Finally got some motivation for this story! Haha, took some time writing this chapter since it kept coming out wrong? Bad? Just didn't satisfy me!

Btw some sexual remarks here due to Butch's lack of censorship! Also a fight scene! Next we'll see the Blues!

Please Review + Favorite + Follow! It gives me motivation.

I do not own anything!

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- Chapter 6 -

Remembrance

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"Leave!"

It wasn't her fault, really.

The moment she yelled at the man, the handsome man that had Ace in this makeshift prison, she heard a noise right behind her. The man was even surprised as well, his eyes wide as he stared past her, so she turned around- relief washing over her.

He was bleeding, but was awake.

Her dear friend wasn't dead.

Breathing shallow, eyes barely open, but she knew he was staring at her, his arm stretched out touching the bars. That's what caused the noise, a light tap really, but it was still loud enough for them.

She didn't have time to think, to consider how Ace stared at her, full of fear and guilt- mixed with something else. No, instead she broke away from her anger, instead full of hope and happiness.

"A-ace!" A bright smile and she got closer to the prison, hands on the bars, "Ace... you're okay.. Sort of." Still, if she could defeat this monster she can save him, she can finally get over the guilt eating her away. She reached for him, but then he looked at her.

Why did he look so hateful?

Buttercup hesitated, uneasiness and anxiety filling her. Before she could even say anything, Ace spoke loud and clear, hints of desperation within but she didn't know.

"Leave now!"

She took a step back.

"W-what?"

No, this wasn't right. This wasn't the kind-hearted Ace that she knew, this wasn't her friend, her guard. This was some hollow man, void of any feelings- and all because of...

Him.

Anger rose once more, swiftly turning to face the man who just had a damn smirk on his face, looking so damn pleased with himself. She just wanted to wipe it off, replace it with something worse. She wanted him to bleed, to apologize, to just stop acting so high and mighty. She went stiff, mind going on overdrive as she tried to think on what to do. Deep breaths, closed eyes, and swallowing the lump in her throat, she took a step forward, he looked at her with a raise eyebrow and then she lunged at him.

He probably didn't see it coming, she concluded, since he was slow to react. Either way, she used this to her advantage as she threw her whole body at him and pushed him to the ground. Straddling him, legs on either side of his stomach (ignoring how his smirk grows), she kept him from moving as she moved her arms around the floor, trying to locate the knife that fell. At times like this, she was glad she worked hard on her thighs, they were quite strong.

Once she found the knife, she saw his eyes widened, his mouth opening and a growl leaving. It wasn't something that sounded even remotely human, pure animalistic.

No time to be scared.

Breathing slowly she raised the knife- and he only stared.

"Who's the monster now?"

He spoke.

He was mocking her, that smug smirk still on his lips as if death wasn't waiting at his door. He probably assumed that too, that smug bastard.

"You disgust me."

That's all she said.

"You amuse me."

That was the end of their civil conversation.

Self-control thrown out the window, she strikes down, only able to stab his arm as he was quick to block. Not bad, not bad. (Not that she could comment, she was just so mad, so livid.) Taking her knife off his arm clumsily, causing him to wince ever so slightly, she tried striking him once more.

His reaction was quicker, as he finally understood what was going on, figuring that she was aiming to kill him. In a quick manner, her grabbed onto her arm as soon as she tried to stab him, overpowering her strength and then pushing (tossing) her off him.

She quickly got onto her feet, and so did he. She wasn't thinking, she was too angry, too furious- rage was all she can think of. Get rid of him, get rid of him, get fucking rid of hi-

He moved so fast, like a beast. He looked like a beast (his obvious bedhead was already a mess before their little scuffle, but now it was in disarray, the tips curling ever so slightly- and he was bleeding heavily on his arm, his navy button down no longer on him since he had apparently taken it off.)

(But she didn't keep looking at him, inspecting him, because while he was attractive and nice to look at, she couldn't keep her guard down.)

She didn't see him move, but the moment she felt his hands wrap around her neck, saw his sharp green eyes just stand out- narrowed and oh so beautiful- she knew he was mad as well. Regret washed over her as he squeezed his hold on her.

