Forgotten
Disclaimer: Kyou Kara Maou does not belong to me and I make no money from this work of fanfiction at all.
Timeline: Roughly after the first season, during the search of the last box.
Pairings: Wolfram and Yuuri. Others may be mentioned.
A/N: This started out as a sort of crossover with xxxHolic, before it grew into this. However, there is still the room for that possibility, and I will continue with this as long as I have some inspiration. It's a "Get Yuuri and Wolfram together" piece, and I'm not going to say otherwise. Written for shit and giggles and because I want to smack Yuuri and Wolfram around a bit. It will also have some heavy speculation, as I've not see the whole series.
Fire and night, blood and tears and choking smoke, and the world came in and out of focus. He could hear shouting and screams of pain all around him. Pain radiated from his side as he shook from cold and blood loss.
Shock, part of him noted. He was going into shock, and there was no Conrad to save him this time.
He could feel himself being carried, and the sound of rushing water, and he looked up to see the Seal of the Original King.
"Yuuri," someone whispered, and there was a warmth and salt on his lips, like tears…
And Yuuri, reluctant demon king of New Makoku woke in his room, filled with light and cool breezes.
Relief flooded the boy as he patted himself down.
"No holes in me, no burning, no hurting… Nothing at all!" he said to himself, absurdly cheerful. "It must have been a nightmare! Ne, Wolfram?" craning his head, he looked around. His fiancé somehow always managed to get into his bed, no matter how often he said not to, so he was certain…
"Wolfram?" he blinked, looking around. There was no sign of the hot tempered blond anywhere.
Maybe he had to get up early? Well, it would mean he could go back to sleep if he wanted too… Flopping back into the bed, he frowned. It was cold- all of it but where he had been laying. Grateful as he was for the space and the quiet, he had to wonder why his fiancé had clearly not been there for some time.
Of course, that dream kept haunting him… Sighing, he sat up and threw off the covers, searching for one of his uniforms.
The Blood Pledge Castle was more quiet than usual that morning as he padded down the halls. If it had not been for the chattering of a few maids, he would have wondered if the place was entirely deserted. Of course, this meant that his advisors were probably plotting something without him- again. With a put out sigh, he started towards Gwendal's office. That was where the conspiracies had a tendency to start and…
A flash of blond hair over a blue jacket derailed his train of thought.
"Oi! Wolfram!" He shouted, waving his arms and jogging over. Then he stopped dead, and blinked, rubbing his eyes.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Yuuri mumbled, staring. This man looked to be a couple of years older than Wolfram- the resemblance was uncanny, but the face definitely had much less roundness, and the shoulders were just a shade too wide to be Yuuri's fiancé. "I thought you looked like Wolfram."
The man was puzzled, stepping back. "I am Wolfram von Bielefeld. Do I know you?" The beautiful man crossed his arms.
The body language was mostly right, but he seemed too tired to be Wolfram, Yuri thought, eyes widening.
"Uh… Well- are you sure you're Wolfram?"
"Ah, Heika, there you are!" chirped a familiar voice. Turning, the two saw the familiar black clad form of Murata Ken, following closely by Conrad and Gwendal. "I see you've been reacquainted with Sir Wolfram." He smiled, and Yuuri felt his flesh crawl. Something was very wrong.
"Why would I need to be reintroduced?"
"That's a long story," Conrad said, his tone subdued. To Yuuri's relief, all three of his friends seemed to be the same as he remembered. Though it begged the question of just what had happened.
"Well, heedless of that, Sir Wolfram," and here Murata turned to him, and gestured at Yuuri. "This is Yuuri, the new Maou. He's a little young, and from another world like we told you, but his being here has made almost everyone in the kingdom extremely happy. He is a most worthy King, even if he is very unconventional."
Yuuri's jaw was currently trying to hit his knees as his face swung back and forth like he was watching a tennis match. Wolfram's face was bland, nodding, before he turned to bow at Yuuri.
"I apologize for my rudeness earlier, Heika." A strange expression passed over his face, and his lips parted like he was about to speak- then he stopped and shook his head. "Forgive me. I have duties I must attend."
Without another word, Wolfram walked away, his steps a touch slower, without the crisp snap Yuuri remembered.
"When did I fall into the twilight zone?" Yuuri blurted a moment later. "New Makoku is one thing, but I refuse to go anywhere else!"
Conrad and Murata smiled briefly at the reference, before turning solemn again.
"What exactly do you remember before you woke up?" Murata was the apparent spokesperson this time, and his face was unexpectedly serious. Yuuri stared, and then looked up.
