but much of the younger generations are in agreement that the changes you've implemented have been good for everyone.  The old foggeys like your grandpa think so too, but are too stubborn to admit it,” Niall chuckled.  Anastasios couldn't hold back a small, amused smile at that.  “I think things would still turn out fine if you left it to someone else.”  Anastasios’ smile dropped again.

“I disagree.  We have a near perfect information resource that papous is refusing to utilize.  He doesn't want anyone going near it because “what if they come back”, but there are ways to do an investigation safely even if they do return.  We have established methods for that exact sort of thing.  Otherwise, we'd be severely limited in how much information we could actually gather.  Papous is being too confident thinking that everything can be solved now that someone who actually has a presence here has gone missing.  Théo’s bedroom cannot give us all the answers we need from this.”

“A fair point, but that still doesn't tell me why it has to be you,” his father pointed out.  “I’m sure you could convince one of the in-house investigators to go in your place.  I haven't heard anything about your grandfather banning that.”

Anastasios drew his lips together until they disappeared into his mouth in a flat frown.

“It just has to be me, okay?” he replied stiffly.  “I have to know.  I have to see it through.”

“Is there something you’re hiding?” Niall asked.  He didn’t intend to sound accusatory, but Anastasios still shrunk back.

“Not really… I just… I just have a bad feeling.  I don’t want ito be true, but if it is, I have to know…”

“Anastasios, did you have a vision?” Niall asked, his brows furrowing and mouth drawing into a tight grimace.

“No… I’m not powerful enough for that kind of future sight yet.  I’m still getting the same occasional visions of calamity that the house has been trying to mitigate to no success for years even when I do.  No, this is just… instinct I think.  There’s something that I need to know.  Not the house, but me.”  Anastasios flinched as his father’s hand came up to violently ruffle his golden hair.

“That sounds like a good enough reason to me,” the older man chuckled.

Anastasios made several noises of protest and then fussed to get his hair back in order when his father finally stopped.

“Now, your grandfather may make the rules for this house, but he can’t dictate every little thing we do, right?  He said you could go if you got a guard, right?”

“Yeah.  I couldn’t get anyone from the house to agree, but I have one in mind.  And Fotíalos and Skíri will also be coming with me.”

“And I can’t imagine the Lady would leave you be either,” Niall pointed out, which made Anastasios pout.

“No, probably not…” he grumbled, clearly not enthused at the prospect.

“Then I don’t see any problem with you heading out,” Niall said. 

“But papous has no intention of letting me go.  He may have agreed, but he’s made sure no one will accompany.  He definitely has no intention of letting me leave,” Anastasios explained.  Despite his planning and all his preparations, saying it out loud to his father only made him feel dejected.

Niall smiled.

“Well, your grandfather said you could, and it sounds to me like you’re taking proper precautions, so I, as your father, don’t see any problem with you going.”  Niall’s smile remained, but Anastasios, despite how sharp he usually was, didn’t immediately catch on.  Niall couldn’t help but let his smile grow as he patted his son’s head again.  “Your mother and I never get to do anything for you.  You’re always so self-sufficient and responsible, and while we’re both very proud of the man you’re trying to be, it’s not a bad thing to lean on us when you can.  Let your mom and I deal with your grandpa.  All you have to do is follow through on whatever you’ve got planned.  Just… please try not to get yourself killed.  Your mom and I would be beside ourselves.”  Niall quickly found his son latched around his waist in a hug.  Anastsios had never been a very physically affectionate child.  He’d heard about the awkward confrontation when he'd first met Lady Aria.  Niall had no doubt that his son was, in fact, Esaias reincarnate- the boy was too smart, too knowledgeable, too mature.  His had never been something he was good with, and Celia always chalked it up to his part life, so having his son hug him like this nearly brought the man to tears.  He gently rubbed his son’s back.

The Kords had always been Esaias’ real family- they took in this strange, invasive child their daughter brought home out of nowhere and treated him like their own.  But Esaias’ birth parents on the other hand had been total scum.  Anastasios couldn't help but count his blessings that his parents in this life were just as wonderful as the Kords.

“Eυχαριστώ, Μπαμπάς…”

“Well, you don’t give me many chances to be a dad, so I have to take what I can,” he chuckled.

Anastasios released him, his face filled with renewed determination.

“I’ll definitely bring Théo back,” Anastasios stated. 

“Are you going to go with that boy you've been out playing with recently?  The one you brought to meet Lady Aria?” Niall asked with a quirked smile.

“… No…” Anastasios said, his face dropping again.  “But… if I find him, I’m going to fix what I broke.”

