| ※ SUBMISSIONS >> NOVEL Cover From the Storm Title: Cover From the Storm
"Sapphi is mean!" Alex shouted, making sure his subordinate could hear him. His attention was shortly caught by a butterfly passing him by, when he remembered why he was standing there, shouting and being angry. He turned around to his fighting partner. "Sapphi said he won't cook for me today if I don't learn how to use magic!" Beryl let out a long sigh. The entire trip up the mountain he had to put up with listening to Alex complain about having to continue his lessons during the brief summer season of the Abyss, when he should be out having fun instead. It wasn't like he was thrilled about having to fight out in the hot either, but Sapphirus was right, the prince really couldn't afford to lose any practice time. "The sooner you stop whining about it and just do it, the sooner it will be over with," Beryl said tartly. "Now try to concentrate on this!" "Beryl!" Alex said outraged. "You are my friend! You are supposed to be on my side! Also, I need to eat when I need energy for performing magic. Sapphi should know that! I will get smaller and smaller if I don't eat, and then Platina can't fight me, because I will be so small he won't see me anymore! And everyone will step on me and I will die!" For a moment, Alex really seemed to believe what he was saying until he sat down, smiling and forgetting his problems. "Look! I have found a beetle!" Beryl slapped his face down into his palm. "If only you could cast magic as well as you overexaggerate, then you'd never have to worry about losing to Platina." He walked over and grabbed Alex by the arm, pulling him up. "Come on, if you improve just enough that I can convince Sapphirus that my training was successful, then we can go swimming afterwards, and I won't tell him about it." "Swimming?" Alex asked. "Oh, that would be so great! It is so hot! Isn't it amazing that the sun knows that it has to shine when it is day and stop shining when it gets dark? Why does the sun know that? And what if the sun decides to shine some more and the moon is already there... do they fight then?" "Hmm, I don't even notice the passing of the days anymore..." he said thoughtfully, a slightly distant look on his face. "But you really don't know such fundamentals of science?" Beryl made a devious grin. "You know, I could tell Sapphirus that, and then you'd be stuck reading science books all evening." "No!" he exclaimed. "You must not tell Sapphi! I hate reading! The letters all look the same and the sentences are so long, and when I pronounce a word wrong, Sapphi makes me read the whole sentence three times! And then he expects me to learn something when I'm just concentrating on recognizing the stupid letters!" He sat down in the grass again, playing with some flowers. "After all I am the Ouji... I should not be forced to read." Looking at Beryl, he had another brilliant idea. "Beryl! You are the most intelligent friend I have! You know so many things, you also know why the sun and the moon don't fight. I bet you even know why the grass is green and the sky is blue and why there are clouds dancing in front of the sun!" Closing his eyes, he enjoyed the warm wind. "I really envy you. You can use magic very well and you know a lot... and you can climb trees!" Beryl smiled. "I'm flattered, really... But I've had a lot longer to learn such things, and you are just beginning." He sighed. "And now everything is just so boring. So I envy you, because you are still full of so much energy." He looked up at the sky, seeing the clouds pulling in as Alex had mentioned. "Hmm, it's going to rain. That will be good, we could use it in this dry heat. But..." He frowned. "We should head back to camp, but if you return without having improved your magic skills at all, not only will you be in trouble, but /I'll/ be in trouble too." "Return?" Alex asked. "But you said we would go swimming afterwards!" He stood up, increasing the distance between them. "Alright, let's get my defense magic work done first so that I can cope with Sapphirus's complaining later on... I am ready. Go ahead and cast a spell!" Beryl let out a sigh of relief, thankful that Alex was finally being serious. But he felt he couldn't be too hard on him; even though it had been so long ago that he only had faint memories left, he did remember he'd been just as stubborn at that age. "All right, make sure to 'feel' for the flow of magic so you know where it will land, and be there with a countering energy that will break the spell," he instructed as he sent a weak water spell in the prince's direction. Alex at least tried to concentrate, but instead of using his own magic, he bent down, trying to escape it that way. "Hehehe!" Sitting on the ground, he noticed that he could not completely escape the attack. "My hat!" he shouted. "You made my hat fall off!" As he was about to stretch out his hand to get the hat, the wind blew the hat further away. "UAH!" Alex shouted. "Beryl! We have to get my hat back! I like it so much! Even more than my shoes!" His eyes all watery, he started to run after