She couldn't breathe, she couldn't breathe. The man slammed her to the gate of the prison, head slamming so hard that she started getting dizzy... or maybe it was the lack of air that was causing that. Nevertheless, she knew she couldn't get out. She wheezed, she clawed at his hand with her free one.

"If I'm some fucking monster, then how about I eat you, little miss witch."

She didn't hear him, too preoccupied with trying to stay alive, to get free- all she saw was his mouth forming words and she wished she listened because he had a crazy look- as if any humanity, any resemblance to being a human, had left him.

He tightened his grip and she choked out a gasp, stopped clawing at his hand and was just gripping it weakly. His breath was near her ear- though it wasn't anything nice- he sounded depraved, hungry, starving.

Panic filled her.

She used her other arm, raising it, ready to yank his head away.

Realization hit her, she still had her knife.

She still had her knife!

It took some time for her to concentrate, her breathing becoming shallower and shallower, the whole pose was wrong for this, she can't even hit him on one of his vital veins, can't kill him this way. Shaking those thoughts out, she gripped her knife tightly and in a strange angle, stabbed him on the stomach, as deep as she could go.

He yelled in pain and let go of her, causing her to fall to the ground and hit her head once more on the bars. She didn't even know he had her up in the air, all just by holding onto her neck- he was strong.

Buttercup was wheezing, holding onto her neck as she tried to regulate her breathing, tried to clear the dizziness away. She glanced towards the man- he was moaning in pain, holding onto his stomach, his hands stained with red.

He wasn't looking at her.

That was good, she couldn't handle looking at him.

He was so frightening.

She gripped her knife tighter.

"Buttercup, leave while you have the chance..."

Ace..

Then a light push through the bars, and she got up, stumbling slowly as she steadied herself and then, making eye contact with the handsome man once more, she ran.

Ran like she did before, ran through the mansion until she finally found the entrance and just sprinted out the mansion. Her heart was beating fast, her legs felt weak, her head still dizzy (pounding) from all of that, but she kept going, adrenaline pumping through her veins.

Doesn't recall where her house was, instead choosing a random direction. Passing the dying trees, passing the feeling of drowsiness occurring once more.

She missed her footing, and then everything became blurry.

(She saw blue.)

And she landed on a blond boy.

Lips barely touching.

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"In this real tragedy, you'd be the queen."

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Butch woke up inside his room.

What wakes him up isn't the voices of those around them, ranging from concern to exasperation, no instead it was a sudden burst of pain- and he let out a loud groan, instinctively moving his hand to his stomach.

The voices seized, and instantly a handful of green, blue, pink and red filled his vision.

"Butch, you goddamn idiot!" Brute scolded, pushing the others aside just so she can inspect Butch throughout. "Honestly, you had us worried sick! You don't pick up Brat and then she finds you in the prison cell nearly dead!" She kept on rambling, all while throwing insults every other word.

He blocked her out like usual, and turned to look at Brick who just glared at him. Then he looked over at Brat, who was trying to figure what kind of face to make, and so far it was just a mix of worry and anger. Finally he looked over at Berserk, who appeared restless.

"Hey Brick," He called out, interrupting Brute from her long rant about how he was an idiot. Brick raised an eyebrow, "No Butch, I will not massage your shoulders just because you're hurt, get the fuck over it."

"Oh my God, that was one time I asked." Butch whined, slowly sitting up- wincing at that action that led Brute to yell at him to stop rushing the healing. "Jesus, shut the fuck up you're annoying!" He snapped at her.

"Maybe I wouldn't be so annoying if you actually, I don't know, had a fucking brain? What kind of idiot gets himself hurt? How did you get yourself hurt anyways?" She threw her hands up, "And why the fuck is this place a mess?"

"How about you shut your mouth and I'll tell you, huh?" He got close to her face, voice getting lower, "I'm still pretty fucking angry from what happened earlier, and I'm not afraid to fuck you up."

That shut her up.

Yet it caused the room to grow restless, as Brute took a step back, Brat appeared frightened and Berserk now had a glare on her face- but Brick, he still appeared normal as if it was normal.

