This Strange World Needs A Kicking! Ch. 33
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 Thirty-Three My
Way To You
"Are we just going to sit
around here, getting high on delicious food and fluffy pillows, without doing
anything?" Milo asked Kai after dinner was over, and they were allowed to roam
freely, at Galien's encouragement, but with the
promise not to leave the estate.
It looked like Galien had important matters to attend to, so he was
letting his guests to their own devices, and Kai had a feeling that Sebastian's
cousin was searching for ways to solve their situation. That meant that, at one
point, they would travel back to their world and leave this fantastical one
behind.
And Pepin. And the tiny
shard that was supposed to turn into a baby. Kai sighed. What was he supposed
to do? So, on the one hand, it was logical that they couldn't stay here
forever. Their parents must have noticed their disappearance by now, and they
were probably worried sick. But how could he leave Pepin behind? And forever?
The thought alone was enough to open something in the pit of his stomach,
something that felt like fear and sadness mingled together. Kai didn't care for
feelings like that; he was used to putting the lid on whenever they emerged. It
was much easier to get lost in a world of fantastic creatures and be the hero
instead of dealing with things like that. And now he was in such a world, but
he still wasn't safe from such feelings.
"Hey, man, are you
listening?" Milo asked and bumped into him to shake him off those unpleasant
thoughts. That was one of the reasons they were friends. Milo had a unique
sense that let him know when those around him had soul trouble; that was what
Kai had noticed over the years.
"I totally am. I need to
see Pepin," Kai replied, "but I don't think Galien
would be too happy to hear about that. He wants us to stay put."
"And are we going to do
that?" Tani asked.
"Of course not," Kai
said. "I mean, I get it that it's dangerous and all, but Pepin is like
pregnant, and maybe Sebastian is hard on him right now--"
"But Seb's
a good guy," Tani insisted. "I mean, he's like a
warrior for good. You should have seen yourself beating the crap out of those
bullies. He was epic," she added and brought her closed hands under her chin
with a dreamy look on her face.
"I bet," Kai said wryly.
"You had the chance to get to know him, not me."
"Are you jealous?" Milo
snickered and nudged him in the ribs again. "That Tani
likes Sebastian more than you?"
"If he wants a sister,
I'm willing to give up on mine," Kai said. "Ouch!"
Tani
promptly hit him in the shoulder. "Whatever the people around here say about
him, I don't care. He's cool and reliable."
"He sure is, in a
nutshell," Kai admitted. "I mean, I do think that the people under his rule
should be a little more grateful. The guy's been fighting for Ifigia all his life, and all they do is write retarded
songs about his butt."
"About his what?" Tani asked.
"Moron says what?" Kai
joked.
"What?" Tani asked again.
Kai smacked her upside
the head playfully. "Moron."
Tani
drove one punch into his stomach, making him double over.
"We should find a way to
the royal palace so that you can see Pepin," Milo offered promptly, making the
siblings stop bickering.
"That's totally what I
have in mind," Kai said and grabbed Tani's hands to
stop her from attacking him again. "When I met Galien,
he was without a horse."
"How's that relevant?"
Milo asked.
"Right, context," Kai
said. "Well, I was riding around, and he jumped in front of me. And he told me
that he had just come from Kelonia which is here
to Ifigia which is where Pepin and Sebastian are.
And he was on foot. Which means--"
"that there should be a
reasonably short way between here and there," Milo concluded.
"Exactly," Kai replied.
"Now, I can't ask Galien directly, or he'll say
something about walking straight into danger, and blah, blah, blah."
"Yeah, who cares about
the blah, blah, blah part?" Tani said
matter-of-factly. "No one ever. We should search for a secret passage then."
Kai threw his sister a
pointed look. "What if it's like a passage full of spider webs and other creepy
crawlers?"
Tani
pondered for a moment and looked at her pretty clothes. "Did Galien look like he just left some filthy corridor when you
met him?"
"No," Kai admitted.
"Then I should be fine," Tani drew her conclusion, and by how she set her chin high,
she wouldn't be swayed from her decision.
"Guys, I should tell
you," Kai started. "This world may be like something from an isekai anime, but there are actual dangers in it. I mean,
at first I thought I was protected against everything since Sebastian is so OP,
but Conrad was about to die when he got stabbed by an assassin, and also those
dark magic jerks from Uxilan are pretty scary."
