Flower Gleam and Glow

When Will My Life Begin?

Whattt??? Another chapter already???? I wouldn't expect updates to be this quick, this chapter just needed some minor changes.

And uhh, trigger warning warning for emotional abuse in this chapter.

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Eleven Years Later

Tolys was almost eighteen years old, and he'd still never left his tower. His hair was now nearly seventy feet long, which was a hassle, but if it were cut, it would lose its power.

Since he was still confined to his tower, he did a lot of the same thing--sweeping, brushing (and brushing and brushing and brushing) his hair, baking, puzzles, painting, and reading books.

And while Tolys loved literature, he'd read every book in the tower multiple times.

He was bored.

It was a little past three when his chameleon best friend, Eduard, managed to rope him into a game of hide-and-seek. Though since he lived in a tower, there were only so many places to hide.

"Found you!" Tolys said, opening the window and plucking Eduard off the sill.

Eduard looked slightly put-out.

"So now what?" Tolys asked. "Tic-tac-toe?"

Eduard gave him a look.

"Do you have any ideas?" Tolys asked.

Eduard pointed his tail towards the window.

"I don't think so," Tolys said. "I like it in here, and so do you."

Eduard looked quite disappointed.

"Okay, how about checkers?" Tolys suggested.

Eduard rolled his eyes but assented.

"My eighteenth birthday's in three days," Tolys said as he got one of his pieces to the edge of the board.

"I'm hoping Father will let me leave this year."

Eduard's eyes narrowed, but jumped one of Tolys's pieces. Tolys knew how Eduard felt about Ivan, though Tolys didn't know why. Ivan was just protecting him, even if he was rather scary.

"It'll be different this year," Tolys said. "I'll be an adult. I know he's always said no before, but this year, he might let me go."

Eduard still did not look convinced.

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"Hey! Hurry up, you bastards!"

Alfred F. Jones rolled his eyes.

"I'm coming," he told Lovino. Somewhere behind him, Feliciano affirmed he was coming as well.

As Alfred climbed onto the castle, he stopped to enjoy the view.

"I could get used to this," he commented.

"We have a job to do, asshole!" Lovino snapped.

"Just a minute," Alfred said. The kingdom stretched far beyond the eye could see. "I'm used to it. Guys, I want a castle."

"After we do this job, you should buy one!" Feliciano chirped.

Lovino's eyebrow twitched. Alfred and Feliciano followed him through a trap door and into the castle.

They cut through the corridors, avoiding the guards. Finally, Alfred spotted it--the Crown of the Lost Prince.

Alfred ran ahead of the Vargas brothers and swiped it off the pedestal; with the money he'd get from this job, he and Matthew could live comfortably for a long time.