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"Come on, Wilbur. You've gotta pick it back up." Quackity's gentle but steady tone reached his ears as he shakily picked the rapier back up.

"Do we have to do this, Quackity? I really don't think it's necessary." Wilbur's voice sounded small, but not as small as he felt at that moment. Despite his tall stature, he felt extremely weak. Pathetic. He was completely at anyone's mercy at any time.

"Yes, it is necessary. You need to be able to defend yourself verbally and physically." Quackity held his rapier at the ready again. "All you've gotta do is overpower me and get the sword out of my hand without causing injury if you can help it." The golden-winged ravenette gestured for Wilbur to take the offence.

The Prince gulped and slowly raised his rapier, gripping the handle tightly. Memories of every time he had been used at Techno's training dummy flashed in his mind, making his hands quiver. "I can't..." He choked out.

Quackity let out a soft sigh and set his rapier down and walked to Wilbur's side. "Here, let me guide you." He placed his hands over Wilbur's, fixing his back posture with his wing as he shifted Wilbur's hands to the correct position on the hilt. "There," he shifted Wilbur's foot slightly. Now he was in the correct stance. "If your target is moving, aim for where they will be. Not where they are. The same goes for archery. Where they will be, not where they are."

Wilbur felt Quackity's touch still lingering on his hands. The brunette took a deep breath and let Quackity guide him through the motions, admiring how familiar the shorter was with a rapier. A part of him enjoyed the closeness, whilst the other screamed at him to move away from the other Prince. But he didn't, no matter how wrong it initially felt.

They spent hours going over the same motions, but Wilbur still couldn't keep the hesitancy out of his steps or the tremble from his hands. After one more round of trying to keep steady, Wilbur gave up, throwing the rapier to the ground.

"I can't fucking do it, Quackity!" He cried harshly, running his hands through his hair. He felt his breath coming in sharp gasps, tears welling up in his eyes as he sunk down onto the cold concrete. "I can't- I can't- I can't-" the brunette pulled his knees close to his chest.

"Wilbur, hey, Wil...please don't cry." The shorter Prince was at his side in an instant, pulling the brunette into his lap swiftly. "It's okay. Just breathe. Listen to me, just breathe." He ran a hand through his soft curls soothingly. "It's hard, I get—"

"But you don't!" Wilbur lashed out, pulling away from his grip roughly as he stumbled back to his feet. "You don't know what it's like for me!" Warm tears rolled down his face as he spoke, his body trembling. "You will never understand." The Prince's voice cracked almost painfully, making him flinch slightly.

Quackity let out a deep breath and stood up, giving Wilbur a light sympathetic look. "You're right, I don't understand. But I want to understand. I want to know what you've been through so that I can help you. That's the difference between me and your parents, that's the difference between me and your brothers, and that's the difference between me and the townspeople." The ravenette took a deep breath and continued in a quieter tone. "I want to help. But I can't do that if you don't let me."

Wilbur took a small step backwards, then sunk back down onto the concrete. "I can't do it, Quackity..." He whispered.

Quackity sat down beside him again, wrapping his arm around his shoulders. "Why don't we take a break then? We can come back to it another day." He offered a small smile, to which Wilbur weakly returned. "Good, now it's nearly noon, so let's go get lunch. Then we can work on something different." The ravenette Prince helped Wilbur up to his feet, then led him back into the castle.

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Wilbur quietly picked at the food on his plate, he wasn't particularly hungry despite not eating breakfast. But this was a common occurrence, his loss of appetite didn't faze him anymore. It was normal.

"You need to eat." Quackity's voice startled him out of his thoughts. "You'll only be showing your family that you're as useless as they think you are. If you don't eat, you're letting them win. Do you want that?" The ravenette questioned, nudging Wilbur's hand towards the fork. "So, eat."

The Prince hesitated, then slowly picked his fork back up and tried to eat at least a few mouthfuls. But after a few bites he found himself wanting more, and then his plate was empty. "So, what're we doing next?" The brunette tilted his head, shifting in the uncomfortable chair.

"We're gonna have a little history lesson."

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