"We only want to go to Seb's palace, right? It's not like the royal palace is the
headquarters for those guys," Tani said promptly.
"No, but they tried to
kill Sebastian, and I really suspect that they've never given up. I kind of got
rid of them, but there might be some left. I don't know for sure."
"Who are these guys?"
Milo asked. "And you said that Sebastian is OP, so he should be safe, right?"
There was something like
anxiety in Milo's voice as he asked that. Surely, Milo couldn't see himself in
love with the ice prince of Ifigia, but that didn't
mean that there were zero feelings there. Kai decided to keep his mouth shut
for once and not make any allusion to the apparent interest his friend took in
Sebastian's wellbeing.
"You're so totally in
love with him," Tani said excitedly.
This time, Kai grabbed a
handful of his sister's sophisticated hairdo, making her freeze as he had just
activated a time stop device. "Tani, zip it."
"Yeah, yeah, just let go
of my hair, you're ruining it," she complained.
He stole a quick look at
Milo. His friend's face was turned, and he appeared lost in thought for a
moment. Even if Tani did a lousy job of barging in on
his feelings like that, just as Kai suspected, something could be there. Only
that, unlike his sister, he thought of letting Milo figure out things in his
own time. If one trait of character could be considered a flaw, Milo's
stubbornness had to be it. Nonetheless, Kai was grateful for that so-called
flaw, as that must have convinced Milo to remain friends with him when he could
hang out with all the popular kids and do whatever he wanted.
That didn't mean that he
and Tani wouldn't conspire later to see what they
could do to bring Milo and Sebastian in the same room so that they could figure
out if they still liked each other. According to Tani,
Sebastian was crazy about Milo, so there were no obstacles in that part of the
universe. However, Milo's legendary stubbornness would get in the way if they
insisted when they shouldn't.
"So," he said, trying to
sound cheerful and not at all worried about everything starting with Pepin and
ending with Milo's feelings for Sebastian, "where do you guys think we should
start searching for a secret passage?"
"Maybe it is as simple as
following the one person that knows about it," Milo said quietly and stopped
them as he pointed at a shadowy figure slinking around a corner at a fair
distance from them.
"Was that Galien?" Tani whispered.
Kai grinned. "He's going
to see Conrad," he concluded. "Let's follow him, guys. He'll take us straight
to Ifigia."
***
"Maybe you should
consider starting with someone the closest to home," Pepin suggested.
"If you mean Luna
Celeste, I just talked to her," Sebastian said as he examined the map and
placed small cues over the places he knew to be inhabited by people with magic
knowledge. He would still have to enlist the others' help. "I will have to
consult the council on this."
"I don't think you
should," Pepin argued.
Sebastian quirked an
eyebrow and examined his servant's face but saw no signs of rebellion, only
concern. "And why is that, Pepin?"
"Because the last time
Kai talked to them, councilman Madigar, as well as a
few other voices, did nothing short of pushing him into going to confront Uxilan on his own. Which Kai did."
"Hmm," Sebastian let out
and tapped his right index finger against his lips. "Brave thing to do for a
boy like him."
"He might have found his
courage while being in your shoes," Pepin suggested. "But what kind of boy are
you talking about?"
Sebastian waved. He
hadn't known Kai Martin despite spending a reasonable amount of time in his
skin. "Of course, he must have been terribly glad that I was OP enough for him
to fool around without a care."
"What's OP?" Pepin asked
eagerly. "Kai also used the word."
Sebastian cleared his
throat. Lecturing Pepin on the things from Kai's world felt a little too much
like fun, but he couldn't help it. "It means overpowered, and it is a way to
describe a character with such abilities that he or she can face enemies of all
levels without fear of defeat. One particular such character I learned about
while in the other world was the hero of a popular series. All he needed to do
was to throw a single punch and win against any foe."
"A single punch? The
people in Kai's world must be so strong," Pepin said.
"No, not at all. This
character is fictional, and boys like Kai believe him to be the ultimate hero
or something like that. Actually, in general, people of Milo's world rarely
train in martial arts, and it is more a matter of choice and a terrible need
for flexing by posting small videos of their demonstrations."
