are you ever a prince's second-in-command and you've watched him be a self-sacrificing prick your whole life and you're on the way to literally go face death when the prince's servant/bestie yeets himself infront of a smoke skeleton to save the prince which puts him into a semi-coma, and then rather than coming to the logical conclusion of making a knight take the bestie back to the castle, the prince literally announces that the whole team is abandoning the mission and going back, and when you try to explain to him that the lives of a whole fucking kingdom hinges on the mission he basically retorts "but his life is important to me". and then, and then, hours later the prince says to you that he should've saved his servant and be the one in a semi-coma instead which, ok, could be attributed to general survivor's guilt but then a few days later you find out that the original plan was for the prince to willingly sacrifice himself to save the kingdom and so he basically admitted to you that he would have rather died for his best friend than for the kingdom. (or, well, seeing as how the prince knew he was going to die anyway, maybe he wanted to be the one in a semi-coma so he could be given as a possible half-dead human sacrifice if he managed to stay alive for the trip, which was a dangerous risk so the point still stands). this is the point where you realise that your prince is not only a self-sacrificing prick but also a prick who doesn't realise he has codependency issues which may or may not endanger the kingdom; the level between "may" and "may not" entirely dependent on how close his best friend was to death at any given point. it is also at this point you realise that your job as the official royal bodyguard actually includes not only the prince but also his manservant, and that you should ask for a raise because you're not paid nearly enough to deal with this shit
Uh oh, surely this won’t lead to anything bad will it? Don’t like the ending but I hope guys like it regardless :)
Warnings for kidnapping
~~~~~
Leon stood on the balcony of the inn, watching the townsfolk go about their days. Some were rushing from one destination to another while others were simply chatting and resting at the fountain. It was fun seeing what type of lives people lived, and how different they were to his own. It was his favorite part of guarding the entrance to the castle before he was knighted; people-watching entertained him to no end despite having to stand in front of the gates for hours. He found himself doing the same thing here on the balcony, watching the unique faces and clothing style of each person, noting how each one walked differently. The people entertained him so much that he didn’t notice Linebeck joining him in the balcony, his arms crossed as he leaned against the banister.
“Hey mister go-go-go, what are you doing out here?” He asked, a teasing smile on his lips.
“I just figured we take it easy today,” he muttered, not taking his eyes off of the townsfolk. The men had gone to sleep late, so Leon figured taking it easy would be nice. Besides, it seemed that the puppeteer had lost their trail. They were in no rush.
“So, we’re just gonna sit here?”
“For the day at least. Tomorrow we will move out again and hopefully find a clue to where our Links are.”
Linebeck chuckled. “Not surprised. Ok, I’ll let the others know.”
The sailor left the room, leaving him alone, and Leon went back to watching the townsfolk. His eyes landed on one person, an old woman simply fluffing up her flowers in front of her shop, adding and removing things to make them look prettier. She wore a headscarf with a red dress, and she was clearly too old to be manning a shop by herself with the way she was hunched over and walking slowly. But he could see the passion behind her flowers as she excitedly fixed each bouquet and sat to wait for customers. It was cute to see, though Leon always had a soft spot for sweet old ladies. He watched her for a long moment as she sat in her rocking chair, her expression content as people bought her flowers. But after a moment, her face grew worried as she watched the people rush past her shop, and soon Leon noticed the sudden panic in the crowd. The townsfolk were all running in the same direction, some screaming while others were ramming into different buildings. Leon gasped as one man ran into the old lady, knocking her to the ground and leaving her there. Without thinking, he jumped off the balcony and caught onto a tree, landing on the ground with ease as he sprinted towards the woman. She was struggling to stand up in the chaos, tears beginning to stream down her face, but Leon was soon at her side, helping her stand on her feet.
“I got you,” he said calmly, hugging her close to him as he helped guide her away from her shop.
“My flowers,” she wailed, weakly pointing to the flower pots being knocked over. Leon stared at them, but moved the old woman closer to inside the shop where she wouldn’t be trampled.
“We’ll have to worry about them later,” he said, but before he could move her into the shop, a voice stopped them.
“Grandma!”
Leon turned back to see a young woman sprinting towards them, her horrified look melting in relief as she watched the old woman.
“Oh thank the goddesses you’re ok!” She cried, giving her grandmother a hug. The old woman hugged back weakly, staring up at her granddaughter in confusion.
“What’s going on?”
“There’s a monster in the middle of town! I-it’s some giant bird or something! We have to get away!”
Leon listened intently, looking in the direction where people were running from. He nudged the two women away and gave them a nod.
“I’ll take care of it, you two get somewhere safe,” he commanded, and the two women nodded, the younger one holding her grandmother close.
“Thank you, young man,” the old woman said, bowing her head before letting herself be guided away from the danger. Leon then turned in the opposite direction and ran towards where the monster was attacking the town. The crowd was thinning as Leon got closer to the threat, and as he ran, he realized that he should’ve gone back to grab his sword. Fortunately for him, he always kept a knife on him, and there were plenty of cowards that called themselves guards hiding away with their swords hugged to their chests. He ran up to one and ripped the weapon out of the man’s hands, ignoring his surprised cry. A crash was heard near them, causing the soldier to scream. Leon simply turned to him and gestured to where the rest of the townsfolk ran.