“Oh?  You don't usually make that kind of mistake,” Niall said, getting curious about the boy now.

“Anyone can make dumb decisions,” Anastasios muttered.

“That’s a long way to go for a fix,” Niall pointed out.

Anastasios pouted, finally looking like a child for once.

“You should apologize properly when you screw up,” Anastasios huffed, crossing his arms and turning his head away.  He always tried to right any wrongs he made- it’d reflect poorly on the house otherwise or result in a bad relationship with his own family, making things hard for him when he’d become Patriarch.  But no, this was something he had to fix.  For himself.  To protect one of the few beautiful and pure things Esaias had managed to hold on to.

“It’ll be fine.  I know you’ll do great,” his father said with a smile and another ruffling of the hair.

“Of course,” Anastasios replied with confidence.  “I need to show papous not to underestimate me!”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less of my boy!  Alright,” Niall paused to give his son a peck on the forehead, “I'll leave you to your preparations.  Now, I have to go make some of my own.”  He stood up and headed to the door.

“Thanks, páppa.”

Anastasios stopped his frantic feet in front of a large cage made of old-world polycarbonate glass within which was a large, white, bipedal vulpine creature whose mane faded into purple tips- the very creature that’d attacked him when he’d gone to investigate the first of the noticed disappearances- his distant relative Calypso.  The Zoroark-like creature growled and snarled at him.  It made a brief effort to lash out through the glass, but all it managed were some shallow scratches.  No, this was by no means ideal, but this was his best shot.  This Pokemon was the only thing he knew that could bypass his family’s abilities.

“If you can be bothered to behave, I have a proposal for you.”  It was a gamble on whether or not this creature even understood human speech, but if it did… 

The unusual Zoroark continued to utter low growls in his direction, but didn’t lash out again.  There may be hope in this plan yet.

“If you help me with a few tasks, I’ll let you go free,” Anastasios stated.  The Zoroark’s eyes seemed to glint at the mention of freedom, the growling ceasing.  “I need to go into town- same one I caught you in, different part, but I need to go without alerting the rest of my family.  Best way to do that is my friend’s Espurr, but they won’t let me anywhere near her right now.  I need you to sneak in and get her for me.  After, we’ll head to town, I’ll do some investigating, and once I’m done, you’ll be free to go.  This, however, is contingent on two things: one) you help protect me during the investigation, and two) you are not to harm or turn your fangs on any member of my family ever again.”

The Zoroark spat in anger.  Clearly it knew he was asking a lot of it, but, in Anastasios’ opinion, its freedom was a plenty fair price to pay.  The alternative would have been being sealed here until it submitted to the house- never to be released. 

“Your choice,” Anastasios stated, tapping the tip on a nail against the Pokeball attached to the cage.  It was a no-brainer.  If given the offer, he would have taken it too.  After several moments of silence, the fox nodded.  A grin worked its way across Anastasios’ face, although it looked more menacing than celebratory.  “Excellent.  There’s no time to waste.”  He activated the Pokeball and transported the Zoroark out of the cage and into his palm.

Anastasios rushed to the other end of the house.  Soon, someone would come by and notice the fox was missing, and it would undoubtedly be linked to Anastasios.  This wasn’t a time when he could afford to cover his tracks though- he had to have Skíri and be at the teleportation point within the hour.  It’d be one thing if he could just take a direct route, but that risked him getting stopped by members of the family.  He was going to have to take every roundabout path he knew, even the hidden ones.  The house was full f secret little corridors hidden behind shelves and under beds.  They’d been put there loooong ago in case someone had ever tried to invade the house and Celia’s protection wasn’t an option.  Everyone in the house knew about them, but they couldn’t possibly search them for him so quickly.  Once they were in a quiet part of the house near the Nursery, Anastasios reached for the new Pokéball in his bag, making sure to feel for the apricot’s deformities to tell it apart from Itsu’s, and released his new partner in crime.

“Don’t move, or its back in the cage,” Anastasios said, half bluffing.  The fox growled but obeyed.  “Can you sneak both of us in?”

The fox let out a bark that made its displeasure clear.  Evidently, it could not.

