“How did you get out of the dungeon?”

  That question that was far more similar to a demand was the first thing Haven knew to say after watching Lavimo so effortlessly teleport into the room they shared in Lilino’s estate. After all, it was impossible to teleport inside the dungeon thanks to Nadia organizing Artemis and others with the concept of spellcasting to create a boundary that blocked it, and it should be impossible for normal people to get out of the concept numbing chains. All in all, Lavimo being here shouldn’t be possible, and that unknown variable agitated them.

  It wasn’t like they’d wanted Lavimo to be imprisoned… after all, they felt better when he was near them and in range of their protection. It was just that they also saw the rationality behind it. They’d heard of the rampage he’d gone on, of the dangerous new concept he’d unlocked. About how much damage that dangerous new concept had caused. And as far as they knew, he wasn’t supposed to be let out for a while. After he woke up, Nadia was planning to have him monitored. In fact, she was in the middle of commissioning concept numbing cuffs for Lavimo to wear once he woke up so that he didn’t have to stay in a cell like a real prisoner. Haven had been personally informed of this by Nadia herself, as the person closest to Lavimo who was around him more than anyone else. So it really made no sense how he’d gotten out, and Haven really did detest things that didn’t make sense.

  Though, as if he couldn’t see their inner conflict, Lavimo just gave them a slightly confused stare, rubbing his hands over his crossed arms as he tilted his head the way a confused dog would at its owner trying to teach it a new trick. “Aren’t you happy to see me?”

  “I’ll be happy to see you once I know you’re safe to be around. Are you stable?”

  “Huh? What are you talking about?” Lavimo flinched, his face scrunching up as if Haven had said something entirely uncalled for.

  Haven, on the other hand, thought they were being very reasonable. If Lavimo was still a threat to them, they didn’t want to be around him without those concept numbing cuffs. It was their safety first, that was just common sense. Not to mention… “You went crazy and tried to kill someone. Don’t you even remember?”

  “Ah…! Well, that— that was Arcadia! It’s different!”

  “How is it different? You tried to kill someone who had done nothing to provoke you, and nearly killed dozens more in the process by destroying everything within a hundred feet radius of you. Don't you remember?”

  “I, I do! But Arcadia did do something to provoke me!” Lavimo insisted, Haven’s nose scrunching up in annoyance at that childish statement.

  “Orvana lied to you, Lavimo. He didn’t start the apocalypse. You’re just doing exactly what she wants, so you should get over yourself.”

  “No, no, that’s not true! The first thing I asked him was if he started the apocalypse, and he admitted to it! He literally said that he did! That’s why I got so upset!”

  “I, he… he what?” Haven backed up in their stance, taking that new piece of information into consideration as they began to relax.

  That… that definitely changed things. Nefion had said otherwise, but they trusted Lavimo’s word over theirs. Nefion was an objectively impressive person who was good at gathering information and communication, but if they knew anything about them after all these years, it was that they weren’t above lying if it was for their own interests. Even if Nefion had heard Arcadia admit to such a thing, if they deemed it to be beneficial towards them, they’d keep it a secret without a second thought. Hell, it didn’t even need to be truly beneficial, it just had to pique their interest. Nefion was most definitely not a trustworthy source, and while Lavimo was emotional, he was always honest. If Arcadia had truly admitted to starting the apocalypse, it was no wonder he got so upset.

  “Still… do you feel stable now?” Haven asked again, Lavimo only looking further offended as he began to glare at them.

  “Yes, I’m fine! Don’t treat me like I’m a ticking bomb.”

  “Mm, okay. Agree to disagree,” they replied instead, Lavimo sighing with a grimace as they finally walked closer to him, moving to cup his face in their hands while delicately carding some of the loose strands out of his face, their touch as careful and gentle as could be. “Well, you seem fine. I guess it’s true that Arcadia didn’t hurt you at all. Did you know he’s going by Feather now? That’s what everyone’s calling him, since I don’t think any of them realize who he actually is.”

  “Then how did you figure it out?” Lavimo huffed, leaning heavily into Haven’s hands before grabbing onto their shoulders, melting into everything they gave him while they clicked their tongue.

  “Tsk, who else would you try to attack? You’re not normally a violent person. Plus, Feather looks similar to the paintings of Arcadia I’ve seen. Orvana already told us that he’d changed genders, so it was easy to piece together.”