Well it wasn't wrong.

Brick had deal with Butch's random outburst of anger from time to time, had learned how to deal with them and actually get Butch to calm down. He was like an older brother to him, and to Boomer as well. So at times like this, when not even the mages can do anything, Brick steps forward and ushers them out. Literally.

Once he was sure they were in a far distance, telling the servants to keep them in the separate room, he made his way back to Butch. He needed privacy, yet he needed to tell Brick what happened, to explain why he was bleeding from his stomach and why he was bleeding from his arm.

"Just know, I'm still not massaging your shoulders." He told him as he closed the door and walked over to the seat next to Butch's bed.

"Here I am, on my death bed, and you can't even do something as nice as that? I'm offended." Butch chuckles, his anger cooling down but it was still there, with the way he gripped his sheets, and his eyes still appeared cold and ruthless.

"You wanted to tell me something, huh?" Brick began, "So just get it out before Brute kicks the door down." He motioned to the door. Butch only chuckled at that, leaning back on his pillow. "As if, I think I scared her."

Brick shrugged.

"You scare everyone."

"Wow, thanks man."

"No problem, so go on and say what's on your mind or I'm kicking you out of the bed."

Butch rolled his eyes but complied either way. He rolled his shoulders, careful with his injured arm and looked over to where the girl's, Buttercup, bag was. Or was it a satchel? He didn't know.

"A girl showed up at my doorstep, begging for a place to stay," He stared at Brick, trying to gauge a reaction but all he got was a blank stare. Typical. "I was going to say no, but man you should have seen her."

Brick now looked interested. "Are you saying she was pretty?"

"Beautiful." Butch corrected him, closing his eyes, "She was so magnificent to look at- and you know I hate saying this shit cause it's corny but man she was so beautiful. Fair skin, looked so smooth and so fragile- and her hair it was as dark as the night and I swear I could have seen some stars."

Brick nodded, "Was that all?" He asked, already knowing that no, that wasn't all because Butch appeared as if he was in a daze just remembering this girl.

"No, god no... Her lips man, they were so red, they looked so nice too. And don't get me started on her body- she was shorter than me, like I know I'm pretty tall but she was so small next to me, but then I saw what was under that brown cloak was muscles! Like seriously, she had the perfect body." Butch rambled, licking his dry lips.

"But then, she passed out on my bed... God she's a horrible sleeper, drool everywhere and just a goddamn mess." He continued, looking down at his sheets, loosening his grip on them. Brick leaned forward, making a noise as if to tell him to continue.

"So I... I, uh, looked through her stuff to confirm something. I'll tell you when you get the mages back here, they need to know too." He sighed, "As I was saying, I looked through her stuff and I found some weapons, other things... And then I call Brat to come over y'know, cause Brute wasn't answering me."

"Oh, I think it was because I passed out earlier." Brick mentioned, nodding, "That's probably why she ignored your calls."

"Thanks for causing this, Brick." He grinned, and then cleared his throat to continue with his story. "So then I check on the girl and she's awake, but she's like confused then scared I guess? I don't know why, since she was the one knocking on my door, demanding a place to stay and then she starts screaming and running around like fucking up the place."

"That explains the hallways."

"No kidding, Brick. SO anyways, I'm obviously following her, trying to get her to stop and then she stops when she enters the prison. I guess she knew the prisoner in there cause she's like all happy he's there and then the next minute she's calling me a monster and aiming a knife at me." He posed.

"How did she get the knife? Weren't they in her bag?"

"Had one in her pocket I think, I dunno, she just had one. Then like she throws herself at me and then gets on top of me, which was fucking hot like honestly if the knife wasn't there I'd be a wet dream."

Brick recoiled in disgust.

"God, you're such a prick Brick. Okay, so like she's straddling me, perfect to ride me, but instead of like getting my fantasy to come true, she tries to stab me! Like I saw her get the knife, and I'm like what the fuck so I just growl and then she's like what the fuck-"

Brick stopped him, placing a hand in front of his mouth. "Speak properly, Butch. You're an adult."

