A Queen and Her Kings

The Mark Felt Around the Universe: Part Two

"Mon Dieu!", the hunter exclaimed in his native tongue when he noticed the mark. Vil gasped dramatically.

"Rook! Do you have any idea what this means?!", he exclaimed, grabbing Rook by shoulders instead of the other way around. Rook blinked.

"Non?", he said in a voice that sounded more like a question than an answer. Vil released him and continued to look his friend in the eyes intensely.

"It means my image is ruined!", the purple eyed man sobbed, tears welling in his eyes. Rook began to panic, Vil hadn't cried for real in years. The last time he had was the first year they lost VDC. Vil had decimated a part of the forest near the dorm with spells that should have made any first year's head spin just thinking about it, and after he was too exhausted to be angry, broke down sobbing. Rook had been the only one to bear witness to Roi du Poison's moment of weakness, and he had let Vil curse him so he could never tell a soul without permission on pain of never speaking again unless Vil forgave him. Normally, he would have been offended by the lack of trust from his then good friend of over half a year, but Rook knew people in show business could be utter snakes with no honor and the future dorm leader was just being practical.

Remembering all this with a shutter, Rook embraced his friend by the shoulders as he quietly cried.

"Why would your image be ruined, Roi du Poison?", asked Rook in an attempt to try and fix the situation, as well as figure out how to comfort the actor better. Vil hiccuped quietly.

"It's a tattoo, Rook! Vil Schoenheit, someone renowned for his impeccable self care and natural, untampered with beauty just doesn't do these things! The tabloids will have a field day, trying to find hidden meanings or a scandal or some other nonsense! If anyone sees this, I'm doomed!", Vil yelled, making over dramatic gestures with his hands as Rook watched him intently. Eventually, Vil's fellow blonde spoke.

"Roi du Poison, if it upsets you so, then why not just have it removed?", Rook asked. Vil looked at him with eyes that screamed 'are you serious?'.

"Rook, I know you. I know you are extremely intelligent and observant, so let me ask you this, what do you know about magic tattoos?", the effeminate young model aked, his voice deceptively calm. Rook resisted the urge to flinch, he didn't like where this was going...

"They are... difficult to remove?", Rook said. He was honestly guessing, he didn't know anything about magical tattoos. He didn't think Vil knew much more than he did, but he wasn't about to say that to a beautiful blonde with the ability to curse him with the worst plagues known to man. Vil snapped his fingers and gave his friend a smile that was about as mirthful as a funeral.

"Correct! Which means, finding someone trustworthy to remove this thing is going to take a lot of time.", the dorm head said, his voice treading into the waters of hysterics. Rook winced again at the tone.

Eventually, Vil calmed down, taking a deep breath. Once he had a hold on himself, he turned to Rook with hard eyes, his perpetually pouty lips in a stern frown.

"We need to-... wait, Rook, you said you felt the same pain I did on your arm. Show it to me.", the actor said, his voice gaining a tone that said he was asking that question more due to the need than the want (again, Rook did not take offense. He was likely more or less fine and it was the middle of the night, of course Vil wouldn't want to keep delaying his continued rest. Rook didn't want to either.).

'Good,', thought Rook, 'If he's tired by all of this, he won't stress out for a while.'

Rook did as he asked and Vil sharply inhaled when he saw the same mark that was on his leg. Rook looked at the mark in a bit of awe. Even given the mysterious circumstances behind it, the mark was still very beautiful, something Vil had yet to realize in his panic. The hunter went to brush his hand over the mark, before Vil slapped it away.