  “I see…”

  “And what do you plan to do now?” Haven prompted, Lavimo’s eyelids fluttering shut as he breathed out his nose.

  “Mmm… what?”

  “I said, what do you plan to do now? Don’t tell me you haven’t thought about it?” they glared, becoming more aggressive in their touch as they jabbed their thumbs into his cheeks, Lavimo whining and protesting while tugging on their wrists.

  “Ow, ow… stop it, stop! I haven’t thought about it, I’m sorry!”

  “Well you better think about it right now… you already broke out of prison, do you know how pissed Nadia’s going to be at you? Did you even think about that?”

  “Ahh I get it, I get Haven! Stop it, that hurts!” he continued to complain when Haven took their nails and pinched hard at his cheeks, happily leaving indents on his plump brown skin before they let go of his face, moving away to fold their arms and glare properly.

  “There, I stopped. Now get to thinking. I know your brain barely works, but you better start using it soon before you get put behind bars again.”

  “Huh?! You really think Aunt Nadia would make me go back there?!” Lavimo exclaimed, before he seemed to finally start using his noggin and… began to look oddly panicked. “Oh… oh no…”

  “What? What did you do this time?”

  “I set a prisoner free! Aunt Nadia’s gonna kill me!”

  “You…” Haven’s eyes flared, a hand coming down hard on the back of Lavimo’s neck as the man yelped, not able to stop themselves from how furious they felt as they grabbed the dumb jerk by his ponytail and dragged his face down to theirs. “Now. Why the fuck would you do that.”

  “Be, because… because he said the only reason he was doing all these bad things was because his brother was being held hostage…”

  “And you believed him?”

  “Well, um… why wouldn’t I?”

  “Shut the fuck up, you say one more stupid thing and you’re dead,” Haven snapped, dragging him across the room and jerking his head even lower, before they took him by the neck and pushed his top half completely into the sheets of their bed. “How did you help him escape?”

  “I, uh… I just used my new concept… it’s actually really easy to use, and it can break through concept numbing chains really easily…” Lavimo stumbled through an explanation, face tilted towards the side so that he could talk clearly.

  “And then?”

  “And then I broke a wall for him to get out of at the very back of the prison, and he turned into a griffin and flew off over the cliff…”

  “Ugh… fuck,” Haven hissed, finally letting him go as Lavimo tentatively lifted his face and turned himself to watch his lover panic, though he was still keeping himself low and on the bed while he watched them fume. “You do realize that guy almost killed one of Cirrus’ subordinates, right? Her name is Kya, and she was in very bad shape when Achitha got her out of there. She had a concussion and almost half of her ribs were broken, all Alroy’s doing. And you let him go?”

  “Huh? But he, he said—”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  “I don’t care what he said, Lavimo. You’re a naive idiot who fell for a snake’s trap. Now I want you to suck it up, build up some nerve, and go tell Nadia what you just did. You better come clean quick if you don’t want her to imprison you for the next hundred years.”

  “Wait… what?” Lavimo frowned, looking offended for some reason as he lifted himself entirely off the bed.

  He never really argued with them, ever. He was always compliant and listened to what they had to say. He might try to object at first, as Lavimo was quite stubborn, but eventually, he’d always come to see their reasoning as superior, because it always was. Haven was used to him being a bit of a brat, but they were also used to him eventually listening and admitting they were right. Though, for some reason, they had a feeling that wasn’t going to happen this time, which made them inexplicably furious.

  “I’m not going to my Aunt! I’m leaving. You’ll come with me, right?”

  “What? Are you out of your mind? Don’t tell me you’ve actually lost it. You’ve always been stupid, but this is a bit much,” Haven snapped, a dull sense of irritation creeping up in their throat as they took a step back. They didn’t know why, they couldn’t explain themselves at all, but they just felt so agitated hearing him make such bold decisions without even thinking about the consequences of his actions.

  Though Lavimo still only looked confused, taking a small step towards them as he tried to negotiate. “Haven, why are you being like this? It’s not like you care about this kingdom anyway. The only reason you're here is because of me, right? So if I leave, why won’t you come with me?”

