Road to Ruisea

❆ ❆ LXIII. CHIRO ❆ ❆

Chiro hates when things start going good, and then get abruptly interrupted by something bad.

He'd finally been woken up from his nightmares, made up with Kumari, got reunited with his friends, found out the guy he was afraid would hurt them was actually on their side...

Despite being kilometres away from home and nearly freezing to death, things were pretty good.

And then... Their only way out disappeared.

Not that he'd seen it, having woken up long after Jae and Alexei had walked in, but still...

"It was just here!" Jae shouted, running over to the door, feeling around the icy wall to no avail.

"It really was," Alexei agrees, looking just as panicked, if not more. He scurries to Jae's side, and feels the top of the wall, being tall enough to reach the ceiling.

"You won't find it there," Chiro says, shaking his head, trying not to think about the fact that they might be trapped again, this time forever, with nobody else coming to save them... "Can't open anything from the inside."

"No," Kumari's shaking her head too, looking lost and terrified. "No no no... There's no way out?"

"Of course there's a way out," Jae turns around, coming to Kumari's side. "Of course there is. We just... Haven't found it yet."

He's lying. I know he's lying, but I too, am compelled to lie to Kumari...

"Let's just rest for a while," I suggest. "Pass some time... Then we'll try again."

"What?" Alexei also turns around, looking between Chiro and Jae's faces. "That's... Not a good idea. We should keep looking!"

Jae shakes his head. Chiro simply points at Kumari, who looks ready to bawl.

"Oh," Alexei finally nods, coming to sit beside her, taking her hand in his. Chiro decides to take her other hand, almost immediately. Jae raises an eyebrow at this, but says nothing.

"No..." Kumari shakes her head. "Alexei's right. Sitting here doing nothing is no good."

"We're not doing nothing," Jae says. "We're keeping each other company! You know I thought I wouldn't see you again, right?"

Kumari sniffles, "Right. And I thought... I thought I wouldn't see you, either. For a bit there, I thought I wouldn't see Chiro... Awake."

Chiro's heart squeezes, and in turn his hand squeezes her hand. "I'm right here," he says. "Not going anywhere. Wouldn't leave my sister alone."

Kumari giggles, "Right."

Alexei smiles softly, "I have an idea."

"No ideas," Jae shakes his head. "We're just hanging out. Friends reunited."

Something inside of Chiro wants to correct Jae, to say family, but he doesn't get the chance.

"Not ideas about getting out," Alexei rolls his blue eyes, and it seems like such a foreign action coming from a prince. Did he get it from Jae in the short time they were alone together...? "Ideas for hanging out, as you put it. We can tell stories."

Kumari perks up, "I know lots of stories."

"As do I!" Alexei laughs. "Why don't you go first? If you're feeling up to it."

Kumari nods, "I... I am! Okay, umm... Once upon a time, there was a princess."

"Oh no," Jae laughs. "A story about herself!"

"Be quiet," Alexei says, but it's with a chuckle. "I want to hear it."

"And she was really, really lonely. But then! A street rat climbed into her library, at night. And he made a stupid mistake — he dropped a book, and she heard him!"