"Pain in the ass. As I was saying, she tries to stab me, I call her a monster and I guess she gets super man so she like just GOES FOR IT! I blocked it with my arm like an expert, obviously, and she's so shocked. Then she like tries to stab me again so I threw her off me." At that point, he starts frowning, starts clutching his sheets harder and just appears out of it.

"Butch..." Brick begins, trying to get him out of the daze. He keeps calling for him, reaching out and grabbing onto his shoulders.

"Butch snap out of it!"

Butch blinks slowly, then finally looks around and evens out his breathing. "I... Oh, I.. Sorry. Um, where was I?"

"You threw her off you..."

"Yeah, yeah, okay. So I threw her off, and suddenly I'm really mad like- she stabbed me and tried to stab me again for no explanation, hell I was nice to her so I don't understand? Like, I'm livid, I want her dead..." His voice is cracking, eyes getting glassy, "I don't like it when I'm thinking like that... I don't want her dead, you know? I still want to see her, ask her what I did wrong, but at that time I just wanted to choke her to death... I almost did. I had her pretty neck between my hands, I was squeezing and she seemed so close to just giving in."

He shuddered, running a hand through his messy hair.

"But then she stabbed me. I think it was for the best, she ran off already..."

Silence fell between them, with the occasional grunt of pain from Butch. He tried wiping his tears away, and Brick just looked away, giving him that one moment of pure vulnerability to himself.

He's always been a crybaby.

Once Butch calmed down, Brick called the mages inside.

They appeared fine, Brute no longer looking like her life was about to end. That was good, he didn't like making the mages scared. They tried, he knew, they tried for all of them. It's just that with all their trying, the expected so much from them.

No one should expect anything from Butch, he's not a great person.

That's why he got the curse in the first place.

"Butch told me he had something to tell all of us, something important." Brick announced, then turned to Butch. "Go on, tell us."

Butch nodded, then pointed to the bag on the floor. "Get that for me please, there's something inside I should show you all." Brute was quick to get it for him, not even letting Berserk or Brat move an inch.

She threw it carelessly at him, and he smacked her with his non-injured arm. "You fucking asshole, I'm injured!" Brute rolled her eyes at him, "Oh shut up and just tell us."

"Bitch." He muttered, opening the bag and looking through it, then finally pulled out a shell. Brute and Brat appeared bored, with the latter letting out a long sigh. Berserk looked terrified, and Brick appeared very interested.

"I found this shell in my, um, perpetrators bag. Any clue where this belongs? Let me give you a hint, it's from the ocean."

Berserk looked like a fish, opening and closing her mouth as if she was trying the right words to say.

"The Sea Kingdom." Brick answered.

"Correct! So I heard from Brute about this Sea Witch, now let me tell you this, this girl might be the Witch!" He concluded, not even pausing to glance at everyone's reactions, he already knew what they were. Brute looked scared as hell, Brat now looked interested, Berserk looked pissed, and Brick just looked lost now.

"And I found out her name! Buttercup!" Now that made Berserk look lost.

"What? That can't be right." She said, "The Sea Witch doesn't go by that name. She has a few alias, such as the Witch of Despair, Queen of the Deep Sea, but none of them are Buttercup. You must be mistaken." She looked at the shell, "Yet who is this person."

Butch mumbled angrily, crossing his arms and pouting like a child.

"Wait, you said Buttercup right?" Brick asked, finally clicking everything together, The dark hair, fair skin, that uncommon name... Surely it couldn't be...

His childhood friend, and ex-fiance Buttercup Utonium.

"Yeah." Butch mumbled, obviously upset that he was wrong.

Brick sighed, licking his lips nervously.

"I used to be engaged to a girl named Buttercup."

Suddenly everyone looked at him, silence filling the room once more. It annoyed Brick, because they were just staring as if he should explain more, but he doesn't know more, he seriously doesn't.

"...I had a wet fantasy about your ex-fiance riding me? Oh my God. Dude I am so awful."

And Butch had to break the silence with that.

Luckily, before anyone can bombard him with any questions, the shell rang.

Everyone locked eyes.