youngblood [h.s]

FOUR- fairytale

Harry's POV:

Youngblood's hills emerge from the ground like ancient titans, mercilessly yet beautifully. The peaks extend to infinity, and the starlight reflected in the grass creates a landscape worthy of a Renaissance work of art.

Youngblood has always had a special place in my heart, and the fact that it's something only me and my best mates are aware of makes the city a hundred times more endearing to me. It's a beautiful place, with its luminous urban perimeter, the great river Spero, and perhaps my favorite feature, the villages. When Niall, Louis and Liam brought me here for the first time, at an early age, all I could think about was how much the villages resembled the colorful illustrations from the books I used to steal from my parents' library. Every time I came to the city, in secrecy, I wanted to believe I was inside a fairytale, and always pictured the small stone cottages scattered around the hills as the toys of a baby giant that would come from the clouds above to play. Ah, good times.

"So" starts Niall, catching my attention. He walks beside me; I'm much taller than him, so in order to keep up with my pace he is forced to walk two steps while I walk one. "Do you think those girls were the ones we're looking for?"

I stare at him, thoughtfully.

"Yes." I reply after a while, with the curly-haired girl, whom I purposefully bumped into, on my mind. "But as far as I know, there are more of them."

Now that Niall mentioned it, my mind starts to wander around the fresh memories of what just happened. I remember the way the girl smiled at me and try to focus on that image for as long as I can. She was truly beautiful.

"Harry" my best mate snaps his fingers a few inches from my face. I turn around to find a really amused Niall, with a mocking grin crossing his pale face. "We really need to find those One Depression girls. It's not time to fall in love right now."

I dismiss him with a hand gesture, smiling as well.

"Oh, fuck off, Niall. Will I ever be able to look at a girl and escape from your stupid jokes? And, my dear friend, don't think I didn't notice the way you looked at my girl's friend."

Not even the dark of the night is enough to hide Niall's blushing. I can't blame him, though. It's so hard to find actual girls on the court, not only robots that have been designed by the parents to look pretty and follow orders, that distancing the bare minimum from the palace makes me feel needy and curious. I don't think anyone had ever aroused on me as much interest as that brunette just did, though. Unfortunately, I'll just have to forget about her. Unless...

Unless my theory is correct.

"That's not the point right now, you filthy dog" retorts Niall, and we both laugh.

The familiar sound of my friend's rhythmic laugh fills my ears, and suddenly I'm staring at the six-year-old prince Niall who had just arrived at the palace, his way in to the new life in the court. We have been being best friends ever since we laid eyes on each other for the first time, and almost seventeen years later, here we are- two grown-ups who occupy important positions on the national government, about to get into an extremely dangerous scheme, laughing like the naive children they once were, as if the world around us didn't exist.

A cold breeze hits me suddenly, making me shiver and interrupt my laughter. Niall immediately lifts his hand and uses his skills to send the breeze away with a gesture, while an oscillating flame sprouts from my own hand. Yeah, together, just it has always been.

And not even the most ruthless of the storms will be capable of changing this.

"Where do you think the rest of them is?" the prince of Aer asks, getting back to the point.

"I don't know, but Youngblood is not that big. We won't have a hard time finding them."

"We must find them before the Games, next week." he states softly, knowing that he's poking a weak spot.

"Don't remind me" I say, shivering again. I'm not looking forward at all for those stupid games. For no apparent reason, the curly-haired girl appears on my mind again; she looked only a bit younger than me...

A sudden realization that crosses my mind makes me gasp.

"Niall, let's go home. We no longer need to look for them," I say with enthusiasm, snapping my fingers. "They will attend to the Games!"

"What?"

"Follow my thoughts. Those girls wouldn't miss this chance. If it were us in their shoes, we wouldn't."

I refer to the other boys in One Direction, Liam and Louis. Them and their families arrived to the palace only a bit later than Niall, and it was friendship at the first sight. One Direction was born from our mutual desire for justice, and now, besides being best mates, we fight together all over the country for the cause. Hidden from the whole court, of course.

The four of us always loved coming to Youngblood ever since we found out about it, after investigating a damn lot. Now, me and Niall are back here to look for another organization, with the same goals as us as far as we know, called One Depression. Louis once heard two of its member talking on their way to a so called meeting, and we've been curious about the group ever since. Now it's definitely the right time to run after these girls, considering what's coming up.

Despite the flame in my hand, I feel a snowstorm forming inside myself, the snowflakes embracing every inch of my body with their frozen arms. The idea of becoming king still terrifies me, even after preparing myself for this for the past almost twenty-three years.

"That makes sense" says Niall, stroking his chin. "So you're suggesting that we just wait until next week?"

"Yes. If they are really like us, at least some of them will show up. Even all of them, dare I say."

"I hope you're right, Harold. I really do."

Having come to a decision, me and Niall just sit down at the very spot we find ourselves at. My whole body relaxes when I feel the contact between my skin and the remaining drops of dew that cover the grass.

"Niall" I whisper when I look up at the sky.

"What?"

I breathe in and out, feeling the smell of wet grass... and hope.

"Have you noticed that the starts look specially shiny tonight?"