𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐅𝐈𝐄𝐃 || ʸᵘⁿᵒ

XXIX

—/<3/—

elle dropped to her knees and let out a strangled sob, the blood gurgling in her throat as it climbed up her pharynx and spilled out of her mouth. she didn't let herself rest even for a second. she hadn't lost too much blood yet and even if she was in pain, zenon said that her troops were down, meaning that many were dead. she forced herself to stand and stumbled through the exit in search of yuno, her hands still pressed firmly to the wound on her neck.

she hoped to god that yuno was alive as she wobbled around what remained of the golden dawn base, eyes widening at the all the dead and injured mages laying limp on the ground, their pained gasps and whimpers filling the air. some of the ones in a better state eyed her fearfully, watching as their queen clutched her neck, desperately searching for something amongst the rubble, tears filling her eyes.

she squeaked painfully as she spotted the body of her lover laid limp around where the entrance of the golden dawn formerly stood, with belle hovering over him urgently trying to keep him awake as the life drained out of him. elle rushed over as fast as she could, the combination of intense fear and blood loss making her extremely light headed. she knelt over him, removing one shaky hand from her throat and pressing down on the pulse point in his neck.

"elle, he wont wake up i don't know what to do! he can't die i don't want another partner!" belle bawled, hitting her tiny fists against yuno's cheek before turning to face the young queen, her eyes widening in despair. "not you too..."

elle croaked out a sob when she felt the slow beat of yuno's pulse, not daring to look down at the gaping hole in his stomach as his normally vibrant amber orbs dulled to a dreary, pale yellow.

unable to speak without choking, elle opted to weakly shake his shoulders and belle continued her futile attempts to wake him. elle panicked as his pulse became impossibly slower, about to risk it all to perform cpr when a bright glow, which she recognised as william's magic began to weave its way through the ruins of the golden dawn.

elle instantly felt relief wash over her when the light returned to her lover's eyes, the familiar amber glow comforting her as the pain and dizziness dissipated when her wound closed over. she called out his name as his pulse picked up, slowing helping him sit up as he grunted in pain, his wound not yet fully closed over.

"why are you crying? i'm alive." yuno said, his eyes flickering between the two girls. belle immediately snuggled into his shoulder for comfort.

"you weren't though! your pulse was so weak and a whole chunk of you was missing!" elle cried, her hands and neck still caked in blood as she clutched onto what remained of his uniform.

"and you had your throat slit. you should worry about yourself more. you know how fast you can bleed out from your neck?" yuno pointed out, shakily pulling elle into his arms. he was shaken up too, he had seen how she'd looked when she stumbled over to him, how blood dropped from her neck in time with her pulse yet she was more worried about him.

"this isn't the injury olympics yuno, it wasn't deep. if it was i would've bled out in 12 seconds." she replied, wobbling to her feet and holding a hand out for him to take. "we need to look around and see how many are dead. deaths must be reported to the captain of the squad and the wizard king. william is being held hostage by the triad so by order of the queen of the clover kingdom, you're in charge of the golden dawn now yuno."

—/<3/—

"why is he here?" nozel rolled his eyes at yuno's presence in the meeting room.

"I'm vice captain and captain william couldn't really make it," yuno said sarcastically as he sat in william's usual seat.

"elle, i don't suppose you know if nacht would be joining us would you?" julius asked his daughter. he had been distraught when elle returned back to the castle covered in blood, assuming she had a wound, of course she no longer did, thanks to william, but they both ended up in tears when she explained what happened.

he was upset that she went against his order to stay inside. she may have a higher position than him but he was still her father, he wanted and needed her alive and so did the kingdom. he soon forgave her when they spent the rest of the evening curled up on the couch together, him telling her stories from his days as the captain of the grey deer. she had promised him that she'd work harder to find a way to fix his childlike form, having had no time to over the past 6 months to do so.

"if he was here i wouldn't even recognise him." elle replied, leaning on the window sill on the opposite side of the table than her father. she was dressed yet again in her green floor length robe and golden tiara.

"why are you even here girlie, monarchs never come to these meetings kekeke," jack laughed, his lanky figure hunching over the table.

"clearly you've never seen a monarch doing their job correctly." elle replied snappily, she wanted to get on with the meeting already. the longer they stalled the less likely it was they'd get her brothers out of there in time.

dragging her uncle's name through the dirt even when he's six feet under. rest in pieces augustus.

"right then... let's begin. yuno, you were at the scene when the attack first began so would you mind relaying what you saw for us?" julius began before jack could start an argument.

"i actually wasn't there when it first began, i was in hage village. a man had come from—"

before he could finish, nacht and asta decided to turn up. they didn't come through the door like a sane person would, instead nacht opted to phase them through the floor right by elle's feet.

"wizard king, we are here!" asta announced loudly.

"we gathered that asta." elle sighed, gesturing for them to move to the empty seat that yami usually occupied. "you can continue, yuno."

"right... i was in hage village because the father of the church called me out there saying that a man from the spade kingdom had come with information on my birth parents. he explained that the dark triad had taken over the spade kingdom a few days after my birth and it was his job to hide me and keep me alive,"

"why is this important?" nozel huffed, his hand clenching around his glass of water.

"he was the kings guard. he worked for my father, the king of the spade kingdom, before the dark triad took over. meaning that i am the rightful heir to the throne of the spade kingdom." yuno finished.