Author: ViktorNikiforovKearsey (Sorry Joeneauxvieve wrote the last chapter she just forgot to sign it!)

Yuri and Otabek made their way through the dimly lit forest surrounding the castle, breathing heavily. Otabek slid his blade free of its studded scabbard, the shiny silver blade catching the minimal light the from the full moon above. He held it up before him for a moment, taking in the etched insignia near the hilt of the blade. Otabek grimaced, slashing downwards with the sword and taking out a large cluster of vines barring their way , sending water sailing about. Yuri followed quietly behind, his head bowed and his feet catching on thin vines littered over the dirt path. He held his hands out carefully in front of himself, getting as far away from the obsidian manacles locked about his wrists as he possibly could, given they were fastened about him.

"Otabek, please slow down." Yuri stumbled, his soaked hair flying about. He was soaked to the bone, the rain from the storm overhead rolling down his face. The ferocity of the storm was dulled thanks to the thick blanket of trees above, but this didn't stop the rain. It soaked through everything, the pirozhkis Yuri could see in Otabek' pockets likely becoming soggy and inedible. He sighed, his feet tangling below him. Yuri gasped as he fell to the floor, his wings fluttering above his helpless body.

"Yuri, get up. Now. We have to get out of here," Otabek ordered forcefully, glaring at the still boy. Yuri could feel the exhaustion threaten to take over his body.

"Yuri, we haven't gone anywhere yet. We're barely past the gates. How..." Realization dawned on his face.

"Why couldn't my father have at least taken you for WALKS?" he muttered under his breath, crouching down and picking Yuri up. He slung him over his shoulder.

"Catch your breath. I'm putting you back down soon. I can't carry you that far, okay? No matter how light you are," Otabek said, sliding his sword back into its scabbard and placing his arms around Yuri. Yuri felt warm inside, the feeling of Otabek's warm hands on his cold body causing him to relax. He could hear Otabek chuckle beneath him as he let the tension flow from his body. The bounding nature of Otabek's confident steps shook Yuri, and he saw the path they had taken. They walked for maybe ten minutes without any sign of danger, and Yuri slowly paid less and less attention to their path. He closed his eyes slightly, suddenly unable to keep his eyes open. Then he gasped.

"OTABEK, WATCH OUT!" Yuri yelled, but it was too late. Otabek collapsed beneath him, clutching his shoulder around the dart that had just moments earlier hit him. The shadow Yuri had seen only seconds earlier flitted past again, and Yuri ducked to avoid the dart that it shot at him. Yuri turned to Otabek, suddenly terrified.

"Otabek! Oh my god OTABEK! Are you okay?! Please be okay!" He yelled frantically, placing his hands on Otabek and glancing around, terrified. He could feel his heart threaten to burst when he thought of everything he would have to endure if they took him back to the castle.

He was also just a tiny bit worried for Otabek, but he would never admit that.

Yuri felt a presence behind him and he sat in place, shaking violently. He closed his eyes, bracing for the dart that was sure to come.

"Are you truly the Faerie prince?" asked the raspy, and strangely feminine, voice. A hand settled on his shoulder, manicured nails digging into his arm.

"Y-Yes," whispered Yuri, clenching his fingers.

"Give this to my brother." Yuri turned around, confused. The voice belonged to a strangely familiar woman. She had short, two-toned hair, her ears studded with at least a dozen earrings. She stood like a royal, her hips swayed to the right and her hand resting on her sword scabbard.

Then the woman dropped the Chryso Aima family crest into Yuri's lap, and Yuri's eyes went wide. He looked at the woman again, a name surfacing out of his broken memory.

"MARI!" yelled Yuri, jumping up and embracing his aunt. "Why are you here?"

"I came to break you out. What is he doing?" She pointed down to Otabek, who was glaring up at her maliciously. He had long since pulled the dart out of his shoulder, but his breathing was ragged and his face torn up in pain.

