This Strange World Needs A Kicking! – Ch. 26
By Laura S. Fox
Copyright © 2021 Laura S. Fox
All Rights Reserved
Gay Romance
Intended for Mature Audiences Only
This story will contain graphic depictions of sexual intercourse, strong
language and it is not meant for readers who are less than 18 years of age.
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Chapter Twenty-Six – Who
Are You?
"Maybe you should go talk
to Milo, see how he's dealing with all this breakup thing," Beatrice suggested
to him after the game.
It had been a horrible
affair in the end, and by how Milo walked alone from the court, it appeared
that his teammates were not pleased with him.
But what could he do? The
alternative was much, much worse. He would never put Milo in harm's way if he
could help it, and he would always do everything in his power to help it. At
least he was protected from the pig-like face boy and his posse.
Beatrice patted him on
the back, and seeing how he made no gesture or said nothing to keep her, she
left with her friends, not without reminding him one more time that he should
try to mend things between him and his boyfriend.
His boyfriend. Yes, it
appeared that Milo had been that for a short while, and it had been a happy
time for Sebastian, if not the happiest, as short-lived as it had been. Could
it be that was what Luna Celeste kept blabbing about? Love, with its times of
elation and happiness, but also despair and gloom? He was living through the
second part now, and he would have much liked to do without.
He left the building
where the match had taken place and was deeply lost in thought when he heard
someone running toward him. Tani was rushing to him,
her breath coming in short, her eyes full of worry. Was it about how he hadn't
wanted to take her to see the match? It was for the best since the game had
proven just an occasion for their school team to be humiliated due to Milo's
subpar performance. Sebastian had wanted to protect him with all his soul when
he heard the people around commenting on that, but he knew he was to blame, so
nothing could be done.
"What is it?" he asked
her.
Tani
grabbed him by the arms and leaned against him, unable to breathe or talk.
Sebastian felt the now
familiar alertness creeping in. She was almost crying, so it couldn't be just
about the basketball game. "Kai, some ugly boys took Milo," she eventually
managed.
His entire body tensed.
"What ugly boys? Where?"
Tani
continued to breathe hard and let go of one of his arms only to point in the
direction of what looked like an old workshop. "I peeked inside, and they were
starting to push him around and call him names."
Sebastian ground his
teeth hard. "Does one of these ugly boys look like an unwashed pig?" he asked.
Tani
nodded. "They all look like pigs. I don't know if they're unwashed or
otherwise."
Sebastian began walking
purposefully, with Tani on his tail. "Kai, you should
call a teacher or something," she pleaded as she ran behind him.
And put more innocents in
harm's way? That wasn't something he was willing to do and had never done in
his life. He scouted with his eyes and saw a thick wooden pillar leaning to one
side, stuck in the ground. It must have been part of an old fence in another
time, and it had to do.
He grabbed it with both
hands to make it come undone as anger grew inside him. Curses formed on his
tongue as he struggled with the damned thing.
"Kai, what are you
doing?" Tani asked, more and more concerned.
"I'm settling the score,"
Sebastian said through his teeth as the pillar began to move. "This," he
grunted, "strange world," he added as the thing
finally came off, "needs a kicking!"
Suitably armed now, he
rushed toward the building where his would-be assassins were most probably
harming Milo in ways he didn't want to think of. With a loud cry, he pushed
open the doors that rattled on their hinges by driving his shoulder against
them.
Milo was on a chair at
the end of the room, with his hands tied behind him by his position. Around
him, Chet and his posse were shouting, hitting him from time to time. Sebastian
took in his surroundings as dark flames licked along his veins.
As soon as he barged in,
Milo's attackers stopped and turned toward him.
"You scoundrels," he said
in a deep, rumbling voice he recognized from a different time.
"If it isn't lover boy,"
Chet said with a sneer. "What's up, homo? We were just talking about you. Your
boyfriend is a pussy, just like you."
Sebastian jumped on the
long line of tables and broke into a sprint. A new power surged through him,
but no, it wasn't new, he registered faintly, as he swung the wooden pillar and
smacked Chet right in the face.
For a moment, a deadly
silence followed. But then, Chet's acolytes rushed to grab him while shouting
obscenities. Sebastian moved with ease, the routines learned from online
instructors coming to him like second nature. He evaded their maneuvers with
ease, using his improvised weapon to hit them efficiently and where it hurt the
most. It wasn't his way of doing things to go against an opponent that was so
poorly equipped, but the moment they had dared to lay a finger on Milo, these
young delinquents had sealed their fate.
