The People We Are

Chapter XX; Ideus

Ideus was ecstatic. He was going to marry Anastasia, after five long years of missing her. He couldn't sleep the night before, which led him to eventually sleep in. He rushed to get ready, but was still late. He finally made it into the hall that they were to reunite, where he saw he was the last to arrive. His parents and siblings had already met her, and they stared at him with disapproval of his arrival. In the center of the room, there she was in all her same glory. She had changed these past years but had kept on to her beauty. She wore a beautiful dress that had once belonged to Ideus' ancestors. However, Anastasia was too short for it and it was altered to fit her, giving her a long magnificent train. They hadn't minded altering the dress because the future heirs of it would be much shorter. He couldn't think of that now, though he was excited for it. He realized he had been standing for too long, and he finally spoke. "Hello, Queen Anastasia." he finally said at last. "I am Prince Ideus." he said, hating he had to remind her who he was, as well as use formal titles when they said they wouldn't with each other. "Ideus, quite a name." she responded, trying to remain formal and reclusive. "We'll, um, let you two get acquainted. Annabelle, Anthony, come along children." Ideus' mother said as she reached for the twins' hands. They all left the two alone, and Ideus couldn't believe that she had really accepted the idea. They sat in awkward silence before the ball. Ideus' father asked her to teach them a Zellaridian dance, and when she and Beau performed for them along with Scheven's musical abilities, as he had apparently taken up the trumpet since their adventures, Ideus couldn't believe it was the same dance they did on the boat that moonlight night. When done, Beau refused to let her out of the dip. Ideus was about to do something, but he let go eventually. Ideus still remembered the steps and was able to "catch on quickly", but he stepped on Anastasia's feet quite a bit still. Later that night, he got a bottle of Faormen wine and made his way to Anastasia's room. Beau was there, and pretending not to know who he was still Ideus asked who he was before he awkwardly left the two alone after Anastasia's protests. They made their way to the moonlight balcony, and it reminded him of their night in the crows nest, and he hated that she couldn't remember. He tried to make conversation with her, desperately trying to get them back to the way they were with each other. Perhaps he had come on a little strong, perhaps he didn't go about it in the right way, but nonetheless the night ended with him soaked in wine and his bride running away to her friend. He looked up to the moon, wishing for everything to be right between him and Anastasia.

That was so long ago.
But for Ideus? It only felt like a few days ago.
He could remember so much, his teen years and their struggles together.
Now he sat in the home of his love, telling her, her friends, her husband and their children what he and only he remembered.