Pepin was staring at him,
his jaw slack. "What is that, flexing, Sebastian? What about videos?"
They had no time for such
trivial matters. Sebastian shook his head. "Unimportant. We must concentrate
our efforts in finding a solution. What were you saying about councilman Madigar?"
Pepin came closer, and
his voice dropped to a whisper. "Far from me to spread baseless rumors, but it
appears to me that councilman Madigar and his close
friends on the council were more than eager to send you to certain death. They
couldn't know it wasn't you, and Kai survived, but don't you find their
position suspicious? They knew very well that Uxilan
was powerful enough to take away your magic. Why send our lord and protector to
certain defeat?"
"They didn't defeat me,"
Sebastian pointed out. "And the council, I believe, is quite used to by now
with my rushing into any danger if the fate of Ifigia
is at stake."
"A bit too used to that
if you're asking me," Pepin insisted.
"An accusation of
betrayal of such magnitude must have more to base on than your displeasure of
the council's attitude toward me," Sebastian said.
"You cannot be this
blind, Your Majesty, with all due respect. How could
an Uxilan assassin sneak inside the palace so easily
that day? And why that day in particular? Did they believe your body was
weakened somehow? By a curse they placed on you?"
"Your evidence is merely
circumstantial, Pepin," Sebastian said sternly.
"What do you mean?"
Sebastian sighed.
"Something I picked from some law shows. While you may be eager to point
fingers, we cannot turn a blind eye to the rest of the possibilities."
"Which are?" Pepin
insisted.
Sebastian placed his
palms flat on the map. "Luna Celeste admitted to have placed a wish with the
last charm she gave me. She also believes that someone meddled with her magic,
and she assumes that my sudden exchange of bodies with Kai Martin was caused by
that meddling. Now, who could get close enough to Luna Celeste to achieve such
an impossible feat?"
"She always appears to
those who need her," Pepin said. "But she's a charming lady with charms, and
her charms deal with happiness and joy. If anyone approached her directly, they
must have come with a matter concerning the heart."
"You approached her,
didn't you?" Sebastian asked.
Pepin stiffened. "Your Majesty, you cannot possibly think--"
Sebastian put a hand up.
"I don't suspect you in the least, Pepin. Circumstantial, see? That is why I
cannot jump to conclusions and consider councilman Madigar
and his associates, enemies of Ifigia so easily. It
would be nothing but rash thinking on my part."
Pepin sighed, and his
shoulders dropped. "Consider it, Sebastian, please. At the last war council, he
did nothing short of pushing Kai into doing something that could only be
described as rash."
"And it worked,
apparently, only that Kai, despite his clumsiness and cluelessness, somehow
managed to succeed in my stead."
"He fears there are still
Uxilan dark magic wielders still alive. And so do I. What kind of wish did Luna Celeste put in your charm?"
Sebastian pondered for a
moment. He continued to stare at the map as he talked. "She wished for me to
love and be loved back."
"Oh," Pepin said.
"Oh indeed," Sebastian
commented dryly. "Quite a meddlesome woman. And on top of everything, she
somehow failed to protect the charm from being tampered with, hence the entire
predicament that followed."
"Do you regret it,
Sebastian?" Pepin asked in a quiet voice. "Having fallen in love with Kai's
friend?"
A difficult question.
"No," he replied without hesitation.
***
"All right, guys, we need
to be extra quiet," Kai suggested as he felt the wall through which Galien had disappeared a couple of minutes ago. "We don't
want Galien to suspect that we're on to him. How is
this magic door supposed to work?"
"It's not magical," Milo
said and grabbed the small torch on the wall, making it drop like a lever.
Kai straightened up as
the wall gave way without a sound to a narrow corridor. "Not very imaginative,"
he commented. "I would have used magic."
"Let's go," Tani whispered and threw a long look inside. "It's pretty
dark in there, isn't it?"
"We'll take one of these
things," Milo said and pointed at the many torches aligned along the wall.
"And risk being seen? Galien might have to tie a shoelace or something, and he
might turn, and he might see us," Kai said in one breath.
"Are you sure you want to
risk having your sister squeal at every creepy crawler climbing her foot?"
"Eww."