  “Because I want to survive, obviously. And I think you’ve made a mistake that is going to dig your grave,” they quipped, not able to stop themselves from saying the words that came out of their mouth, despite knowing they probably weren’t the best things to say. Lavimo reacted better when they were gentle, they knew that. Haven knew that, they knew that, they knew that because they knew him better than they knew anyone else. But they were just so angry, that it made all their other emotions sink into the pit of their gut, ignored and discarded as they gave Lavimo an apathetic glare. “I know you don’t like it, but Feather is the key to our survival. What exactly do you plan to even do? What will you accomplish by leaving?”

  “Uh… but, Feather… or Arcadia, whatever you call him, he… he started the apocalypse,” Lavimo protested weakly, voice tight and strained as he took another step closer towards his lover. “Haven, please, he's the reason my family is all dead. My mom, my dad, Nevrea, Linyah, Penn, Sid, Milliana… all of them died because of him and what he did. Please, you have to understand,” he pleaded desperately, Haven stiffening at all the vulnerable emotions he was showing them as they tried to calm themselves down and think rationally.

  All he wanted to do was leave. But… but he’d already made too many mistakes. He’d freed Alroy, someone who was still in the process of being interrogated by Queen Nadia… he’d broken out of prison and was using an unstable concept… all of those actions, had they been committed by anyone else, would easily be a means for execution. And while Lavimo used to be a prince and was prophesied to someday be a king, and while he was the nephew of Queen Nadia, status and the uncertainty of a prophecy that might possibly change could only get a person so far. Lavimo often made rash decisions without thinking that got him into trouble, but he… he’d never made mistakes quite as big as these, and… Haven didn’t know what they were feeling. But they wanted to avoid it. It agitated them and made them feel like running away and pretending they weren’t a part of it.

  But Feather? He was powerful. He was intelligent, capable, calm. Even if he had done all of those things that Lavimo resented, he was working with Cirrus to stop the apocalypse now, just like the prophecy had said he would. Ruba was often viewed to be omniscient, and Haven could understand why. No one had more insight than her. If she said Feather would be one of their saviors along with Cirrus himself, then she must be right, so that’s the side they should obviously stay on. Why would they leave? Why would they leave when safety was here on Feather’s side, why would they leave when they’d be inevitably hunted down and imprisoned by Nadia regardless of Lavimo’s status? He’d released a prisoner, that was essentially a betrayal of the crown… it was treason, and there was no other way to slice it. Haven had always put the two of them first, and the survival of both of them was always what they found to be the most important thing, but… hadn’t Lavimo already sealed his fate? Hadn’t he already condemned himself? Hadn’t he…

  “Don’t touch me,” Haven snapped, slapping Lavimo’s hand away when he tried to reach out for them, his face breaking as he leaned back.

  “Haven… why are you doing this?”

  “Because you’re wrong. You’re acting irrationally and I can’t accept that,” they responded coldly, Lavimo’s chin lowering as he listened to that response.

  “So… you’re not coming with me?”

  “I really don’t understand why you can’t just stay,” they responded instead, straightening themselves to give him an arrogant sneer. “Feather is literally the most powerful person in existence, and he’s on our side. Who cares what he did? All that matters is that, right now, he’s the only one with enough power to actually do anything about the apocalypse. He didn’t even need to lift a finger against you in your little fight, and you still think you can go against him? How naive can you be? You’re just going to get yourself killed if you go out there. You’re so incapable, you need other people to guide you or else you make stupid mistakes like letting a killer run free because he acted nice to you.”

  “...I’m not incapable,” Lavimo whispered, voice barely audible. He sounded fragile, but Haven couldn’t bring themselves to care about it.

  “Really? You’ve been doing little to prove it,” they snarled instead, entirely dismissive.

  “Then I will prove it.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yes, I’ll prove it to you,” he looked up, eyes suddenly the most stubborn Haven had ever seen them. Their amber was burning and fierce, their intensity making them feel threatened as Lavimo lifted his chin and glared at them. “I’ll prove to you that I’m capable. I’ll prove to you that I don’t need Feather to do what I believe is right. And Haven… you know I love you, but I won’t let you treat me this way. Excusing Feather after everything he’s done to destroy my life is crossing a line I won’t tolerate,” he spoke calmly, Haven’s brow twitching as they took a step away from him.

  “Shut the hell up. I mean it, shut up.”

  “Fine,” Lavimo nodded, lowering his head once more as he closed his eyes, taking the time to envision the place he most wanted to be. “Then I’ll see you later, Haven. I hope you’ll have reconsidered this the next time we meet.”