He was breathing hard
when all of them were down on the floor, squirming and crying. But when he
turned his attention on Milo, his heart sank. Chet was holding one arm around Milo's
neck while blood was pouring from his nose. Milo was struggling to kick him
away, but his face was getting redder.
"Step away from him,"
Sebastian hissed.
"No fucking way," Chet
blabbered, and the wild look in his eyes said that he was scared. "You'll let
us leave first."
No moments could be
spared. He cried out, and this time, when he launched his attack, he didn't
hold back and put his full strength behind it. Chet remained standing after the
hit, but only for a moment, and then he crumpled to the floor. Milo began
coughing and wheezing. Around him, Sebastian felt a breath of cold, one that he
had known to be with him throughout his life.
He hurried to untie Milo
when Tani rushed in. "There are teachers and people
coming, Kai! Let's get out of here!"
He didn't understand why
she was so keen on them running. He had defeated his enemies, so he would stand
his ground. But when he turned toward Tani, he
noticed how she took a few steps back. There was uncertainty in her moves, but
she was too far away for him to read her eyes.
"Go, Kai," Milo said in a
raspy whisper. "You'll be in trouble if you don't. If they dare to tell on you,
I'll say otherwise. There's a back door." He pointed with his chin behind him.
Their eyes met briefly,
and Milo blinked fast like something was preventing him from seeing well.
Sebastian just nodded and rushed out. He hated to leave Milo like that, but he
would get the proper care.
***
The only place to go
directly was home. He had thrown away the wooden pillar and tried to dust his
clothes to the best of his abilities, and yet, people on the subway had kept
throwing strange looks in his direction. There was a slight tremble in his
arms, the energy he had felt coursing through him still not yet consumed
entirely. Tani hadn't come after him, and he could
only assume that she was safe with those people.
He needed to change his
clothes, and later, to call Milo and see if he was all right. Now that he had
done this, the assassins were sure to come after him and him only. Milo needed
protection, and other people were now involved, people from this world who
wouldn't allow Chet to beat up boys like Milo.
The door closed behind
him once inside Kai's bedroom, but not because he had done that, so the sound
took him by surprise. He turned on his heels to find himself face to face with Tani, who had a strange improvised hat on her head and held
a stick with a star at its tip. "You're not my brother," she said while her
hand trembled on the stick. "Who are you?"
Sebastian stood there
baffled for a moment. "Can you see me? The real me?" He pointed at himself.
Where was a mirror when he needed one? Was he transforming into his real self?
"All I see," Tani said, "is my brother's body but there's someone else
inside him!" She swung the stick in her hand wildly.
Sebastian narrowed his
eyes. Was that a tinfoil hat? He walked toward Tani,
making her squeal. With a sure move, he grabbed her tinfoil hat, made it into a
ball, and threw it on the bed. "I'm not an alien," he said. Yes, he had seen
those horrendous movies, and he seriously doubted tinfoil hats were any good at
offering protection against creatures from another world.
She cried out in despair
and raised her arm, dropping her stick. Sebastian groaned. Dealing with little
girls scared of aliens wasn't something he had any idea how to address. He
seized her wrists, trying to be gentle but firm. She stopped her shouting and
stared into his eyes, looking scared.
"I'm not your brother,
it's true," he said in a measured voice, "but I have no intention to hurt you.
I'm not a bad man."
Tani
blinked a few times, but it was a good sign that she wasn't shouting anymore.
"Who are you then?"
It was strange to hold
her arms up like that, so Sebastian let them down slowly and then took a step
back. "Are you sure you're capable of listening to the truth? I tried telling
it to Milo, but he wouldn't believe a word I said."
Tani
nodded, but she was so pale that Sebastian worried she might faint. So he took
her hand and guided her toward the bed, and made her sit. He grabbed a chair
and sat at a fair distance from her to ensure that he didn't scare her any more
than he had already done.
"My name is Sebastian,
and I am the Protector of Ifigia. I am a prince in my
world."
"Ifigia?
Is this in Europe?" Tani asked.
"No," Sebastian said
firmly. "It is not anywhere on this planet, and according to everything I've
read since coming here, it is not anywhere in this universe."
Tani
inhaled and exhaled, then repeated the procedure. Sebastian allowed her, seeing
how shaken she was. But the color was turning to her cheeks, and her eyes were
now shining with curiosity. "Are you like from a fantastic land?"
"It would be a good
definition according to the rules of your world," Sebastian agreed.