The group went down the plank and followed Foja as she fluttered about next to Leod, searching for the best way in as the rest walked in pairs as well. Ryaxleb and Scheven were at the front, behind them Luna and Soleil, behind them Arlie and Xayah and at the very end were Anastasia and Ideus himself. They all remained silent, only Foja and Leod talking about their strategy. Anastasia already had her bow strung with an arrow, poised and ready to strike. Ideus' sword remained in its sheath, though he felt compelled to bring it out. They made their way through the forest, until Foja found a small tunnel. "Here. This will take someone into me and Ajof's room, where someone can go through and open the window for the rest of us. It's big, and I can't open it myself. However, the tunnel is small. So, Luna or Anastasia is going to have to go through." Foja said, turning to those two. Luna stepped forward but Soleil pulled her back as Anastasia stepped faster. She returned the arrow into her quiver and threw the bow on her back, speaking as she did so. "I'll go." Ideus stepped forward, concerned for her. "Should we get a vine or something? Just in case we need to pull you back." he said, fearful of losing her. He turned to his left and saw long vines, so he went and pulled one off a tree. Anastasia tied it around her waist and made sure it was tight. She handed the end to Ideus. "I'll tug once if I need you to pull, twice if it's ready for you all to come." Ideus nodded as they walked closer to the spot. Leod moved the leaves and Foja flew ahead of Anastasia to show her the way. They went down and more and more of the vine disappeared with it. Scheven made sure the vine stayed straight, breaking any kinks he could. Eventually, Ideus felt the two tuggs.
Ideus tugged the vine once to let her know they were on the way, then transformed into a horse and let Arlie and Xayah on his back. Soleil became a seagull and the two ran and flew fast ahead. Leod picked up Scheven and Luna, running at the same pace with his long legs. They followed Leod and soon arrived, and when Anastasia saw them she flew the window open. One at a time, they all crawled in as Soleil and Ideus (who transformed once more) flew in. They all collected themselves, readied their weapons, and let Foja and Leod go ahead. Their plan was the two would get their families into the room, where the group would give them a surprise attack. When they heard the footsteps of Leod and his family, they knew it was time. Leod threw the door open as he reached for his own sword to strike his family. Ideus fought with Leod's father, who was gaining ground on him. By then, servants and guards had heard the commotion and had come to help. Easily outnumbered, Ideus thought of a dangerous tacktick. He could become an elephant and stomp on them, but what if he hurt one of his own? It was risky, but he knew he couldn't take it. In his peripheral he saw that Anastasia had pinned the fairies to the wall with arrows, and was collecting them. Noticing this too, Leod's father turned and slashed her side severely, causing her to fall over and drop her bow. Arrows spilled all over the floor in the red pool that was forming. Even more enraged, Ideus attacked with no concern for his own safety anymore. Eventually, he had slain the king. Taking the head as a trophy, he turned to Anastasia and picked her up by the legs. She held onto the fairy royals tight, and screamed as Ideus transformed into a small monkey, able to jump through the window easily while still holding on to Anastasia and the head. Once they were all out of the window, he became his normal self again and ran for the boat, Anastasia screaming all the way.
"I'll be fine! Let me fight! Ideus!" He continued to run. They got to the boat soon enough, and Ideus transformed back into his right self. "Ideus! Let's go back! We can't abandon them!" She screamed as he walked up the plank. "I'm going back. You can't fight and I don't want you to die." he said as he walked down the stairs to the lower deck. "I don't want you to die either. If I'm there, I'm another number on our side." she said as he lowered her onto the bed. "You are the most wounded of us, you can't go out now, it's too dangerous for you." he said as he sacrificed his own blanket to wrap her waist. He put her blanket over her and demanded she give him the fairy rulers. She did so, and he placed them under a bowl they had brought. "They can't breathe like that." Anastasia said as Ideus threw Leod's father's head down next to the bowl. "Our goal was killing them, wasn't it?" Ideus said as he turned to her. "What's gotten into you?" she asked, concerned. "I'm terrified, alright? I can't lose you." he yelled at her in fear. She was stunned, but snapped back immediately. "I can't lose you either. Or Arlie, or Soleil, or any of them. We are the future of Iphica, all of us. We have to stay together, all seven of us." she said, clutching her side more and more as she spoke. "That's why we have to keep you here. We'll all come back, you'll see. Me, Arlie, Soleil, the other seven, Foja, Leod and Scheven. We'll all be back before sunset, and we'll celebrate here so you can be a part of it. Just, rest, ok?" he asked as he exited the deck. "Ideus!" Anastasia yelled. "Don't go! At least not without me!" she screamed. Ideus couldn't look back, though his heart tried to pull him to her. "Ahh!" she screamed in agony. Ideus assumed that she had tried to stand, but the effort was too great. Good. She'll stay. He thought as he became a horse again and charged back to the battle.
He had made it about three-fourths of the way back when he ran into the others. They were wary of him, unsure if he was himself or a regular horse. He transformed back to his normal self and asked what they were doing here. "I think the better question is what are you doing here?" Luna asked, asserting her dominance in the group by speaking for all of them. They all had cuts and bruises, but in Luna's hands she held Leod's mother and sister's heads. "Did you not see the blow Anastasia took? She would have died if I hadn't brought her out." Ideus defended himself. "And what about us?" Xayah said, moving forward to stand next to Luna. Arlie and Soleil stood behind their girlfriends, supporting them but knowing to let them handle it. "We are all the future of Iphica. All of us, including Anastasia. I was coming back, I knew you guys could handle it without me." he said back to them. Luna shook her head. "We did what we wanted to do. We just have to get back to Iphica now. Let's go." Luna said ominously. Soleil transformed as did Ideus, and they made their way to the boat. They all glared at him as he went down to the bottom deck, showing Luna where they were putting the heads.
"What's under the bowl?" she asked as she threw the heads down. "The fairies." he responded quietly, seeing Anastasia was sleeping. "They're still alive? Close the door, I'll take care of it." Ideus did as he was told, and Luna flipped the bowl over to see that the fairies were still alive. She swatted them all down in one fell swoop, and that knocked the last air they had out of them. Luna left Ideus alone to think. He sat on Anastasia's bed and watched as her chest and stomach went up and down, up and down, up and down. She smiled in her sleep, a smile so small yet so emotional. She was alive and would be well, thanks to him. They were making their way home now, and once they set the world back to normal, Ideus didn't know if he'd be able to ever see her again. He bent down and kissed her forehead, and her eyelids fluttered a bit. In fear of her waking up, he stood back up quickly. She didn't wake, and Ideus sat on his knees before her. "I love you. And I will be with you, eventually." he whispered in her ear before leaving the bottom deck to try and make up with the others.