Tani scrunched up her nose in disgust. "Hey, wait,
there aren't any creepy crawlers. We so decided."
Kai made a sign for Tani to climb on his back. "Let's not risk it. Get on.
Better to walk with you like this than have you scream every second."
He knew his sister well.
Even if she might get annoyed at him, she couldn't ignore the temptation of
piggybacking. Tani did mumble something, but she was
quick to climb when he bent and gestured for her to hurry.
"I'll walk in front,"
Milo said. "Kai, hold on to me. It looks like these weird long tails on this
coat could have a practical purpose."
The air inside the
corridor felt breezy, which only meant that it was connected to an exit that
couldn't be that far off.
"How far is Kelonia from Sebastian's palace?" Milo questioned in a
whisper.
"I don't know exactly,"
Kai replied. "It didn't come up in conversation and such. I hope we don't have
to walk for hours, though. Tani clearly didn't lay
off the pudding lately."
That earned him an
instant smack over one ear.
"Watch it, butthead," Kai
growled at her. "I bet I can run faster than you in your princess dress. I
could leave you here, all alone, in the dark," he added in a low, hollow voice.
"Don't you dare," Tani warned him and wrapped her arms tighter around his
neck.
"Okay, okay, you don't
have to strangle me."
"You two, quiet. Do you
want Galien to realize he's not alone?"
"And what are you three
doing here?"
They all jumped back and
cried out at Galien's voice. The duke held a torch
and examined them with judgmental eyes. They had been so caught up in their
argument that they hadn't noticed him getting close.
Kai took a better look at
Galien and squealed. "Is your hand burning?"
Galien
laughed and moved his hand around, leaving trails of molten light that faded
after a moment. He wasn't holding a torch, not really, but the tips of his
fingers looked like hot steel, and they were the actual source of light. "I
also learned a few tricks from my dear mother."
"I knew it," Kai
exclaimed. "But why do you say that you have no magic?"
Galien
snorted. "And get saddled like Sebastian with everyone's happiness and safety?
My mother taught me to hide it save for extreme emergencies. Plus, it's not by
far as powerful as what Sebastian yields. By comparison, mine looks like a
collection of mere parlor tricks. Now, if you care to enlighten me," he
emphasized the last word and chuckled, "what are you doing here, following me?"
"I need to see Pepin,"
Kai said promptly.
"All right. What about
your sister and your friend? Do they also need to see Pepin?"
"Not just Pepin," Tani said. "I mean, come on, I'm here for who knows how
little time, and I totally need to see Seb's palace."
"I see. What about you,
young man?" Galien turned toward the last member of
their group.
"Wherever my friends go,
I go," Milo replied.
"Ah," Galien
let out with obvious disappointment. "And here I thought you wanted to see a
certain someone."
"I have no business with
that dude, sorry," Milo said, yet his voice was not that indifferent and held
in it the shadow of a doubt that wasn't easy to shake off.
Yeah, there was a bit too
much denial in Milo's words to ring true. It wasn't like his best friend to
become defensive, and he always met every challenge head-on, but clearly, now
wasn't the case. There was conflict inside his heart and mind, and Kai was
curious about it but couldn't push Milo to talk. Better to leave things like
that to settle on their own; that was what he believed.
"Fate has a strong sense
of irony, then," Galien said.
"Why?" Tani asked.
Galien
gestured for them to follow. "Because, adorable little girl, Sebastian used to
be a heartbreaker, and it appears that it's now his turn to suffer the same
ordeal he inflicted upon his past lovers."
"Did he have a lot of
lovers?" Milo asked.
Kai grinned but held his
face away. Why did Milo have to know such a thing unless he was interested? Tani was squeezing his shoulder, a sign that she, too, was
all eyes and ears.
"It depends on what you
mean by a lot," Galien said airily.
"I don't know, how often
did he change lovers? Like once a month or so?" Milo asked.
"Or so," Galien replied in the same manner.
Milo groaned. "I slept
with a manwhore."
Kai snickered, Tani let out something along the lines of `oh, no, he
didn't', and Galien laughed wholeheartedly. "A manwhore? Are there many such men in your world?"
"I don't know, but I
wouldn't sleep with one," Milo said.
"It looks like you did,
though," Galien served it right back at him. "I would
ask if it were enjoyable, but there are young ears present so I won't."