"Do you have dragons
there?"
"Yes, there are dragons,"
Sebastian confirmed.
"And beautiful
princesses?"
"I think so, although I
would not be the right person to judge their physical appearance."
"Do you mean that you're
into boys in that world, too?" Tani's eyes were as
big as saucers.
Sebastian sighed. It was
so like Tani to ask useless questions. But he needed
to be patient with her and establish what made her see behind the body he was
inhabiting by chance or curse. "Yes, I prefer men," he said shortly. He found
the conversation inappropriate given the young age of Kai's sister, but he had
no choice but to offer answers as clear as he could.
"You're from a BL novel,
lol!" she exclaimed.
"I assure you my world is
not fiction."
"But if you're here,
where is my brother?"
Sebastian let out another
long and heartfelt sigh. "I can only assume that he is currently inside my real
body, ruling Ifigia in my stead." He didn't have the
heart to tell Tani that he believed Kai was
ill-equipped for such a task.
"I bet he's making a mess
out of it," Tani said.
He couldn't help a smile.
"It is a possibility."
"Wait, wait, wait," she
continued. All the fear from before was gone from her face. "So, he's now
surrounded by bishies who want to sleep with him?"
Bishies.
Oh, right, he remembered the term. It meant beautiful boys. "At the moment, I
believe he would only have to fend off the advances of my royal concubine,
Conrad --"
Tani
made a sound like she was choking. "You have a royal concubine?"
Sebastian frowned again.
This conversation was surely going places that were making him feel
uncomfortable. "The thing is," he said quickly, "I have no idea what happened
that your brother and I switched places in such an incredible fashion. I
suspect a curse, but I have no proof. I was also suspecting that Chet and those
other boys were assassins sent to kill me, but I think they're just delinquents
and nothing else. How is Milo?" he asked, suddenly alarmed. Under the surprise
that Tani had discovered the truth about his
identity, he had forgotten about the boy.
"The teachers took him to
the infirmary. And those jerks were taken by a security guard, and an ambulance
was on the way when I left. I think they're in deep trouble. They might get
expelled. And Milo didn't say anything, and the others didn't dare to rat you out.
No one would believe them anyway. My brother is incapable of hurting a fly, and
you cracked that jerk's nose open."
Sebastian waved, wanting
to get to the heart of the matter, now that he had the confirmation that Milo
was all right. "Tani, I must ask you. How could you
tell I'm not your brother?"
Something of the fear
from before returned to her eyes. Then, she grinned. "When I rushed inside to
tell you to get away, something awesome and scary happened. When you kicked
that guy in the face, there were blue sparks everywhere. Are you Electric Man?"
"No," Sebastian said
patiently, "I am Prince Sebastian of Ifigia."
"Right, right. So, Seb – can I call you Seb?" She
didn't wait for him to reply. "Those blue sparks turned into small flames, and
they were, I don't know, like part of you," she said with admiration. "And when
you turned to look at me, your eyes were blue and like burning. They're normal
now, though."
The familiar cold breath
and his eyes burning. Of course, how could he not realize it? "That must have
been my ice magic," he said slowly.
"Ice magic?" Tani shouted, and her eyes grew wide. "You have ice magic?"
"Yes, my mother, the ice
goddess Reya, created me from it, and it's an
important part of me."
Tani
linked her hands together and swung her body. "That is so cool," she said in a
reverent voice. "Omigod, so Kai is now using ice
magic in your place?"
"He could be, but the
fact that my magic manifested now is quite strange," Sebastian said.
"Hmm, maybe it's not so
strange," Tani said. "I mean, there has to be a
reason. Milo was in danger, you went there to save him, and because of the
power of love, you summoned your ice magic to this world. There," she said with
satisfaction.
Sebastian wasn't exactly
pleased with the expression on her face, but he had no other explanation, so
hers could be the correct one.
"Omigod,"
she exclaimed again, "Milo has a prince as his boyfriend! So much wow!"
"He doesn't believe it,"
Sebastian said sternly. "And it is for the better. I don't see what good would
do."
"I see," Tani replied. "And you know, there's something more. Your
voice. You don't sound like Kai anymore."
Sebastian cleared his
throat and began listing all numbers up to ten. Indeed, that was almost his
real voice. "Yes, you are correct," he said, more and more flabbergasted by the
transformation. It was a sound reason to become alarmed. "I must return to my
world," he added hastily. "Ifigia is in danger, and I
cannot be transferred for good into this world, or all will be lost."