the hat. Beryl palmed his face again. "Alex-ouji, please don't do anything stupid!" Of course that wasn't going to help things any. Resigned, he ran after him a ways, but then stopped, realizing that was just too much effort. Instead he concentrated his power and reappeared right behind Alex, effectively grabbing him by the shoulder and halting him. "Wuah!" Alex exclaimed, but he smiled as he realized it was Beryl. "I got my hat back! But I fell down and now my knee is bleeding." Actually it didn't look serious, but Alex sat down and held his leg. "I don't think it will ever get better. It feels like my knee is broken! And I have lost so much blood already!" Alex suddenly reached for Beryl. "Look! I have caught a raindrop!" Looking at the tiny drop in his hand, he realized something else. "It is so dark now... has the sun already gone to sleep? And it has also gotten colder..." Beryl looked back up at the sky. "We really do have to head back. I'll have to give Sapphirus innocent eyes and explain I could not keep you from running off any better than he can." He reached his hand down and lifted Alex up, feeling the raindrops starting to splatter against his skin. "We need to hurry." "Do you know the way back to the tent?" Alex asked. "You probably won't believe me, but I have no idea where I came from. I just tried to get my hat and suddenly I was falling down and rolling on the grass and then the hat was lying in front of me!" He complained some seconds later, "Ouch! The raindrops are taller than before and they also hurt. Ouch! Make it stop, Beryl!" Beryl quickly threw his third vision outward, scanning, then pulled back. "I know where the tent is, but there is no way we'd get back before this storm gets worse." Already the rain from the sudden summer shower was getting heavier. Pushing wet hair away from his face, he pointed upwards toward an indenture in the rocks on the mountain ledge. "We can wait out the storm there." Alex had no idea what Beryl was talking about. "Hey, you!" he shouted towards the sky. "I am your Ouji! You have to do what I tell you! And I tell you to stop!" Noticing the rain didn't stop, he got more furious. "When I am King, I won't allow you to rain anymore!" He stretched out his hand, pointing at the sky, when a lightning bolt appeared right at the place he was pointing at. Shocked, Alex drew back his hand, turning around to Beryl. "Did you see that? That was my magic!" "Very impressive, Baka," Beryl said, turning him by his shoulder and grabbing his hand, pulling him toward the hillside. "This is going to be a rough climb, since it is muddy and the rocks are wet, but at least it isn't too far up. I'll help you." With that he crawled up onto a ledge, and then reached down for Alex's hand to help him up. Alex held Beryl's hand and tried to follow him. It was not easy for him, without Beryl's guiding hand he would have fallen down many times. Breathing heavily, he knelt on the muddy rocks. "I can't... go any further. It's too hard for me. I prefer getting wet, no more climbing for the Ouji!" he complained some more, when there was suddenly the sound of thunder. Alex immediately was silent, hugging Beryl's feet. "Wh... Wh... What... was that? Was that an earthquake? Or an angel? Or Platina? Or your stomach?" "...Or a monster that eats stubborn ouji," he said, rolling his eyes. "There are only two more inclines, you can make it," Beryl said as he hefted Alex up onto the next outcropping and then scrambled up after him, repeating the process until they were finally on the ledge with the cave. "Monster?" Alex asked, looking more terrified than ever. "Beryl! Hurry! I don't want to be eaten!" He ran around like a maniac, stumbling and falling down again. "Woah! Beryl! There was the monster's call again! You have to help me! Do something!" Alex begged with a very whiny voice. With an exasperated sigh Beryl took Alex's hand and led him into the cave. "We can wait out the storm here," he said as he pushed wet blue curls that were stuck to the side of his face away. "Maybe we can escape the storm," Alex said, running in circles around Beryl. "But what about the monster, which eats ouji? What if it finds us here? Then I am trapped! Helpless! Food!" "They only like the taste of annoying ouji, so if you calm down and stop whining, you should be fine," Beryl smirked. "Come here." "Oh... alright," Alex whispered as he walked over to Beryl, still looking at the lightning outside. "But... I am still afraid... Is this... the fight between the sun and the moon?" "No... It's just moisture building up in the clouds, and being released as water. It's actually a good thing in this hot weather, because it cools things down and gives the plants a drink so they don't dry out." He reached out and took off Alex's hat, wringing water out of it and then setting it aside, and then moved to unhook his cape to do the same. "You don't have to be afraid." "I... I am still afraid," Alex admitted. "But when you say that it is alright, it is alright. And if it is good to cool down, then I won't complain anymore." Watching curiously, Alex noticed