"You can ask," Tani said eagerly.
"No, he cannot," Kai
intervened. "Ignore my sister. She's just too much into BL for her age and own
good."
"BL?" Galien
questioned as he walked purposefully in front. It looked like the duke didn't
mind having company on his way to his lover after all.
"Boys Love," Kai
explained. "It's just a fiction genre, with illustrations and everything," he
tried to offer a short clarification.
Tani
groaned. "BL is much more than that," she complained. "BL is love; BL is life."
Galien
laughed again. "I believe I would enjoy this BL a lot if I ever had the chance.
A word of advice, young people. We must make sure that Sebastian doesn't catch
whiff of our being in his palace. He would never forgive me for bringing you
along, especially Milo."
"Why? Doesn't he love him
anymore?" Tani asked.
"It's because of that he
prefers all of you to stay away from danger. I know Sebastian well. As we
speak, he is most probably searching for ways to send you back to your world,
and that without seeing Milo even once."
"But why?" Tani insisted.
"Because, my dear guest,"
Galien replied as he moved his hand around to
illuminate the path ahead, "there is no one nobler than Sebastian in the entire
land. He doesn't want to jeopardize any of you, but especially Milo, not for a
moment, and also must believe by now that his love is doomed, anyway."
"Why?" Tani moaned, more exasperated this time.
"He sealed his union with
Pepin for the good of the realm. And yours. Sebastian is a man of duty, he
lives for it."
"Oh, no," Tani whispered. "He has just forced himself into a loveless
marriage? Is that what you're saying?"
"Not only," Galien explained. "Unlike me, he must know Milo very well
by now. And I can only assume that he imagines that Milo cannot be in love with
him anymore."
Kai turned his head
slightly toward his best friend, expecting him to say something like how he had
never been in love with Sebastian anyway, but Milo remained pensive and quiet. Tani squeezed his shoulder again to let him know that she
saw all that, as well.
"Now, visitors from
another world, I'm glad that I caught you in the act of following me," Galien started, "because you would have never passed
through here without my help."
"Cool," Tani whispered as they stopped in front of a door that
appeared to have been made from liquid flames.
It was enough for Galien to deep his fingers in the door, and the flames
parted, allowing them to go through.
"This is the best trip
ever," Tani concluded as they walked in single file
after Galien.
***
"Wait here," Galien told them, as soon as they were on the palace
ground, after walking in through a side gate that took them to a small secluded
garden. "I'll bring Pepin to you," he addressed Kai, "but let's make sure that
no one else sees you."
"Fine by us," Kai said,
speaking for the entire group.
Milo appeared as lost in
thought as he had been since the conversation about Sebastian's feelings with Galien, and he didn't care to disturb him. Plus, he had
more pressing matters to think of, such as seeing Pepin while in his actual
body.
Great, he had been so
taken with how to find a way to here that he had forgotten to worry about how
disappointed Pepin would be once he saw him from up close.
"What if he won't like
me, the real me?" he said out loud, turned toward Milo and Tani.
"Pftt,
he totally will," Tani asked. "You're a catch. Just
tell him your level in World of Nocraft, and he'll
fall head over heels."
"Stop being mean to your
brother," Milo scolded her. "I don't think you have any reason to worry. After
all, the dude decided you were worthy making a baby with. As weird as that must
sound, it has to mean a lot."
"Yeah, but I'm... me," Kai
said and gestured at his body. "I mean, I'm skinny and cannot throw a punch,
and I'm pale like a vampire for not sleeping at night almost at all, and I'm
not even particularly funny or fun--"
"Dude, chill," Milo
stopped him. "Why not let Pepin tell him why he likes you?"
"And force him to lie?"
Kai complained.
"I never lie," a
well-known voice replied his question from behind.
Kai pivoted on his heels
so fast he almost ended plastered, face first, against the flowerbeds, but Milo
caught him in time and then pushed him toward Pepin, who hurried to him with
the most beautiful smile in the world on his face.
Kai didn't even think as
he took Pepin in his arms and kissed him. Pepin held his face in his hands and
looked at him lovingly. "Kai, what are you doing here?" he asked, his voice
full of joy.
"Finding my way to you,"
Kai replied.
TBC
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