"Uh… I sort of remember…" He looked down, eyes shaded with his hair. "I remember a battle." His words became soft. "I remember looking down and seeing a hole in my side… I was so tired and cold… And then I remember… Something salty, and then I woke up."
He looked up, hoping for some kind of reassurance that it had, in fact, been a horrible nightmare. Instead, they all looked grim.
"I'm afraid that's exactly what happened, Heika," Gwendal finally spoke up, when Conrad could not. He was staring off into the distance, his face creased in pain. "We had found the box- and I and Conrad had managed to convince you to stay here while we, along with His Highness, had gone to retrieve it. What we didn't count on was an attack while we were gone. You marshaled the palace admirably, but…"
"But you were injured." Conrad broke in, voice flat. "You became the Maou, but you used up so much power keeping yourself alive as well as saving everything… Wolfram threw you and Greta into a carriage, and took you to Ulrike. She told him…"
"Shinou would save you, if he would pay the price." Murata took up the thread again.
Yuuri felt his stomach twist. "What?"
"To save you, the Original King took all of Wolfram's Majyutsu. Though the request to save you had a higher price; Shinou demanded what Wolfram valued most."
"Took all his Majyutsu? Why does he look older? Why didn't he know who I am?" Yuuri was bouncing. He hated it when no one would answer his questions!
"His ability to use Maryoku is gone." Gwendal answered this time. "He will never cast spells again."
"What?"
"He will age like Conrad now- that is why his body has changed. He is the physical age he would have been, had he been born a half breed."
"But he was so proud of being a Mazoku," Yuuri shook his head in disbelief. The stubborn young man had given up the very thing that had defined him. "He gave up what mattered most to him."
"No, that was something else," Murata said. His eyes were unseen in the glare of his glasses. "His power was wrenched out… It was used to heal you." He grimaced. "I suppose the Original King was merciful- he let Wolfram say goodbye first."
Yuuri was utterly confused. "Goodbye?"
"What was most important to Wolfram was not his power as a Mazoku," Conrad said, hands shaking, his voice choked. "When Shinou asked me if I could throw everything away… he didn't ask for this."
"Huh?" Yuuri had sweat running down his forehead, jaw still hanging open. Somehow, he just knew he was going to hate what he heard.
"Shinou took from Wolfram the thing he treasured most. He took away Wolfram's memories of you."
The words didn't really connect. Yuuri's brain and his ears decided they weren't on the same circuit and so-
"His memories of me?"
Something in him cracked. It was incomprehensible that Wolfram would treasure him… that… much…
"What do you mean his memories of me?" For some reason he couldn't understand he'd started flapping his arms and dancing.
"He does not remember you. He does not remember you coming to the country. He barely remembers anything from this past year, including your engagement. He only knew that Greta was your daughter… She's not come out of her room since. She knew what had happened but it was still painful for her." Gwendal gained several new wrinkles at that. "As you could tell, he didn't even recognize you."
Yuuri's stomach bred butterflies before his heart hit his feet. It didn't make sense at all. This was Wolfram, the spoiled brat they were talking about. Insanely jealous, violent, prejudiced, and-
Bits of memory that he had tried very hard to ignore over the past year filtered through his mind.
Wolfram being totally incapable of saying no, like when they went out to investigate Stoffel or when it came to healing Hube. That he followed Yuuri halfway around the world. That he had run into fire to save a human child. How he would throw himself between Yuuri and danger… when it didn't involve Yuuri and a potential romantic interest.
He was Greta's other father- the person who looked after her when he was gone.
He also looked utterly adorable in that frilly pink nightgown.
It was Wolfram… and Wolfram wasn't Wolfram any more.
Yuuri looked up at Murata. "What can- can we get them back? I'm fine now… The Original King doesn't need them…"
Murata shook his head. "A fair price, once paid, cannot be returned. We've told Wolfram that he gave up his Maryoku to save the kingdom bravely- his loss of memory is because of an illness. He believes that, and to tell him otherwise would be cruel."
"But- but-"
"Its all we can do, Heika," Gwendal whispered. "Besides… Maybe it's a kindness." The other men sighed, and looked at each other, leaving Yuuri to dance around a little more.
"There is nothing we can do?" Yuuri finally screamed.
"No. I suggest you take this opportunity to enjoy your new freedom, Shibuya," Murata said, smirking. "After all, you're a single man now." Turning, he and the other men left, leaving a dancing demon king behind them.
"But! But! But!"
It seemed that the nightmare had never ended.
To be continued.