Beryl was undressing him. "But... Why do you want to see me naked?" he asked innocently. "Baka..." Beryl mumbled, his cheeks a little red as he pulled off Alex's gloves. "You'll catch a cold if you stay in those wet clothes! Now lift your arms so I can get the shirt off." Lifting his arms, Alex was still confused. "But why is it more healthy to run around naked? Sapphi said I'll get ill if I do that. And why don't you undress? Can't you catch a cold?" "Err..." Well, he did have a point. Beryl let out a nervous laugh. "Well, you are right, but it is more important that you don't get sick, Alex-ouji." "But you are the Ouji's friend, so it is also important that you don't catch a cold as well!" Alex said, trying to undress Beryl, but failing immediately. "Nnnnn~! One more time! Nnnnnnnnnnnn~! Ah! It doesn't come off! How do you get it off? Is there a hidden button?" "Don't worry yourself with it," Beryl said as he captured Alex's hands and pulled them away. He pulled off his yellow sash, continuing, "Do you think you could manage a small fire spell so we have something to keep warm by and dry our clothes?" "You... You want me to use magic?" Alex asked, flattered. "You really think I can do that?" He hopped around, eventually sitting down. "Alright... I'll give it a try!" He concentrated, stretching out his hands, closing his eyes as he tried to cast a fire spell. But instead of fire, water dripped from his hands. "/Hey/! I want fire!" Alex shouted, breathing heavily. "And when I say fire, I want fire!" Trying again, a big flame appeared, bigger than he intended it to be, making him scream, "/Beryl/! I did it! I can cast a fire spell... somehow! But... my shoes are burnt now." "That isn't too bad. The more you practice, the better you'll get. That's why Sapphirus keeps assigning you these practice sessions even out in the hot weather." Beryl guided his hands down to let the flame catch on the stick debris he'd piled together to make a small fire. "Now, either just concentrate on the flames disappearing from your hands, or do like you did before, and make your hands wet, which would cancel the spell." "Alright." Alex nodded. "I'll try to get the fire off my hands..." He closed his eyes again, and in the next second water appeared again. "Hey, I didn't want that stupid water back!" he shouted angrily, but was glad the flames were now gone. "That's exactly the reason why I hate magic! Anyway, what do we do now? I am freezing and that stuff out there keeps getting worse... Have you seen how dark the sky is now?" "Yes, it really has brewed up quite a storm all of a sudden," Beryl replied as he glanced at the heavy rain outside, pulling off his wet blue stalkings. "The fire will warm things up a little bit. You did very well on that counterspell, as well. Maybe I really will be able to convince Sapphirus that you don't need to spend so much of your summer on training." After peeling off his black bodysuit, he moved his clothes near the fire to let them dry, and then slid over to Alex, placing the palm of a scraped hand over the cut on Alex's knee. He shut his eyes briefly in concentration and then his hand lit up with a white light, placing a soothing healing spell over the wound. "Did you get any other scrapes or cuts from the climb up?" "Woah!" Alex said, touching his knee. "Beryl, you are so good with magic! I envy you so much! Ano, I don't have any scrapes from the climb up," Alex said, a little bit embarrassed. "But... the other day... I was trying to climb a tree, like you did. And I fell down and my back hurt very much then, but I didn't dare to tell Sapphi. He would have made me listen to his lectures and then write them down and I didn't want to do that. It still hurts... but only... a little bit..." "Baka." Beryl moved behind him, rubbing his scraped hands together, allowing a faint curing energy to build on them. First he allowed a bit of the energy to sink into his hands, watching as the scrapes incured from the climb seemed to melt away from his palms, and then he ran them gently over Alex's back. "You know, even I can't climb trees." "But I was looking for you," Alex said. "I couldn't find you and I thought I could see you from up in a tree. Or that you maybe were climbing a tree. You always disappear without telling me where you are going... I can never talk to you!" He laid down, making sure his back was really healed again, smiling as he did so. "No pain! Thank you, Beryl! I wish that one day I can use magic like you do!" "If you'd pay attention and put a little effort into it, it would be much easier for me to teach you. I know you don't like hearing it, but your sanbou is right: you'll only get better with practice." He looked down at Alex, his green eyes matching the red ones, the one physical feature, other than the innocence that always seemed to emanate from his face, that reminded him of just how different the prince was from... He shook off the thought, then brushed back the wet golden bangs from Alex's face. "But just what would be so important that you'd need to talk to me about to go to all that effort?" "I... I