“Shhhh,” Anastasios spat.  “I get it, you can’t hide me, just be quiet or we’re both fucked.  Can you hide an Espurr?”  Anastasios made a motion with his hands to give him an idea of her size.  The fox snorted but didn’t give any sign that he couldn’t.  “I need you to sneak in there and grab a small Espurr by the name of Skíri.  She’s going to help us escape.  And it has to be her because her master is who I’m looking for.  She’ll definitely help us.  This belongs to her master,” Anastasios said, bringing out a shirt from Théo’s laundry that he’d discreetly snatched from his room earlier.  The fox scoffed, but then took a long sniff of the cloth and made his way down the hall towards a direction Anastasios pointed him in, vanishing from Sight a few feet down.  It was pretty impressive to be able to make an illusion that could fool even Ofthalmós eyes.  Anastasios kind of wanted to keep that ability within the house so it couldn’t be used against them again, but they’d both already promised to stay out of each other’s way so long as they weren’t provoked.

As time passed, Anastasios grew more anxious.  At the 15 minute mark, he thought something was wrong and was about to go himself when the sound of scrambling claws reached his ears.  That idiot!  He ran up to the source of the sound, furious.

“Are you trying to get us caught?!?!” Anastasios hissed, teeth clenched to the point one might think they’d crack.  The Zoroark in front of him dropped the illusion, reminding the teen that the fox still towered over him.  Anastasios tried not to think about how this was a monster,not a human, and that he looked almost twice as big as he had before.  On his shoulder was Skíri who quickly hopped into Anastasios’ arms and made herself comfy against his chest, her usually timid demeanor overtaken with the same rushed anxiety Anastasios had.  “Whatever, let’s just hurry up.  We have even less time n-  What’s that?”  Anastasios caught a glimpse of a flat wooden box in the fox’s claws.  The Zoroark growled and brought it to his front.  It wasn’t a box but a frame.  The wooden slays held within an elaborate portrait of a great benefactor of House Ofthalmós and the only royalty with whom the house was an open ally.

“You can't have that,” Anastasios said with a glower.  He didn't know what this creature wanted with Lady Aria, but he wasn’t about to let it anywhere near her.  The fox barked angrily, clearly not happy with that answer.  “That woman is one of our patrons.  Under no circumstances are you permitted anywhere near her.”

Then the fox began to speak, in a broken, raspy voice, like he knew how but simply had always chosen not to.

“New contract…”

“What part of ‘no’ do you not understand?!”

“New contract or I go back.”  That made Anastasios pause.  Lady Aria was important enough to him that he’d willingly go back in the cage?  But, likewise, Lady Aria was equally as important to Anastasios.  Despite his insistence, he wasn’t able to shake Esaias’ memories of Aria’s time as Balia, his dearly beloved sister.  He absolutely wouldn’t allow a beast such as this anywhere near her.  It didn’t matter that she had powerful guards and was, herself, a god, he wasn’t about to let this creature even try.  Still, he couldn't just let this thing rampage around the house, especially since Anastasios still needed him as a guard.  The sound of clamoring footsteps from the Nursery caught Anastasios’ attention.

“We can negotiate as we move.  If we stay here, there won’t be anything to negotiate.  Leave the portrait.  We can’t take care of it where we’re going.”  The fox balked but followed after Anastasios as he took off down the hall.  His goal was the teleportation point.  They could teleport without it, but getting back home would be almost impossible unless they used it to leave.  Anastasios ducked into a bedroom at the end of a small hallway and pulled aside the rug to reveal a trapdoor.  “This way.  We can talk more leisurely here.”  Anastasios kept a hand along the cold stone walls as the descended down, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness.  The way was lit by sparse lamps encouraged on my technology long lost as they ambled past, going out as soon as the two were out of range. 

“Contract,” the fox insisted.

“Alright, alright, geez.  What do you want?”

“Who is she?”

“Princess Aria of Ray Isle,” Anastasios answered.  “She’s one if the house’s benefactors.”

“New contract.  Want to meet.”

“Absolutely not!” Anastasios yelled, stopping and turning to face the fox.  “You can’t expect me to let someone who tried to slice me to ribbons meet with someone that important!”

“Then try slicing into finer ribbons,” the fox growled.

“Try me, see if you ever even make it back into a cage after having murdered the Young Patriarch,” Anastasios growled back.  He could almost feel Celia sigh in his shadow, appalled that he could even fathom she’d permit such violence towards him.  The fox snarled and shook his head in frustration.

“WANT TO MEET!” he demanded again.

“Not fucking happening!  What about this is so much more important than your own damn freedom?!  What satisfaction could you possibly get from hurting her that you wouldn’t get from being allowed to roam free again?”

“WON’T HURT!  NEVER HURT!  WANNA SEE!  WANNA SEE!!!”  It was less the sheer volume of the roar that reverberated violently off the solid stone walls and more the tone that shook Anastasios.  The fox’s cries were almost heart-wrenchingly sad as the roars devolved into sobs.