He couldn't say precisely
why his line of reasoning was taking him down that path, but it felt like the
most believable explanation.
"Oh, no, what are we
going to do?" Tani asked and slapped both her cheeks.
"We? It is my duty --"
"Seriously? Kai is my
brother, and I bet he has no idea how to deal with fantastic worlds in danger
and all that, unless they're part of a video game. Actually, maybe his
experience as a gamer could help him," she said as if she was talking to
himself.
"I must return to my
world," Sebastian insisted.
Tani
stood brusquely. "And Kai needs to get back home, or mom will be really pissed.
Let's check my stash of fantasy novels. There must be something in there about
this."
Sebastian didn't argue
and followed her out of the room.
Tani
stopped for a moment and turned toward him. "Was that why you were so happy
with flushing the toilet?"
"Yes," Sebastian replied
in a cool voice. It was somewhat assuring to hear himself again.
Tani
grinned. "So damned funny. I thought my brother was finally losing it."
He surely didn't find it
funny, so he pushed her toward her room. "We have something important to do."
***
It felt like they had
been riding for hours. Kai couldn't stop yawning, and a couple of times, he had
almost fallen from the saddle. Good thing Galien was
there, keeping him awake and straightening him back so that he didn't make a
total fool of himself by falling off the horse.
"You should have slept
properly last night," Galien scolded him, "instead of
trying to sneak away. And what's with you? You usually spend your nights tiring
your lovers, and your days training and fighting. How come you're so sleepy
now? I hope it's not some sort of curse --"
"I don't think so," Kai
interrupted him. How could he explain to Sebastian's cousin that he usually
hated waking up so early in the morning, mainly because he spent his nights
playing video games? "I mean, that would be a pretty lame curse, don't you
think?"
Galien
huffed. "You somehow believe that this war is still something you should take
head on, don't you? That is why you pretend to be sleepy and bored while we're
marching on the enemy. And why is your voice so high? You don't sound like
yourself."
What the hell did he mean
by that? His voice was completely normal. He didn't like that Galien didn't believe him to be sleepy for real but wasn't
it weird that he felt all that while inside Sebastian's body? Whatever, maybe
Sebastian got sleepy sometimes, but people didn't know because the Protector of
Ifigia couldn't have any weaknesses, and he kept it
well hidden.
"What's our strategy,
after all?"
"Don't you mean your
strategy?" Galien asked. "You wanted to head here and
confront them directly. We're only following."
Kai couldn't suppress a
groan. "See how you all made things more complicated than necessary? If it were
just me, I could have just sneaked in and... well, destroy the enemy and that,
all in a day's work."
"Not that I don't find
your confidence in your abilities refreshing, but you really make me think that
you are taking things too lightly. Is it a ploy so that I weaken my resolve in
sticking by your side?"
"No, nothing like that.
It's just that I'm all powerful, and you guys, not dissing you or anything, but
you have no special powers. How about leaving the OP character do all the
work?"
"I won't dwell on your
strange manner of speaking you picked up from those barbarians and ask in
detail what on earth you mean by dissing and OP. However, I insist that you
don't leave my sight while we're engaging."
"Do you want me to stay
glued to you? That will be tough since we need to fight and everything."
"I will make sure you
stay in my sight, and you don't have to worry about it. Conrad will keep his
eyes on you, too. I mean it, Sebastian, no tricks. If you fall, this world will
end."
Like he needed more
ominous words to remind him what was at stake. "Yeah, yeah, I get you," he said
and waved. Why the hell was he so sleepy, though?
***
They set camp at a fair
distance from what counted as the border between Ifigia
and Uxilan, and Kai wished he had a pair of
binoculars so that he could inspect the movement of the enemy troops like in
movies. Unfortunately, as OP as Sebastian was, he didn't have any skills in
seeing far and wide, more than any other average human being. It would have
been helpful to have Adhe's wings right now. He
searched his pockets for the dragon scale, but he didn't find it. Could it be
that he had misplaced it somehow? Maybe he had left it in another coat. Anyhow,
he wouldn't bother Adhe, who had a baby to care for.
"We're just going to
wait?" he asked Galien.
"It is preferable that we
confront them on our ground where their dark magic is not as strong," Galien replied.
"And how long will that
take?"
"As long as needed."
Galien
was pretty annoying. He could just dash in there, throw some magic around,
destroy them, and be back by dinner time. Pepin had talked about how those
jerks had taken Sebastian's magic away, but it had gone back, right?