don't know," Alex admitted. "Just... talking. I feel like I can talk to you about everything when I can't do that with the others. Don't misunderstand, I just feel like... that it is different with you. When I talk to Ruby, he tries to listen and after some time, he calls for alcohol and medicine against his headache. And when I try to talk to Plum, I end up looking like a princess, and I bet every princess in Naraku would not have so many ribbons in her hair. And Sapphi... when I want to talk to him, he starts talking about how important it is for me to get stronger and nothing else." Alex sighed, leaning on Beryl. "Only you seem to understand me. You ask me questions, not only related to my abilities. And you don't have a headache when I talk. And you don't like ribbons." Beryl gave a little smile. "I wish I could see things as simply as you do." "What do you mean?" Alex asked, confused. "Don't you want to talk to me? Don't you want to be my friend?" "I only meant, I wish I had such a simple perspective on the world. I used to once, a long time ago, but it's been gone for a long time." He turned his eyes, focusing on the small fire, the flames playing off his features. "It's because you see things so simply that I appear like a boy your age that you can relate to." "Ah?" Alex asked, looking at Beryl. "You are... not at my age? But you can't be so old! You have no wrinkles!" Beryl turned back to Alex, smiling at him. "I look really good for my age!" he proclaimed, holding up a finger in emphasis to his statement. "Really?" Alex said, and whispering, added, "I don't want to think about being stuck here with someone who could be my grandfather..." "Older men aren't your type?" Beryl asked, looking at him slyly. "Hmm." Alex thought, touching his mouth with his finger. "I think I don't care. Unless it is some guy like a grandfather, all wrinkled. Wouldn't look good when I married him and he became the Queen..." Noticing what he just said, he immediately stopped talking. "/Ah/! Who said I was interested in guys anyway?" Alex asked, blushing and trying to look away. "What... about you?" Beryl laughed at Alex's reaction. "See, now you've admitted it!" Leaning back with his hands behind him, he cocked his head to look at the rocky ceiling above. "Hmmm... I only like guys that have such a cute face like yours." Being silent for a while, Alex thought about Beryl's last sentence. With a sad voice he eventually said, "But you didn't say you like me, just someone with the same face... so... you mean Platina?" "Platina looks nothing like you!" Beryl sat back up, poking Alex's nose. "You need to listen more carefully... When I said I like guys with a cute face like yours, that is including you because you are the owner of said cute face, right?" "I... don't understand that!" Alex answered. "You didn't say you like me, but my face...? And now you say... you like me, not only my face... Why didn't you say so first then?" Beryl rolled his eyes. "I said it to begin with, you just didn't hear it right." He reached over and grabbed Alex's cape, which seemed to have dried from the heat of the fire, and wrapped it around Alex's cold skin. "You're so oblivious sometimes, that's why you need someone like me to take care of you." "You are cold," Alex noticed, cautiously touching Beryl's hand. He moved closer to Beryl, wrapping his cape around him as well. "You must not catch a cold. If you do so, nobody will like my face anymore." "Appearances aren't so important. I knew someone who looked a lot like you, but you don't really act alike at all. The kindness and gentleness he had felt different than yours, like there was a cloud behind it..." He looked out at the rain, as if his eyes were focusing on something very far away. "Your kindness is warm, like the sun. And you have an innocence that he never had to begin with." "Hmm," Alex said, thinking about what Beryl had said. "I don't really know what you mean. But Sapphi was talking to me about being innocent, something I really didn't understand at all. It was right after we had met Lhodo, and Sapphi was furious and walked around in the tent shouting, I must never lose my innocence, and especially not to someone like her. To comfort you, I don't know what that is, but I don't think I have lost it!" "Heh, he is only referring to one meaning of that word." He pulled a corner of the cape up, using it to towel at Alex's hair. "Still don't understand it," Alex said, smiling a little bit, but getting serious as he asked the next question. "Ne, Beryl... Who was that guy, who looked like me, but wasn't like me? You seemed so sad when you were talking about him. Did he make you sad? If he did so, I will put him in prison until he says that he is sorry for what he did to you! I am the Ouji, I can do that!" "Aah, that doesn't matter anymore! He... He was already put in prison, so it's nothing for you to worry about." Quickly trying to change the subject he asked, "Are you still cold?" "No, you are quite warm." Alex giggled. "Thank you for taking care after me. But... if anyone ever makes you sad, you have to