  “I said shut the hell—! Ugh…!” Haven snapped, but before they knew it, Lavimo was already gone. He’d teleported to, to who knows where… who knows where, because they hadn’t let him tell them. They hadn’t let him tell them, and now they didn’t know where he was.

  They… they didn’t know where he was.

  They didn’t know where he was.

  They didn’t know where he was, they didn’t know where he was, they didn’t know where, they didn’t know, they didn’t…

  “Agh… AGHHHH!!!” they screamed violently, swinging their arm at Lavimo’s desk as they threw everything off it, all of his books, papers, sketches, and study materials for his special interests being thrown off, Haven’s heartbeat thudding loudly in their ears as they stared at them. All of that stuff, all the books scattered open, all the sketches of Haven’s face and physique, all of his notes on each of the planets in the Central Domain Alliance that he was taking just because he liked to… everything screamed Lavimo. It made them feel like they were going crazy. They couldn’t help it, they couldn’t stop themselves at all. They took the closest vase filled with colorful red flowers they’d grown themselves from their body just because Lavimo thought they were pretty… they took it, stared at it with a face twitching and seething, anger bubbling and rising and building back up in their system, before they simply couldn’t take it anymore and trashed it at the wall, shards of porcelain cracking and falling as water seeped into the carpet, large red flower petals scattering the ground. They were seething, breathing hard and heavy as their nails dug into the flesh of their palms, thin pale skin tearing open as blood leaking from their fists.

  “Lavimo…” they shuddered, walking circles around the room and broken shards as they tried to comprehend what had just happened. But all they could do was helplessly repeat his name, as if that would somehow make him come back. “Lavimo, Lavimo, Lavimo, Lavimo… Lavimo, Lavimo,” they gasped, Haven’s heart rapidly pounding inside them as they went and pressed their hands against the bed. “Lavimo… Lavimo, I’m sorry… I’m sorry, come back… I’m sorry, please, I’m sorry…”

  But their voice was monotone. There was not a shred of emotion to be found in their words, no matter how many times Haven repeated their apology to him that he couldn’t hear. Their emotions were all stored inside a void inside their chest, a gap of nothingness where occasionally they’d feel angry or raw desire to claim. But all they wanted was Lavimo. That’s all, that was it… and Lavimo had denied them that. Because they’d acted inappropriately and hurt him. Of course he’d be sensitive about the man who he believed had killed his family… it didn’t feel logical to them, but they’d been studying Lavimo’s emotions long enough to know that they should’ve been able to understand that better.

  “Lavimo… I’m sorry, I’m sorry… I’m sorry… come back, please, I’m saying I’m sorry… I’m saying it, please come back, just listen…”

  But he could not hear them. He’d left because of them. Because they’d gotten… scared. They’d been scared of the dire consequences of Lavimo’s reckless actions. Fear was a strange emotion, but it was only natural that a person should put their own safety first. Yet in doing so, they’d disregarded Lavimo's feelings, and now he was gone. And that made Haven feel something they’d never quite felt before. They couldn’t place it, but it made them feel raw… like they were being cut up and drowned in the middle of the ocean without a shred of land in sight. Their mind racked through all the different names of emotions, because they hated not knowing things about themselves… it made them feel unsafe, dangerous. What was this feeling? This feeling of your skin itching, your throat tightening, your muscles tensing and burning while your head felt like it was drowning in empty air…

  It was misery. They felt miserable. Haven felt absolutely miserable, that’s what it was.

  “Lavimo… I’ll find you,” they spoke to their bed, green eyes wide and empty as they carefully stood themselves up. They ignored the mess of their room and walked past everything, stepping over the books and papers they’d thrown as they began searching for Nefion. They were their best bet. If Haven managed to accompany them on their journey to find mythical beasts, then through that travel, they might come across Lavimo as well.

  They’d find him. They had to. They’d find him, apologize, and make him forgive them. That’s how it would happen. Surely there was no other way it could go… because Lavimo was theirs. Theirs, theirs alone, and nobody else's. Lavimo knew that. He’d always been okay with it. So when Haven found him, they’d apologize, he’d submit to them again, and then everything would be fine. But first they had to find him. Though little did they know that doing so would trigger something entirely different in themselves… and that a journey without the object of their obsession might remind them of their roots… and why they’d fallen in love with Lavimo in the first place. Perhaps, with that reminder, they could finally begin to understand some things... about what made their love so special.