“Just let him meet Balia,” Celia sighed, pulling herself halfway out of his shadow.  “I mean, come on, what’s the worst that can happen?  He tries to attack her, Gorbash skewers him, you never have to deal with him again or worry about his ability messing with the house again.  Let someone else take out the trash for you sometimes.  Balia doesn’t need such a feeble human trying to look out for her, although I’m sure she appreciates the sentiment.”

“Celia,” Anastasios hissed.  “Ugh!  Fine!  Fine!  You can meet Lady Aria!  But you have to follow my rules about it!  We can discuss those later though.  For now, we’re running late.  If we don’t hurry, getting out of here will be a pain.”  It was partially the tone- Anastasios couldn’t See any malicious intent, and the fox did seem genuinely upset, but the big reason he acquiesced was because they just didn’t have the time to argue.  Not making it to the teleportation point would severely set back not only his plans but also his safety measures.

“Just say the word, and I’ll gladly clear the way~” Celia offered.

“Back to the shadows with you, gremlin,” Anastasios spat, nudging her harshly with his foot.  “Now hurry.”

“Rules?”

“Do you wanna get out of here or not?  ‘Cause if we don’t, no one’s gonna be meeting anyone.”

The Zoroark immediately snapped his mouth shut.

“Great, now move.” 

Anastasios navigated them down the maze of corridors, eager to reach their destination.  They’d already wasted far too much time.  There was no telling if the teleportation room was actually a viable option at this stage.  After a series of complicated turns down half-obscured hallways that were really more like crevices, Anastasios finally pulled them out of a sliding wall in the middle of a deserted hallway.  A part of him was relieved to see that no one was there, but another part was also anxious because there was no way it was this easy.  Anastasios put a finger to his lips to ensure the fox knew to stay silent and ushered them into the hallway.  After a few more turns, they reached the door without any conflict.  Again, Anastasios should have been relieved, but he was anything but.  He pricked his ears but heard only eerie silence.  Mustering his courage, he flung open the door to find… his grandfather alongside several of the more martially talented members of the house.

“And where do you think you’re going, young man?” Heron asked.

Anastasios eyed the teleportation point.  They were so close, but it was meaningless if they weren’t standing on the platform.

“What are you talking about, Papous, you’re the one who gave me permission.  I found someone willing to accompany me, albeit for a price.  You never said anything about them having to be loyal to the house, and he is one of ours now,” Anastasios replied, holding up the misshapen apricot ball.  Heron glowered at his grandson.

“You know full well what I meant.  This is not it.  You know I can’t permit you to leave under these conditions.”

“Skíri, get ready…” Anastasios mumbled.

“Everyone, seize Anastasios.  Confine him to his room until this can be sorted.  And don’t think I’ll just let you use Skíri.”  Heron held up another, slightly less-misshapen apricot ball.  It was Skíri’s.  They’d grabbed the Espurr but didn’t have her ball, and all that time spend dawdling had made it that much easier for someone to bring his grandfather the ball even faster.

“Shit!  Skíri, now!”

“No!”

Before Heron could activate the Pokéball, Skíri’s cry rang through the room.  Anastasios could just barely make out the frustration and bewilderment on his grandfather’s face before they snapped away.

“… Lord Patriarch, how should we proceed?”

“Send someone to that town immediately.  There has to be another Psychic-type with that destination saved.  We absolutely can’t let Stasi get captured by these people…  Foolish grandson of mine…  How are you going to get back like this even if you can rescue him?”

◊

Théo held a rag of half-melted ice to Hikaze’s face, opting to deal with the swelling first.  The boy did need treatment, but right now the most important thing was to make him look marketable so that Raoul wouldn't kill him off.  Beside him, close to the bard of their cell, was an assortment of haphazard supplies: a wooden bowl that had once been filled with ice, a pile of rags that barely counted as clean, a few shades of foundation and concealer whose true shades were almost impossible to make out in the gloom and were clearly well past their recommended use date, and another small bowl filled with a pungent alcohol- probably a crude moonshine.   The man called ‘Minoru’ had brought Théo the supplies, and Théo wished he had the family eyes to see if the man could have been turned in their favor.  He had clearly been against murdering Hikaze, but Théo couldn’t tell if it was some twisted familial affection for the boy or something else.

“The young master would have known,” he sighed.  A groan and the feeling of Hikaze’s head shifting in his lap got Théo’s attention.  “Hikaze, are you awake?”  The boy had passed out sometime between hitting his head on the ground and being put in the cell with Théo.  The man just hoped he didn't have brain damage. 

Hikaze rolled over in his lap and looked up at him.

“Mmmm… ‘sup?”

