Wakfu Wings

Ruel barges in

One thing that's been going around the brotherhood for ages was the one question that our blue-hatted friend always seemed to avoid: "What is under your hat?"
There may be variations of this question, like:
"Why do the ears of your hat move?", and "Why don't you just take it off?" nobody, not even Adamai knows the answer, only that he should respect his brother's wishes.

One day, somewhere after defeating Qilby and before fighting Oropo, someone asked this question (or a variant). There was no way to dodge it, because there was nothing to talk about.
Yugo had completely talked everything out of him- to the point he was about to go silent until he had an idea and decided to bump in.

His answer was: "You should've asked Qilby when you had the chance." His tone was screaming, 'Over my dead body!!!' and everyone huffed in annoyance. They just didn't get why he didn't tell them anything. Nothing at all.
"HE KNOWS?!" Amalia screeched, "WHY CAN'T WE KNOW TOO!?" Yugo turned to her, "Because you keep acting like this!" he raised his voice slightly, canceling the shrilled voice of the princess.

Everyone glanced at him in shock. Yugo had never reacted like this before. He continued, "Every time I think you're all ready, something happens! Qilby- everything! I just want a break! I don't want to hide what's under my hat, but I keep having the feeling to do so! Quit it!" he stomped out of the room and into his own, curling in his sheets as he sniffled and sobbed quietly.

He thought they were ready. He ripped his hat off his head, throwing it across the room with such force, it hit the wall with a loud clang. There was a knock on the door.
He ignored it, hoping that the figure would go away. They didn't, opening the door instead. The only thing Yugo could do was cover his head in his sheets, even if the blue lighting showed.

"How you doin'?" Ruel asked from the entrance, and Yugo felt fabric on his side, and he knew Ruel had tossed it back to him. "I heard a loud noise. I assume that was your hat? What do you even carry in there?"
In a moment of strength, Yugo sat up, revealing his wings. "Woah! What are those?? Is that normal??!?" Ruel's reaction was unintentional, but it still made the poor blonde self-conscious.

Yugo realized what he was doing, "Don't tell anyone!" he begged, "Please! Only my father knows outside the children!" he had been referring to the Eliatrope children on a different planet, and the thought of them being stuck there made him sick.
He would've gone insane if he was stuck on a planet with nothing to do, waiting for thousands of years as nobody aged.

Yugo wished he was able to fix this. All of this. He didn't seem to realize that the slightest thought of this would trail into a deeper train of thought, which could cause him to panic and worry way too much.

It all circled back to his wings.
Maybe if he could just- take them off?

He slowly touched one, that turning into a yank (although it wasn't too hard *his wings are super fragile*), his scalp starting to bleed as the wing's color started to fade. Of course, he had tried this several times, it never worked, although it gave him a sense of security. To try. It was what his whole mindset was built on. If he didn't try, he would lose hope. Simple as that.

Ruel had closed the door behind him at this point, making his way up to the poor Eliatrope, slowly taking his hands away from his head. "I think they look good- my reaction was off because of the sudden light."
Ruel comforted, and Yugo's vision enlarged. He had gained tunnel vision (Tunnel vision is when you are so focused on something that you can't see what is happening around you) from the ache in his head, so this was a good sign, being able to see again.

"Alebert!" Ruel called, and Yugo's father came bursting through the door in an instant. Alibert had never seen Yugo panic over these matters, because he had just assumed that Yugo was okay with it.
Two hands rubbing his back, twenty minutes to get back to normal, everyone wondering why Ruel was taking so long, and that Alibert had to leave.

They had learned their lesson though, no snooping. They knew it well, so they stayed downstairs in fear of getting lectured by one of the two adults upstairs. Yugo came downstairs with no hat on, just bandages.
His wings were completely covered, and everyone was confused. "Why would you be so worked up over nothing if there wasn't anything there? You could've told us." Dally sighed, disappointed.

Yugo was only able to muster a sarcastic chuckle, to it when on mostly deaf ears. Ava was the only one who caught this sarcastic remark, therefore deducting that Yugo's secret had been bandaged up for some reason.

"Did you accidentally hurt yourself on the head, and that's why you needed help?" Amalia asked. Yugo hissed suddenly, "Ahh! My eyeball! Cursed dust!"
He turned and went into the kitchen. Another [good] excuse. Everybody knew that by now. They guessed he needed a break to think of more lies.

Yugo felt bare without his hat on. Like he had no clothes. He felt as though someone had stripped him in the middle of winter. He missed the warmth.
He shivered slightly, feeling for the pushed down wings under his bandages, as his life depended on them. If he couldn't take them off or avoid them, he would use them for his personal needs, like warmth and floating abilities.

He did this, floating an inch or two off the ground. His wings were slightly exposed, meaning that he would have limits to his floating, but it was still useful for times like these. He made dinner flawlessly, even though his thoughts continued to cloud over, and his gut continued to nag at him.
"Dinner's ready!" he had basically shouted, just so his voice would overpower the ones in his head. He had never felt so weak before, but everyone seemed happy. Just as he set everything up at the table, he passed out, too weak from the lack of freedom his wings were given, which was basically no freedom at all.

You see, an Eliatrope's wings need time to breathe- or a break from the hat- or else the wakfu will get restless and start exhausting the body in holding it in if not used enough. Yugo had no reason to use his portals as much as he did back then, now that the fight was over (and he was way more skilled than he was back then), so now, all he had left to do was be overloaded or make constant, unnecessary portals.
He would be considered lazy if he did it too much, but he would be labeled weak if he didn't. Of course, as you can see, he chose the prior option, although the only thing that the brotherhood labeled him as, was the, 'walking mystery'.

He was brought back to his bed again, Alibert leaving a plate of gobbal stew that Yugo had cooked for him to eat when he woke up. He also unwrapped Yugo's wings for obvious reasons, making sure to leave a note and check the wounds of his head before leaving.
Ruel and Alibert exchanged looks, "He needs to tell them." Ruel said, and Alibert sighed, "He's afraid that the wings are the source of all the problems, and that if they went away, the villains he would be fighting would go away. Of course, that's not how it works."

"How do you even know that?"
"I just do. I know Yugo better than his own brother."
"Is that so?"
"I raised him as a child, of course I know better."
"Sure?"
"Positive, and no, I am not betting on that, because you would lose your whole life savings."
"You know me too well old friend, too well."
"Yes, yes I do."

With that, the two made their way back to the group, preparing for questions. "Is Yugo okay?" was the first one, which they were both thankful for.
If it was anything else, they probably would've smacked them upside the head, telling them off for how bad of a friend they were.

It then started to get worse, Adamai constantly asking if he was okay, making the pair check every ten minutes through a crack in the door. "He's fine." Alibert groaned, annoyed. He didn't know that everyone could be THIS overprotective with Yugo.
He understood that he was just a child, trying to save the world, but it still felt wrong. If Yugo could defeat several major criminals like Nox and Qilby, then he should be able to handle a little wing ache.

Alibert was starting to look back at his own overprotectiveness.
Was he really this obnoxious, or was it just the three of them that seemed to be of annoyance?

He couldn't tell, he was too tired to comprehend anymore.

Thankfully, everyone branched off to their rooms before he could collapse from exhaustion, and when the poor man got to his bed, he did so, dreaming of tomorrow and the troubles it would bring to his adoptive son.