Royalty [A One Direction AU]

{27} Planning

I spend about two weeks in that bed before anyone comes to see me. Louis has been in the room the entire time, but he's in the same state my aunt was when my dad died: practically a robot, dead to the world around him, not responding to anyone. Well, it's not like anyone is talking to him. The first person I see is Liam, who sits down next to me with red eyes and a hopeful smile.

"Niall, we know how to get you out." Are the first words that come out of his mouth, and I long to say something, to smile, to even move my eyes to show him that I understand. "It's the sphere. It has all your magic, all we have to do is break it and the magic comes back to you. Simple as that." Liam says, laughing nervously. Nothing is that simple.

"I wish." Cher says, sitting on my other side. "Daniel wants that magic for something, we don't know what. He put your magic in that specific sphere for a reason, and we've got to figure out what it is." She looks at Liam, then back down at me. "Whatever he has planned, it involves using that magic, and it's still connected to you. When he uses the magic for his plan, it will feel like your magic is being taken all over again, like when he tried to kill you a couple of months ago." She looks down at me, shaking her head. "It just feels weird, you know? I know you can hear me, I know you're listening, and I know you're looking at me, but it doesn't seem like it. It's like I'm telling someone in a coma how I'm going to save their life." Well, I'm practically in a coma, so that isn't too far off.

"We'll save him, Cher." Liam says, reaching over me and putting his hand on her shoulder. "But first we have to save Louis." What? What happened to Louis? Liam and Cher both look over at the bed across from mine, Louis' bed.

"Should we bring him over?" I hear Harry asks, and Liam nods.

"Niall has to know." He says, and Harry and Zayn appear, literally dragging Louis with them. His face is barely in my line of vision, and he's unconscious.

"Niall, Louis' gone back to old habits." Cher says, grabbing one of Louis' arms and showing it to me. His arm is covered in scratches, his way of punishing himself for everything he blames himself for. He's been doing that since the first King.

"We had to knock him out, he was delirious." Liam adds, sighing. "Hasn't slept in days. He swore that he would protect you, and he's taking it very literally. Won't let you out of his sight, not even for a minute." Louis is going insane, trying to protect me. Not sure if that should be touching or not.

"What do we do?" Harry asks, looking into my eyes. "We need you, Niall. Your aunt is gone, Daniel put her in a different cell, where she can't talk to us. Louis is going crazy, and you're stuck like that. We need someone powerful, someone smart, someone who knows what they're doing. But the only people who can do that are gone. All we have are four teenagers with weird abilities."

"Four special teens." Cher says, looking around. "We may just be teenagers, but we're magics. Not even that, we're special. Liam, you can pass as a human. Zayn, you can control something no other Mer in history has ever been able to control. Harry, you can communicate with any animal on Earth, including humans, regardless of what form you're in. And I'm the only female Wizard in existence. That's got to mean something, right?" Cher pauses, looking at me and smiling. "We're going to save the prince. We're going to make a plan, get that sphere, and save Niall. Not because he's royalty, not because we have to, but because he's our friend. And Niall, I promise that we're going to get you out of here. You're going to rule your father's kingdom."

"Let's start planning." Liam says, and they set to work, formulating a plan right over me, so I can hear everything they're saying, all of their ideas, the good and the bad, until they come together and make a plan that just might work. And it goes into effect immediately.

~Louis' POV~

As soon as I woke up, Liam filled me in on the plan. The only way for us to get Niall back. Five minutes later, I'm sitting beside the prince, watching as the plan is put into action, Niall right next to me.

"We're going to save you." I say, looking into his eyes, eyes that haven't moved in weeks, staring at the ceiling. He literally can't move a muscle, the only thing keeping him alive is magic. Daniel wants him alive, but why?

"Daniel! Help! Anyone!" Zayn screams, banging on the glass wall of the cell. I look up to see Daniel standing before him, his eyes wide. Zayn's back is pressed against the glass, and Harry is in panther form, approaching Zayn like a real panther approaches its prey. Behind Harry, Liam and Cher are lying on the ground, both faking unconsciousness.

"What happened?" Daniel asks, and Zayn presses his back into the glass as Harry growls. Convincing.

"I don't know! He just turned into the panther and started attacking us!" Zayn exclaims, playing the part of a terrified teen perfectly. We should all be actors.

"What about Louis?" Daniel asks, looking at me. I don't meet his eyes, instead focusing on Niall.

"He won't leave Niall. Even like this, I think Harry is too smart to mess with him." Zayn says, and Harry turns, glaring at me, an angry glint in his eye. There's no way to tell what he's angry at, but I'm praying it isn't me.

"Liam and Cher?" Daniel asks, and Harry takes a couple of steps toward Zayn.

"Unconscious and injured. He knocked Cher out and Liam tried to protect her. I was trying to distract him before he killed them, now he's going to kill me!" Zayn says, and Daniel nods.

"Out the door, quickly. Louis, bring Niall, and run. Your other friends should be fine." Daniel says, opening the door. I pick Niall up, running with everything I have. Zayn disobeys Daniel, instead running past Harry and grabbing Cher, then running out the door after us. As soon as Zayn gets out, Daniel slams the door shut, locking Harry and Liam inside. Harry, who was chasing Zayn, slams into the door with a loud crash. Zayn and I carry our friends over to the glass wall, looking through. Harry is back in human form, holding his head. He sees Liam and runs over to him, kneeling over him.

"He thinks he killed him." I say, shuddering. Harry has been in that position before. He couldn't control himself, nearly killed someone. He's putting real emotions into this.

"They'll both be fine. The rest of you are going to a different cell until we can be sure that he won't be a threat." Daniel says, and Cher groans.

"Sorry, but that's not part of the plan." She says, sitting up and shooting Daniel with a tranquilizer spell. He immediately collapses, and Cher jumps to her feet. "To Daniel's office." She says, and we run down the hallway. I look back to see Harry and Liam waving, both of them smiling. They're okay.

"Wait." I say, stopping in my tracks and stopping the others with me.

"What is it?" Zayn asks, and I look behind us.

"Daniel called me Louis." I say, my eyes widening. "He never calls me Louis."