Théo sighed in relief.

“Thank Arceus…  I was a bit worried after your head hit the ground like that.”

“Nah, I got a thick skull.  Besides, I’m sure Anastasios would probably just say I can't possibly get any dumber and not to worry,” Hikaze replied, voice cracking. He was obviously trying to put as much energy into his response as his usual self, but his voice was weak, and his face betrayed how much pain he was in.  Clearly he wasn’t well, but he could potentially be fine if he could crack jokes like that.

“That does indeed sound like our young master,” Théo chuckled.  If he had a concussion, it was minor.  At least, Théo hoped… but in the gloom of that cell, Théo wouldn’t be able to see the more obvious symptoms even if he tried.  “Now that you’re up, I’ll have you hold this.”  Théo guided his hand up to the sopping rag whose contents were already leaking down the boy’s face.  “I’m going to start working on getting you cleaned up.  While I get you ‘prepared’, how about you tell me about the young master I don’t know.  What was the progenitor like?”  Théo kept Hikaze on his side, head in the man’s lap so that Hikaze could more easily hold the dying cold compress while Théo worked with the poor excuse for disinfectant and the crumbling concealer he’d been provided.

“…Ugh…” Hikaze groaned.  “Where to even begin with that asshole…  He was a walking contradiction: a brave coward, a charismatic crybaby, a secretive sneasel who wore his heart on his sleeve, a man who swore he only knew how to look out for himself that couldn’t help but mother hen you to death, jaded and naïve, confident but insecure, and so sure that he wasn’t a good person but ultimately one of the biggest bleeding hearts I’ve ever met.”  His speech was slow and weak, but he seemed almost eager to talk, which was a good sign to Théo.  He continued to listen as Hikaze went on about Esaias like he’d seen the long dead man only yesterday while ignoring the niggling concerns in the back of his mind.  Concerns that, were even one true, would likely mean Hikaze’s ultimate fate if Anastatios didn’t find them soon was anything but kind.

“Sounds like you were close,” Théo said, wiping up some of the water dripping down his face to use to dampen a cleaning cloth.

“Need me to sit up?” Hikaze asked. 

“No, you stay laying down for a bit,” Théo confirmed.  “I’ll treat what I can like this.  You’re not in good shape.  Rest a bit more but don’t fall back asleep.”

“… Got it.”  It went without saying between them that, if Hikaze went back to sleep, he might not wake up, and that idea scared the boy.  He’d died before, sure, but that didn’t mean he would accept his new life being cut short.  “This must’ve been how he felt…” Hikaze muttered.

“Hm?”

“Nothing…”  Going through this kind of stuff multiple times, Hikaze could understand now why Esaias had been the way he was.  And he’d had to do it all alone. Granted, he’d been rescued by Balia twice, and the third time he’d dealt with it himself, but Arceus only knew how much time he’d spent locked up by himself each time it happened.  Hikaze at least had Théo here.  Without him, he might be-  “Right, thanks for saving my ass.  I’d probably be dead in a ditch if you hadn’t stuck your neck out back there.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” Théo pointed out.  “If the young master doesn’t find us before we’re sold, then you won’t make it very long.”  He didn’t want to be so blunt with a child, but he didn’t want to give him false hope either.  Not to mention, Hikaze could probably tell if he tried to sweeten reality for him.  Théo brought a clean cloth among the supplies nearby to dab in a wooden bowl of alcohol before bringing it up to treat the cuts on Hikaze’s face. 

“Ow!  Fuck!”

“Just remember that pain means you’re alive.  That’s what’s important.”

“Esaias said the same stuff.  He said that, as long as he was alive, that meant he had a chance.  That was how he got through everything.”

“It's part of our compulsory education, actually,” Théo said with a wry laugh. 

“Kidnapping 101: The Basics For How to Survive Being Abducted,” Hikaze said with a snort.  His amusement only earned him a bout of pain though as his wounded ribs and stomach howled at him for the usage of his abdominals, forcing him to curl up.  “いいいたたたたたたた… uggghhhh laughing was not a good idea…  I think that kicking broke my ribs…”

“Sorry, I wish I could do more to help treat you, but they really only have me the bare minimum to work with…  When the young master comes though, he’ll make sure you get the best treatment the house can afford, I’m sure.”

“He’d better.  This is all his fault,” Hikaze spat.

“Yes, and you can argue with him allllllll about it when we’re safe,” Théo said, wiping away the clotted blood stuck to his face.

“What was Stasi like as a kid?  Just as obnoxious as he is now?”