“Go and hide with them, you coward,” he ordered, and the soldier scrambled to his feet and ran, leaving Leon alone in the town square. He faced the sounds of the crash, spotting colorful feathers and a yellow beak biting the broken wood. Leon picked up a rock and threw it as hard as he could towards the creature, trying to draw its attention towards him, which worked.
It was a huge bird-like creature, with purple, pink, yellow, and green feathers that looked mesmerizing as it moved. It had some sort of mask resting on its yellow beak, and it watched Leon with a threatening look. Yellow eyes glowed with hatred from the mask, and the bird wasted no time charging Leon. He dodged out of the way before it could trample him, and he sliced at the green and yellow tail feathers. The bird didn’t notice and whipped its head around to peck him, and Leon yelped as its beak rammed right into the cobblestone next to him. He fell back, but the bird’s beak was now stuck, which was the perfect time to strike. Right before it could pull itself out of the ground, Leon swung the sword down onto the mask, cracking it into several pieces, though it didn’t break apart yet. The bird shrieked and jumped back, facing Leon with death in its eyes. Now it was angry.
Leon simply dodged another attack, slicing at its talons and cutting tail feathers off. It once again tried to peck at him, foolishly missing as Leon rolled away and getting stuck. Goddesses, it was stupid. Acting purely on instinct and nothing more. Leon swung his sword a few times against the mask, finally breaking it off its face and revealing the soft, feathery head. It shrieked again, but it spun around, whipping Leon with its tail feathers. He went flying and landed on the cobblestone with a painful thud as the bird monster began stomping around, like a toddler throwing a tantrum. Leon got up slowly, holding his side as he crawled towards his discarded sword, and he heard the stomping of the beast getting closer to him. He was barely able to move out of the way in time before it tried to peck him, and once again, it was stuck. With one final effort, Leon pointed his sword down and stabbed right through its skull, causing it to pull back and shriek in pain. It wailed for a bit, swinging its large body around before falling to the ground with a thud, causing the world to go quiet. Leon stared for a moment before letting out a huff, rubbing his aching side. All these monsters were starting to get too much for him.
He started to walk away, hoping to see if the others were alright before his boot stepped into something soft and squishy. When he looked down, he saw a reddish-brown substance beneath his boot, making a mold of what his sole looked like, and he knelt down to feel it with his fingers.
“What is this…?” He wondered out loud, his stomach sinking when the realization hit him. Clay.
He spun around to see the monster reduced to the clay-like substance that was always used for puppets, it towering over him as it melted further into the ground in a big pile. The puppeteer… he was here.
The pile of clay suddenly moved, and talons materialized before Leon had a moment to react, and he was suddenly grasped inside the claws, pinned to the ground as the rest of the monster was chased into reality. The glowing eyes and mask glared down at him as he struggled, and to his dismay, the bird flapped its wings and took to the skies. Leon yelled as he was hoisted into the air, clinging onto the talons out of fear of being dropped to his death, watching as he flew further and further away from the town, his supplies, his friends.
Where were they?
The wind howled loudly in his ear, and panic set in as he realized he was being taken away, to either die or be tortured or whatever the puppeteer had planned for him, but he was helpless and alone. The sword fell out of his hand when the talons grabbed onto him, and he didn’t know if the others knew that he had been taken. Even if they did know, they certainly wouldn’t know where. He didn’t know where he was going.
No, no no no no…
What was he going to do?
The bird monster reached a tower after a while of flying, and it landed in an open area right in front. Leon grunted as he landed on the ground harshly, the bird’s talons pinning him so he couldn’t move. He jerked from side to side, hoping to squeeze through the gaps, but the talons went over his shoulders like a pack, making it nearly impossible to escape.
“Well well well, what do we have here?”
Leon froze at the familiar voice, and he strained his neck to glare at the man standing in front of him. The puppeteer…
“This is quite the pleasant surprise,” he continued, kneeling to the ground. “I had that bird attack the town so the heroes would show up. I certainly wasn’t expecting you there.”
Leon snarled at him, his fists clenched as if he could attack the man in his state. The puppeteer’s hands reached out, grasping Leon’s chin to force him to look up. Leon groaned in pain as his neck was stretched further than what was intended, and when the puppeteer’s fingers got close enough, he bit down as hard as he could. The man flinched back, dropping Leon’s head which landed painfully on the ground. Leon hissed in pain as his teeth bit his tongue, and he tasted the metallic blood pooling inside his mouth.
“You dog!” He hissed, staring at his bloodied fingers. “Oh, I should kill you for that.”
“Let me go and try it,” Leon threatened, his hands balled into fists again. The puppeteer only stared, remaining stiff as he cradled his hand as if he was thinking about something.
“I should kill you,” he muttered, his hands moving to rest behind his back as he stepped closer. “But you are too… important.”
Leon frowned, watching him with unease as he knelt down in front of him again.
“You’re the men’s leader,” the puppeteer continued, “they need you, and would probably do anything to save you…”
Leon’s eyes widened and he once again thrashed against the talons. “Don’t you dare use me against them!” He shouted, but the puppeteer paid him no mind. Instead he turned away, waving to the bird.
“I’ll figure out what to do with you,” he said, “in the meantime, sit tight for me, will you?”
Leon gasped as he was hoisted up into the skies once again, watching with fury as he got further away from the puppeteer, the man becoming a speck as he was sent away.