tell me, and then I will be on your side! I promise!" Beryl looked a bit surprised for a moment, but then let his features soften. "You really are quite kind, Alex-ouji." He let out a sigh, pulling Alex into him and guiding his head down to rest on his shoulder. "I only wish things could be easier for you here on out..." "Ah, what do you mean?" Alex asked, leaning on him and enjoying being so close to him. "Actually, I think it is really nice. I feel warm, you are here with me, and I am not afraid of the storm. But I am just a little bit hungry." "Heh, I'm afraid I can't do anything about a hungry stomach. You'll just have to wait the storm out." Beryl looked at the thick sheets of raining falling outside the little refuge. "And from the look of it, I don't think that is going to happen anytime soon." "That's not fair." Alex sighed. "An ouji should never be hungry! But I didn't get breakfast today, because Sapphi said I should practice my magic skills first. But I refused to do it, because I wasn't hungry back then. But now I've done two spells and I didn't get anything to eat!" "Well, complaining about it isn't going to change the fact," Beryl pointed out. "But you should be worrying as well!" Alex pointed out. "What will you do if I die? And when Sapphi finds me here next to you, what will you do? Can you just watch me die like this? Don't you like me at all?" "Alex, stop overexaggerating." Beryl sighed. "Or do you like trying to make people feel guilty? If so, you don't do a very good job of it." He leaned in, whispering over Alex's ear, "You are much cuter when you say nice things." "Hmm... You want me to say nice things?" Alex asked, nodding. "I can do that! I like your eyes a lot. They are as green as the grass in sunshine, and... and also your hair. It has such a nice color, and when I look at it, I feel like I'm looking at the sky." Beryl smiled, looking down onto Alex's face. "Yes, that is definitely much better," he said softly, before he leaned down and gently covered Alex's lips with his own. Confused, the young ouji had no idea what Beryl was doing, but he decided it was nothing bad and closed his eyes, enjoying the warm and cosy feeling inside of him. Beryl ended the kiss and pulled back, surprised that Alex hadn't immediately pulled away, from shock or otherwise. He turned his face away, knowing his cheeks were probably red, and ran his hand back through his blue curls, unsure of what to say. Alex didn't understand why Beryl stopped kissing him, but thought that there was a reason for doing so. Again leaning on his shoulder, Alex said, "Ne, Beryl. I have another nice thing to say. I don't know what that was, but it was really good and it made my stomach very funny. As if there was something inside, tickling me!" "Aaa, that!" Beryl laughed nervously, running a hand over the back of his head and averting his eyes. "Err... that's just to keep you warm! Do you... feel warmer now?" "Yes, I do," Alex said, smiling and closing his eyes. "But I noticed it's getting darker. We won't make it back to the camp today, will we? If we spend the night here, we will need a blanket... and a pillow!" Beryl pulled Alex down, resting his head against his lap, and then laid his cape over him. "Comfortable?" He rubbed his hand over the prince's back. "You need to get some sleep; tomorrow the storm should have passed, and we'll return to the camp." "But," Alex protested, sitting up straight again, "you need to sleep as well! You can't sleep like this!" Alex fetched the remaining cloths, which had all mostly dried. "This shall be our pillow!" Alex announced happily. "And when we lie close together, the cape can keep us both warm!" "All right. Yes, that is a good idea." Beryl laid down beside the golden-haired prince, tucking him against him as he pulled the cape around them. "I am not tired." Alex sighed. "And I don't know how to fall asleep without the bedtime stories Sapphi tells me. Ah, you can tell something about your life, Beryl! I don't know anything about you. I even thought you were at my age!" "Mmm, my life doesn't make for a very good bedtime story, Alex-ouji. I'm sure you'll find out things... in due time." He let out a little yawn. "Come on, get some sleep... You should be tired after everything that happened today." "But it is so nice to be with you!" Alex protested. "When I fall asleep now, I will wake up tomorrow morning and then we will have to go back to the camp, and Sapphi will be angry, and we won't get anything to eat, and I will have to practice a lot." But as he was saying it, he was already yawning. Beryl pulled him in closer, shutting his eyes. "Don't worry about Sapphirus, I'll deal with him. He may be angry at first, but it's only because he is surely worried about you." "Thank you, Beryl," Alex whispered. "I really like you a lot." He closed his eyes and within seconds he was asleep. "Thank you, Ouji," he whispered. As he drifted off to sleep, he knew that this time those words were genuine, unlike when he had heard them so many years ago in the past. ~~~~~
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