“Hmmm… well, he’s certainly always been precocious,” Théo confirmed with a wry smile.  “Was the progenitor the same way?”  Théo wanted to limit the time he spent talking and keep Hikaze responsive, so he tried to keep the conversation going back and forth.

“Kind of… Esaias was similar, but he was more… I ‘unno...  muted? about it?  He could definitely come off like he knew everything, but he could also be weirdly humble about it.  Stasi just talks down to you until your ears bleed…”

“Indeed, humble is most certainly not something our young master is, although, given the work he does, humility would likely only be a weakness, and he can’t afford to seem like he might bend, even to a King.”

“As if that man was ever the type to bend,” Hikaze sighed.  Esaias knew when to make allowances, but ‘bending’ wasn’t his forte, much less ‘breaking’.  Maybe Anastasios had learned how to do otherwise, to give up what could be allowed, but Esaias rarely, if ever, did so.

“Tell me about how you and the progenitor met,” Théo insisted, trying to keep some conversation flowing in the hopes that Hikaze would get chatty.  He didn’t want to get him worked up (and then worn out), but he needed him talking, at least for a bit.  They were both going to have to sleep, there was no avoiding that, but he wanted to be more sure of Hikaze’s physical state before he tried letting either of them get their much-needed rest.

“Can’t you just call him by his name?  All this ‘progenitor’ stuff is super weird.  Man went to the trouble of picking out his own name, might as well use it.” 

Théo chuckled a bit as he finished cleaning one side of Hikaze’s face before prompting him to turn over.  Once the boy complied, he grabbed another strip of cloth to begin work on the other side, conspicuously abandoning the first piece of now darkened cloth outside the cell, just out if Hikaze’s view.

“Indeed.  Then tell me, how did you and Esaias meet?”

“Well, we didn’t get along at all, but that was mostly my fault…”  Hikaze went on, slowly describing their introduction, how he hadn’t exactly been the most agreeable partner, but Esaias had been almost saintly about it out of consideration for Kazuya’s future, not that he’d appreciated it at all. 

“How did you end up getting along?” Théo asked as he moved on to clean the first of Hikaze’s arms. 

“I will say it wasn’t entirely my fault.  The few times Kazuya tried to get along with Esaias, it was like there was this wall.  It was super frustrating, and the only times he opened up were when our manager got after us because our fans were fighting because we didn’t get along.  It eventually just came to a head one day.  Kazuya got sick of it.  He was jealous, frustrated, and annoyed with how Esaias was outshining him without even trying.”  Hikaze winced as Théo scrubbed off a stubborn section of blood caked over a bruise on his elbow.  “I uhh… may or may not have picked a fight,” Hikaze said trying to suppress a chuckle and failing.  Both he and Théo paused while he grappled with another bout of abdominal but, he did still seem eager to continue.  “That was the first time we actually fought and the first time Kazuya saw the mask slip completely.  Anastasios goes easy on me when we fight, but Esaias always went right for the vitals, so our tussles never lasted long.”

“Did he win that time too?”

“Laid Kazuya out and shoved his heel in his solar plexus to keep him down,” Hikaze replied with a wry chuckle.  Another pause for another bout of pain.  “Uggghhhh, not laughing is harrrrrdddd.”

“If your ribs are indeed broken, its going to be that way for a while,” Théo admitted.  “Hopefully the Young Master will be able to give you a full diagnostic when he comes.”  He prompted the boy to turn back over to work on his other arm.

“You sure have a lot of faith in him,” Hikaze pointed out.  It wasn’t that Hikaze didn’t, but he simply didn’t expect Anastasios to try to look for him.  Not only had Anastasios cut ties with him, but he also had no idea that the other boy was even missing.  Would he See something in Hikaze’s house that told him otherwise?  Would he even look?

“Of course- he’s our progenitor reborn and a source of great hope for the lower caste members of the house like myself,” Théo replied.  “He’s helped myself and the others countless times and helped to place many of us in more meaningful and fulfilling positions in the house.  I have no doubt that he’ll come for us.  It’s up to us to survive until then.”

“… Does he know you put him on a pedestal like that?” Hikaze asked, not particularly enjoying the idea.

“He does, and I think he does his best to live up to our expectations of him.  There, arms done.  I'm going to need you to sit up so I can do your legs.”  Hikaze obliged, prepping himself up against the closest wall and putting more effort into holding the leaking ice pack to his face.  It was significantly harder to keep the swath of cloth and melting ice intact when upright, although he preferred how the leaking water dripped down his hand instead of into his eyes.

“Sounds stifling,” Hikaze said. 