So, before they could
even do anything, Kai was going to enter their realm, blasting ice left and
right and finishing them off before they knew what hit them. Of course, if he
were just to wait there for hours and hours, they would be alerted and had the
time to prepare their anti-magic offensive. He pursed his lips in frustration;
he so much needed to use the element of surprise to make sure that he defeated
those assholes in one fell sweep.
That meant that he needed
to shake Galien off and try his own strategy. And
after he made sure that the dark magic wielders were defeated, the rest of the
troops could sweep in and deal with the rest if anything remained. After all,
they had come all that way, and Kai didn't want them to feel disappointed.
But what could he do to
make sure Galien didn't notice his getting away? As
he racked his brain for solutions, his eyes fell on Conrad, who stood not far,
speaking with some knights.
How hadn't he thought of
that yet? The perfect opportunity presented itself. "I need to spend some time
alone with Conrad," he said in a perfect straight voice.
"What for?" Galien asked.
"You know." Kai wiggled
his eyebrows.
Galien
stared at him in disbelief and then narrowed his eyes. "I thought you were
adamant about not cheating on Pepin, as you said."
Kai bit his bottom lip.
Right, he was making Galien jealous, but it was all
for a good cause. And afterward, when the Uxilan
jerks had been defeated, he would apologize and tell the truth. But what if he
changed back to his own body, and Sebastian was back? Probably, the actual
prince would have no issue laying his claim on the royal concubine once more,
so maybe, just maybe, he was making Galien hurt now
so that he would hurt less later.
"You are making strange
faces again," Galien brought his train of thought to
a halt by talking.
"Right. Well, I'm
suddenly in the mood, what can I say?" The weird things he came to say, all
because of this ridiculous BL plot. Why did a BL plot have anything like dark
magic wielders in it, though? It was annoying. No, what the hell, now he preferred
BL plots to fighting fantasy creatures and enemies? He was losing it, clearly.
He set his chin high and
stared at Galien, challenging him and also worrying
that if his cousin suddenly said that he disagreed with that, he wouldn't be
able to tell him `no'.
But Galien
moved out of the way, his eyes never leaving Kai. "As you wish, Your Majesty. Do not let me keep you."
Kai moved fast before Galien changed his mind and grabbed Conrad, dragging him
away from the knights.
"I want you or
something," he said the moment he noticed Conrad's questioning eyes.
"Now?" Conrad asked and
blinked. "This is hardly the time or place --"
"Hey, I'm the prince,
right? And you kept on bugging me about it. Don't you want it?"
"Of course."
It was evident that
Conrad had no idea what to think.
"We need a quiet place,"
Kai said quickly.
He had observed how their
camp was bordered on the left by hills that stretched toward the border with Uxilan. If he managed to reach over them, he would move
without being detected before anyone got alerted of his absence.
Conrad gestured for him
to follow. Kai waited for him to enter the last tent that appeared to be as far
away from prying eyes as it could be. And then, Conrad began to undress,
holding his eyes just as guarded as before.
"Yes, yes, nice, like
this," Kai said quickly but averting his eyes so that he didn't stare too much
at Conrad's junk.
"Aren't you going to
undress?" Conrad questioned.
"Yeah, soon. But I want
to play with you, first." Gawd, the cringe. "So," Kai
continued, "close your eyes and lay there."
"Wouldn't be easier if I
first lay down and then closed my eyes?"
"Yeah, whatever. No, not
like that, on your belly."
"Your Majesty," Conrad
breathed out but obeyed. "Do you intend to use me in that fashion? I thought
you didn't care for being the man on top."
"Well, people change,"
Kai replied.
He straddled Conrad fast
and then pulled the belt from his pants to fasten his hands to the back. Now he
needed something else. Under him, poor Conrad was breathing fast. Probably no
one had ever had the Prince of Estfalia in that
position.
He took his handkerchief
and turned it into a blindfold, placing it over Conrad's eyes.
"Your Majesty," Conrad
said, more alarmed this time.
"Don't worry. I promise
you. You won't feel a thing."
For real.
"Allow me to doubt that.
I've seen Your Majesty, and you lack nothing in that respect."
"Trust me. Now stay like
this, while I go grab something to, you know, use on you."
He didn't wait for more
of Conrad's protests and went outside. A look around convinced him that the
soldiers gathered there were too busy with stuff of their own, so he sneaked
behind the tent and smiled when he saw the horses.
Like taking candy from a
baby, only that Kai intended nothing like that. What he much intended was to
grab those dark magic jerks and teach them a lesson.
TBC
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