"Same as you." Crown Princess Mari looked contemplative, cocking her head at the writhing 19 year old. She shrugged her shoulders, pulling a bottle out of a small hide bag at her hip. Her belt sagged at her hips, indicating she'd lost some weight in the past months. Yuri wondered how long she'd been out there, searching for the best moment to sneak him out.

Mari swore, opening the bottle and tipping out its contents. Or would have, if there had been anything in the bottle.

"I'm sorry, I'm out of salve. You have no idea how often I pricked myself on those darts when I first got out here. I didn't think it was empty though." She sighed, dropping the bottle into the dirt and crushing it beneath the sole of her shoe. The bottle smashed, the shards slowly disappearing down the tiny rivers caused by the harsh storm overhead. Otabek gasped.

"That'll destroy our ecosystems! What are you doing?!" Mari laughed, pointing at the glass.

"You forget; I'm a Faerie. It's magic, hon." Yuri was as worried as Otabek at first, but as he knelt forward, he realized Mari was right. The glass was dissolving into the water, leaving a rainbow discoloration in the water before disappearing altogether. Otabek let out a breath Yuri was sure he didn't know he'd been holding, wincing and curling up again. Yuri suddenly felt odd; a weird, uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach was working its way up his spine as he watched Otabek helplessly. Yuri wrapped his arms around himself, glancing back at Mari.

"Is there anything we can do to help him?" Yuri's manacles clanked together, creating a sound like a warning bell and ultimately catching Mari's attention. She lurched forward, taking in the black rock and touching it lightly with her fingertips, her brown wings fluttering, frightened, behind her. She lifted the restraints, taking in the weight and noticing Yuri's swollen and bruised wrists.

"Did you do this to him?!" Mari yelled, turning and glaring at Otabek, who looked in no condition to speak, much less argue.

"It—it was—precaution..." He said breathily, gasping. Mari let go of Yuri and he toppled to the floor, the renewed weight of the manacles knocking his frail body down. Mari turned and glanced back at him worriedly. He nodded, signaling he was okay, and Mari turned back to Otabek, murder in her eyes.

"You DARE hurt him! If you touch a single hair on his head, feather on his..." Mari stopped, realization dawning on her.

"Yuri," she gasped, her breathing uneven and the murder in her eyes turning into something akin to horror.

"What happened to your wings?"

Yuri didn't want to explain what happened to him over his many years stay at the Asimenio castle, but he had no other choice. Mari was desperate, and Yuri didn't think Otabek would handle it very well. After he requested of his aunt that she remain civilized, he began.

Mari remained composed the entire time, listening as Yuri explained everything that happened in the dungeons of Asimenio. Given, Yuri had had to restrain her from slitting Otabek's throat open quite often, but she remained calm the entire time. She just looked sadly at Yuri, fiddling with the blade behind her back that Yuri was eventually required to confiscate.

"They did that to you?" The composure that Mari had maintaining was threatening to come apart; the shining tears in her eyes proving as much. Yuri looked down sadly, removing his sack-like shirt and turning around.

Mari traced her fingers over the deep scars around Yuri's fledgling wings. Faerie's wings became fully grown by the time they were 16, but the removal of Yuri's wings meant he essentially had to start all over again. Yuri's wings wouldn't be fully regrown until he reached the age of 26 or so, Mari reasoned.

"26 though. You'll probably be king by then. Viktor and Yuuri hate violence, and yet they are using it against King Leroy. Yuuri will probably abdicate the throne when you get back." She said it with such sincerity, Yuri couldn't help the shiver that traveled up his spine. He was not looking forward to possibly becoming king anytime soon. He hadn't even been there for the past four years; how could he be expected to make decisions for the kingdoms future if he wasn't even there for much of its past?

Otabek gasped, catching Yuri's attention. He turned towards the man, placing his fingers on the lapels of his coat as he stared into his glazed eyes. Yuuri could feel Otabek's fever, however; Mari had run out of the medicine. Yuri had absolutely no idea what to do. He just knelt before Otabek, taking in his ragged breathing and slow movements. Yuri glanced back at Mari hopefully, but she just stood.