“Well, I can’t argue with that,” Théo admitted.  “The Young Master takes our expectations of him in stride, but I think many of us, or at least myself, wish he would take just a little time to be a child while he has the chance.  Although its because he doesn't that we believe Lady Celia about him being the Progenitor- sorry, Esaias, reincarnated even when the boy himself denies it.  When did you first realize you were reincarnated?”

“I ‘unno…” Hikaze said, feeling a bit groggy again.  “Kinda just… always knew?  Somewhere in the back?”  He tilted his head as he thought back, trying to pull from his own memories.  Before I knew it, I just knew certain stuff.  By the time I was aware that something was off, I was like 5 or 6, and that’s when I realized that Esaias wasn’t there.  Like, I used to go looking for him sometimes, but then I’d wonder who it was I was looking for and stop.  Brain didn't quite figure it out until then.”  Hikaze flinched as Théo’s hand accidentally pressed into a bruise, and the man recoiled a bit when he realized, quickly apologizing.  In the gloom of their cell, it was hard to tell where some if the bruises were.  Hikaze wuickly waved it off and went on talking, but Théo couldn’t help but hink about how, once the makeup covered them, it’d be impossible to tell what he’d missed, and, if he was honest, Théo wasn’t even sure he’d be able to do well.  If he did a poor job, that would mean Hikaze's death, but he didn’t have any tools to blend the pigment against Hikaze's skin nor could he even be sure the tone would match out in the light.  His plan had been to brush it in with one if the pieces of cloth they'd been allowed, but it was a far cry from professional work.  Hopefully the man called ‘Raoul’ wouldn’t be able to tell if the work was a little sub-par.  Théo finished cleaning Hikaze’ legs and disposed of two more rags, cautiously eyeing the dwindling pile before grabbing the last of three.  He’d have to make this one last because he’d need the last two to dress some of the wounds that the makeup couldn’t conceal.

“Alright, the cleaning is done,” Théo said, bringing the makeup over to his side and trying his best to put on a jovial face for the boy in front of him.  “Ready for your royal makeover?” 

Hikaze snorted in amusement, clearly trying to hold in a fit of laughter, but that backfired.

“いたたたたたた…  Okay, okay, better out than in…” Hikaze wheezed weakly.

“Sorry,” Théo apologized.  “I should have anticipated that.”

“Nah, I appreciate the effort.  Gotta find something to laugh at in a situation like this.”

“Even though laughing is the last thing you should be doing right now?” Théo asked with a raised eyebrow and a hint of a smile that he just couldn’t kick.

“Especially because I shouldn’t be laughing right now,” Hikaze replied.  His face was clearly trying for a cocky grin but fell short.  He was too weak for it.

“… The Young Master will come.  I promise.”

“Yeah, but he’s coming for you,” Hikaze pointed out.  “Don’t got much control over my situation once we get split up.”

Théo wanted to say any number of things.  ‘I won’t let that happen.’  ‘He’ll come before that.’  ‘He won’t stop looking if he knows.’  All manner and means of promises and platitudes but nothing that would appease the anxiety he was no doubt feeling.

For the remainder of the evening, Anastasios rushed through the house with anxious energy as he went about completing his duties, ensuring what would need to be completed tomorrow was done and seeking out a potential escort along the way.  As expected, all the combat-trained members of the house he’d wanted to accompany him had already received orders from his grandfather, and every single one turned him down, either citing other assignments or with dejected hesitation.  All of it only served to make Anastasios more frustrated, a fact that did not go unnoticed by the people around him.  By the time he asked the final member of the family he’d been considering, the much larger man was almost all too happy to get away.

“Geez, kiddo, calm down,” a middle-aged woman cackled, patting the cranky teen on the head.  Rumor’s already all over the house about your being in a nasty mood.  Anastasios rigidly turned his neck to look up at the offender.  The woman in question was an aníschyros and one of the small handful of individuals in the family who was able to let themselves be this casual with the Young Patriarch- a distant cousin (albeit not as distant as Théo), Evridiki.

“I will if you give me any reason to be in a good one,” Anastasios ground out, swatting her hand away. 

“He’s only lookin’ out for you,” she reminded him.

“I don’t need him to,” Anastasios hissed.

"Well, he’s also looking out for the house,” Evridiki added.  “He can’t have his heir going and getting himself offed, now can he?  Especially when you already do half the work.”  Anastasios crossed his arms over his chest and huffed, not willing to admit defeat even though her argument was valid.  In Anastasios’ eyes, this had to be done his way, and he wouldn’t accept any arguments that may say the contrary.  “Well I know you can’t be stopped, but you’re at least bringing some protection, right?”  That question only deepened the teenager’s scowl.  “He’s not making it easy on you, is he?” she chuckled.

