Mr. Love: Queen's Choice One Shots

Lucien/Ares: Tengu

⚠️ WARNING: Contains spoilers from the game.
—
"We've got the bird lady, Ares."
    Lucien's blood ran cold when he entered the plane. Sure enough, there was the mythic tengu that lived among humans. She was slumped against the seat, her brown wings folded protectively around her. Her eyes were shut. Her nose was sloped gracefully, fitting her face well—uncommon for a tengu. He was shocked that Black Swan managed to find her.
    "She's not a bird lady, she's a tengu," one of the younger Black Swan members said, looking as he co-piloted the plane.
    "Shut up," the other man replied. "Don't talk back."
    Her eyes opened, revealing deep (eye color) irises. Lucien felt his heart skip a beat as she looked at him, raising her head slightly. She was actually very pretty in his eyes, despite being an entirely different creature than he. She was used to being up this high, but not in a plane. She frowned, clearly unhappy.
    "Can't we untie her hands, at least?" Lucien asked.
    "Obviously not," the man said. "Ares, don't sympathize with her. We'll study her to the furthest extent, and when she's useless, we'll sell her organs and wings on the black market and get some good money from her."
    Lucien felt his stomach lurch. He knew he was a part of Black Swan and he knew about their experiments, but why were they going to be unnecessarily cruel to her? She didn't seem particularly dangerous. He looked at her nervously. She stared back, her eyes piercing his soul. He gulped.
    "Maybe we should let her go..." Lucien said, looking at the man. "She doesn't seem particularly comfortable. She wouldn't be cooperative."
    "Ares, since when have you cared about the subject being cooperative?" The man came over to the woman and gripped her hair, pulling her out of the seat. She flapped her wings in annoyance, desperate to free herself. "So what if she's distressed? I like it when they struggle."
    Lucien didn't like the way he was handling the female tengu. She was clearly in distress. He was never one to stand up for the victims of Black Swan, but she was different. Lucien grabbed the man's hand and twisted it, making his grip on her hair release. He wailed and pulled away, gripping his wrist.
    "What the hell?" the man said. "Ares, you going rogue?"
    Lucien frowned. "Don't treat her horribly because she's a different species. Back off."
    "I'll take that as treason!" The man pressed a button, the door behind Lucien opening. Lucien grabbed the handle tightly, desperate to hang on. He didn't have a parachute; if he let go, he would get sucked from the plane and fall thousands of feet to his death. This was a bad situation. "Have fun falling! Tilt the plane!"
    The pilot obeyed. Lucien's grip began to slip.
    "See you later, Ares! Have fun in the afterlife!"
    The plane was nearly on its side when Lucien's hand gave way, and he was sucked out of the plane. He began to plummet towards the ground, his body stiff. He couldn't die now! He watched as the plane was beginning to pull away from his view.
    Suddenly, there was a flap of wings. He watched as the female tengu bolted out of the plane, ripping off the rope holding her hands behind her back. She made her body aerodynamic, speeding towards the falling Lucien. Her wings were pressed flat against her body as she neared Lucien.
    "Grab on!" she yelled, extending her hand.
    Lucien quickly reached out and grabbed her hand. She pulled him closer to her and took a deep breath. She spread her wings, desperate to try and lift the two of them up. Her wings ached and burned from the speed and force of the falling. The ground began to pull closer, and she knew that she needed to fly or else they would both die.
    Lucien could sense her struggle. But before he had a chance to help, they began to glide slowly. The ground was a few feet above him. She set him down gently before gliding further, slamming into the ground. She rolled, her wings completely destroyed. The feathers were scorched and the muscles in them torn. She panted hard, her cheek resting against the dirt.
    Lucien staggered to his feet and went over to the tengu. He flipped her over, careful of her wings. She looked at him, her eyes soft. They had lost their ferocity. He brushed her hair back softly.
    "You saved my life," he said, looking at her. "Thank you."
    "No thanks is necessary," she said, her voice gentle. "It's a tengu's job to protect humans."
    Lucien shook his head. "No, it's much more than that." He smiled at her. "Let me tend to your wings. They're badly damaged."
    The tengu didn't protest. Lucien picked her up. They weren't far from his place; he recognized the field they had landed in. He carried her all the way back to his private cabin. He set her down once they were inside and began to start a fire as night began to fall.
    "Tell me," the tengu said, catching Lucien's attention. "Are you part of the group that captured me?"
    Lucien frowned. "I was. I guess now I'm not."
    "I'm sorry."
    "What for?" Lucien was shocked. Why was she apologizing? She was the victim in all of this.
    "You lost everything because of me," she said quietly, shaking her head. "That's not how this is supposed to work."
    "The tell me how it's supposed to work," Lucien replied. He grabbed a first aid kit and began to bandage her wings. The feathers, although scorched, were still soft and silky to the touch. She fluttered them nervously as his fingers ran through them, wrapping them tightly.
    "Tengus are created to help humans, not the other way around," she said. "We are a protective people. We take pride in what we are."
    "You're no less of a tengu now than you were," Lucien said softly. "Just because you're being taken care of doesn't mean that you're losing your heritage. Everybody needs help once in a while."
    The tengu bit her lip. "For a human, you sure know a lot."
    Lucien smiled.
    "Your name is Ares, correct?" the tengu asked after a moment of silence.
    "No," Lucien said. "That was my name with Black Swan. My real name is Lucien. What's yours?"
    "(Your name)."
    "That's not a very tengu-like name. It's actually quite human. Care to explain?"
    The tengu frowned. "My wings aren't as strong as other tengu wings because I'm not a full blood. My father was tengu, and my mother was human. Their love was forbidden, so when she found she was pregnant with me, she hid it. Of course, you can imagine the reaction when I was born with wings in a human society." She chuckled softly. "I don't belong in either world. A half-blood like me has no place."
    Lucien felt sympathy for her. He touched her hand softly. "That's not the case at all. If anything, you have a foot in both worlds. You've got twice the experience."
    She shook her head. "How would you know?"
    "I too lost everything and had to rebuild from the ground up," he replied, finishing dressing her wounds. "Sure, I may be fully human, but I don't belong on either side of society either—the good or the bad side. I'm a misfit, too."
    The tengu smiled softly. "I suppose that's the case with many people."
    Lucien smiled. "Get some rest. I'll check on your wounds in a few hours."
    The tengu smiled and rested her head against the cushions. "Thank you," she said softly before falling asleep.
    Lucien sighed. He was falling for the strange tengu. He smiled at her softly as he stroked her hair, careful of her wings. She really was gorgeous. He felt his heart begin to beat faster.
    Somehow, life would become more interesting with her in it.
—
I'm back from my hiatus!
    If you guys want a part 2, let me know. I had a whole story planned for this, but I shortened it quite a bit. I do have a second part to this, but only if you want it!
    Thank you to everyone for being so patient. Also, who's ready for July 15th, the premier of the Mr. Love: Queen's Choice anime? I'm so stoked!!
    See you all soon!