"Yuri, I wish there was something I could do. I don't have any more salve. If you can get Otabek back to Chryso Aima, however, you might be able to save him. You'll have to be quick though." Something about the way Mari spoke bothered Yuri, but he didn't catch it until he'd picked Otabek up and started to carry him off towards the deep forest.

"Wait, Mari... you said 'you'…" Mari looked downcast, her eyes cast at a small pile of rocks by the tree stump she had just risen from.

"I can't come with you. King Leroy will be desperate after losing his heir." She paused, glancing at Otabek. He was sleeping deeply and fitfully at Yuri's feet. He couldn't carry him any longer. Mari turned back to Yuri, grimacing.

"I don't want to miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime. If King Leroy is desperate for Otabek, he might act stupidly and expose himself to the public. I want to be able to end this." She stood firm; resolute. Yuri knew he wouldn't be able to change Mari's mind; therefore he did the only thing he could.

"Please come back... when you're done." He could feel Mari's tears on his hair, which surprised him more than just a little.

"Mari, are you all right?" She looked up at the trees high above their heads.

"I'm sorry, Yuri. I'm not coming back." She buried her face in his hair, but it lasted only a brief moment. Mari held him at arm's length and wiped her tears away with her hand. She sniffled, smiling lightly.

"I wish I could have known you longer, Yuri. Please tell my brother I love him."

"I will. I just wish you could tell him yourself." He could feel the tears leaking down his face, but he didn't try to wipe them away. He hadn't seen Mari in over four years, but she had always been more of a sister to him than an aunt. She was only 28, nearly ten years younger than her brother, Yuuri, but she was a child at heart. Yuri would play with her when he was younger because she was the only person Yuuri and Viktor truly trusted him with.

"I love you, Yuri, and I promise you; you will make it home. You are destined to." She hugged him one last time, but that didn't stop the flow of tears streaming down her face.

"Goodbye, Mari-Chan." Yuri turned back to Otabek, suddenly stuck.

"Uhh... Mari, I can't carry him. I can barely carry myself." Yuri admitted worriedly, turning back to Mari. She sighed, pain visible in her face. She clenched her fists together before raising trembling hand and whistling twice shrilly, new tears in her eyes.

"Mari-" Yuri started, but was cut off by the most beautiful white pegasus he'd ever seen. She bounded into the clearing, her pure white mane flying in the breeze. Her bright magenta eyes were aimed directly at Mari and she bowed, her front legs bending at the knee as she knelt.

"This is my pegasus, Yukko. She has been faithful to me all these years, but she was not originally a horse. She was a human named Yukko Nishigori, but after her husband disappeared four years ago with you and Michele, she chose to become a mare pegasus. She has been bound to me all these years, but you must take her. She will surely die if she were to remain here with me, and she would be able to carry Otabek. However, she will not be able to fly with both of you, and because your wings are not nearly strong enough to carry you distances, you will have to ride. I'm sorry. It will take you longer, but you will likely be able to get there within the next four days. Once you reach the water, she can take you over one at a time. Please, go." She leaned in a whispered something to Yukko, who nodded her head deeply. She galloped forward, plucking Otabek from the ground like a rag doll and swinging him onto her back. She looked at Yuri expectantly, nudging Otabek and her saddle.

"Yuri, she wants you to get on." Yuri looked back at Mari one last time, tears springing from his eyes again, but Mari just waved.

"さようなら, Yuuri." Yuri turned and slid into the saddle of the horse, supporting Otabek as Yukko turned towards home and proceeded to galop away. Mari stood still for a moment, falling to her knees. Then she stood, wiped away her sorrows, and made her way to the Asimenio castle. She had given Yuri one last look before she ran, however. A look than said only one thing.

I will have my revenge.