“He’s being an overbearing bastard is what he’s being,” Anastasios muttered.  But he was working on an alternative, not that he’d tell that to anyone else.  He didn’t want anyone to think he might actually have an option and then leak it to his grandfather, so him maintaining the façade of a sour mood definitely was to his benefit… although he was genuinely in a really awful mood which helped.

“Well, you also wouldn’t have our respect if you were the type to just roll over though.  I bet you’re furiously wracking that brain of yours for escape plans,” Evridiki cackled.  Anastasios shot her a grumpy glare, which told her that she was right on the money.  She returned his expression with a smug smile.  The aníschyros made up some 5% of House Ofthalmós, and when the House itself had a population in the hundreds, that meant the house had more than three dozen at any given time plus those with lesser abilities.  They had all seen his attempts to change the culture in the house himself and how stubborn he could be when people needed his help, and while they knew that he wouldn’t be able to be as hands-on forever, as being Patriarch required delegating by nature, they knew that Anastasios wouldn’t simply avert his eyes the second he made a new rule.  They knew full well he wasn’t the type to roll over and say ‘out of sight, out of mind’ whenever there was any kind of problem.  “Well, I can't go with you.  Any of us who try will just be in the way, but is there anything we can do to help you along, young master?”  She made sure to tack on Théo’s usual title for him just to see him scowl a little more.

“Yeah, keep your mouth shut,” Anastasios replied.  “I’m getting Théo back no matter what.”  He knew she’d at least be willing to do that.  Although she’d offered assistance, there really wasn’t much she would actually provide him, and, were his grandfather to ask, he knew she would leak anything he told her about his plans.  The majority of the house was favorable towards Théo though, as a result of him being Anastasios’much more easy-to-deal-with attendant, and Evridiki knew what kind of person Anastasios was when it came to taking action, so she probably also favored the idea of Anastasios doing this himself.

“You’re really covering your bases, aren’t you, kiddo?”

“…There’s something I need to verify for myself.  I can’t leave this to anyone else.  It’s too important.”  Because, in addition to Théo being gone, there had been signs of someone else in that cellar, and certain things were in Hikaze’s room that he should have taken with him.  His brain already knew the answer, but his heart refused to believe it.  He needed to set this straight.  As much for himself as for Hikaze.

“Well, whatever you do, its meaningless if you get caught along with him.  No one here, least of all Théo, wants that, so just be careful.”

“Precautions are being taken,” Anastasios assured her, slowly beginning to feel the knot of rage in his stomach settle down.  No matter how frustrated he was, he couldn’t allow that to interfere with his decision-making.  More than just his own life depended on it.  “If you want to help, you can make sure no one comes near the confinement wing for a bit tomorrow morning.  I have business there.”

“Our young master comes up with the best ideas,” Evridiki cackled.

“Please stop calling me that,” Anastasios scolded.  He already didn’t like it when Théo did it, so he doubly hated it now that she was mimicking him.

“I’ll see what I can do but be quick.”

“That’ll depend on him “

◊

“…I still think you’re disposing of him too soon,” Minoru stated.  “Don’t you remember how hard it was for us to get our hands on that bloodline in the first place?  He’s still impressionable.  We can still mold him to suit our cause.”  Although that chance was looking slim now that Raoul had nearly killed the boy, but Minoru was still pretty certain that, as long as Raoul didn’t stay involved, he could still make Hikaze listen as his “father”.

Raoul scoffed and Hestie, the woman who’d played the role of Hikaze’s aunt until now, rolled her eyes.  Minoru wasn’t very high ranking, but he failed to see how people like this had risen so high in the organization, so much so that they could even be entrusted with that.

“There’s more than one way to skin a Meowth, kiddo,” Hestie scolded.  “We can always try again in a few years too, when the current heir takes over and starts popping out kids.”

“And what?  Kill him too?  Cut off all possible future attempts to use this method to subjugate those high and mighty assholes?” Minoru asked.  Nabbing Hikaze had been no minor feat and had resulted in both parents needing to be silenced.  Although now Minoru doubted how necessary that had been.  He hadn’t been part of that op, so he couldn’t’ say for sure how it had gone., but he wouldn’t have put it past the man in front of him to kill them regardless of the situation.  That ruthlessness was no doubt what had made him get his current rank.

“So fucking what?” Raoul spat.  “You don’t make that call.  I do.  And I say he’s a useless brat who wasn’t worth the effort.  We can’t even tell if he has the ability since we can't test it out.”