Lox's last thoughts as he looked down at the bead of blood forming on his fingertip were a slew of swear words directed at his parents for pissing off a faerie at his birth. From there, his vision clouded, his legs went numb, and he collapsed.
It took only an hour to find him, sprawled across the hardwood floor of the attic, the tiny prick on his finger hardly visible. The prince was carefully carried to his room, and panicked letters were sent out across the land in hope of someone coming to wake him up. It spread like a wildfire for a year, and people came from all across the land to try to free the prince from his curse, but ti was no use. For ten years, twenty, thirty, nothing changed. It got to the point that the faerie returned to the aging parents to apologize.
"I hadn't realized it would take so long for him to wake up," he had explained, violet eyes empty of true pity, "But perhaps next time, you'll invite me."
Fifty years passed, and people began to forget. The king died, followed by his queen, and the castle staff began to waver and thin. By seventy years, the staff had been replaced with their children, children that carried no loyalty to the crown. By ninety years, the castle was abandoned, left to be taken back by the earth.
The faerie still visited sometimes. It was quite lovely without the human bustle and noise. If he ignored the room with the sleeping prince, he practically had a seaside castle to himself.
At one hundred years, a thief and a solider stumbled in, a storm at their backs and many miles to their feet. The faerie watched from behind the stairs as they laughed and embraced, gifting him their names in an innocent exchange of graduated.
Seto had learned long ago never to give your name free of charge.
He watched from afar, eyeing the two strangers (Jerome dressed well for a traveler, a soldier's uniform ruined by rain. Mitch dressed like a street urchin, with too many layers yet not enough fabric. Desperation dripped heavy from their every breath.)
"Gods, I swear, I almost got blown away!" Mitch's laugh echoed through empty halls. It had been so long since Seto had heard another voice in the castle...
Eh, not his thing.
While the two young men set up a fire in the main hall (an image Seto enjoyed, as it would have made the royals squirm) he slipped out to the sea, seeking to wreak havoc on the unwitting visitors.
"So what even is this place?" Mitch asks. Laying on the rotting carpet by a small debris-fueled fire, he's feeling quite at home. Jerome shrugs.
"Who knows? Some old castle, there's a lot of those. Pass me your knife, I just finished sharpening mine."
Mitch hands it over, propping himself up on one arm. The firelight reflects off old stained glass windows and display armor, giving an eerie look to the place. An old torch on the wall gives him an idea.
"Hey man, whatcha doin?" Jerome asks, tracking Mitch as he walks across the room.
"Exploring!" The torch comes off without a hitch. "You coming?"
"Naw, I'm good," Jerome says, waving Mitch's knife, "Got my hands full. Don't mess with the place too much, yeah?"
"Me? Mess with an abandoned building? Neeeeeever," Mitch replies, a troubling smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Jerome sighs, watching Mitch light the torch and make his way upstairs.
The roaring of the sea covers the horrible sloshing of the creature rising from the depths, and the cackling of a troublesome fae is drowned out by the winds.
The upstairs is less than welcoming. Mitch burns off spiderwebs and strings of dust, casting light on cracking painted faces in the halls. Men and women in fancy clothes, a child, growing up, suddenly faltering. Mitch assumes the place was abandoned, some rich snobs moving off to find another castle.
Shadows cast startling shapes on walls, but Mitch has done this before. It's not his first time wandering around an abandoned building, looking at relics of the past.
It is, however, the first time he's turned around and looked right into the giant fishy eye of a sea monster staring at him through the window.
Jerome wasn't looking for a fight, but hearing Mitch screaming as he runs up the hall kinda made it obvious one would happen. He gets up, drawing his own knife and waits for Mitch to come half running, half falling down the stairs.
"Jeromeiwasupstairsandthere'samonsterithasaGIANTEYEAND-"
"Knife?"
"Knife!"
And just like that, they charge back up the stairs.
When they get to the third floor, the windows have broken. Glass and rain makes the floor shine and dance with dangerous color. Mitch squeaks as orange eyes lock on him, freezing up as a giant, slimy, wet arm reaches out, knocking over display weapons. Jerome pulls Mitch into a corridor, narrowly avoiding getting them both skewered by a spear.
"What is THAT?!" Mitch yells. Jerome shakes his head, pressing the hilt Mitch's knife into his palm.
"No idea. Take your knife, you idiot, we should go!"
"Where?! That thing is in the hallway!"
Jerome looks around the corridor, eyes landing on a spiral staircase. Mitch sees it at the same moment and his eyes widen.
"No. No way. That only goes up."
"If we run, maybe it'll leave."
"Or maybe it'll tear the tower down!"
"Come on, you scared?!"
"No! You're scared! C'mon!"
Jerome suppresses a grin as Mitch charges up the spiral staircase, knife in hand, leaving the sea monster desperately grabbing at the doorway behind them.
As they go up, the stairs get more and more narrow. The winding repetitive walk makes Mitch dizzy, stumbling after a few minutes going up the stairs. They try a few doors, but they're all either locked or rotted shut. When they finally reach the top, Mitch is so surprised by the door opening that he sends both himself and Jerome tumbling to the ground.
"What-? Woah." Jerome looks up, mouth open in awe at the room. Black silk, well kept and free of wear, hangs gracefully around the ceiling. In the corner, a pile of dead roses stands ten feet tall, all dried in perfect condition. In the center of the room stands a bed, black curtains drawn back, fresh roses scattered across the sheets and floor. The window is clean and intact, stained glass casting purple and green light across the floor.
"Woah..." Mitch echoes. He stands up, pulling Jerome to his feet as well. Hesitantly, he walks forward.
"Buddy, I wouldn't-" Jerome warns, but Mitch ignores him.
"There's someone there." Mitch takes another step forward, looking down at the bed. Lox lays flat on his back, a black silver crown resting gently on his head. Despite the chaos below of the sea monster, Mitch is able to just focus for a moment.
"Uh, Mitch?"
"This is so weird..."
"Mitch buddy."
"He's breathing!"
"Mitch. Dude."
"What?!"
Mitch turns around and freezes, Jerome looking slightly annoyed at him with a smaller, odd figure behind him. A curved silver blade rests against Jerome's throat, and Seto's eyes are locked on Mitch.
"Hey, let him go-!"
"Get away from the prince," Seto hisses, interrupting. Mitch, despite often being an idiot, figured now wasn't a time to play games.
"Woah okay, listen, we didn't know anyone was here-"
"Put your knife down."
"mmmk not liking this one bit."
Mitch's knife clatters the the floor. He puts his hands up, eyes darting between Seto and Jerome. he takes a deep breath.
"Listen, we just needed to get out of the rain-"
"You want to take him!" Seto interrupts again, but his tone is different. Broken. Mitch glances back at the prince laying still in bed.
"Uh. No. Why are you so worried about that, man? I don't even know the guy," Mitch takes a step forward, and Seto shuffles back, yielding a yelp from Jerome. Mitch stops again.
"No one did! They just wanted his castle! His money! No one cared what he had to say!" Seto insists. Mitch frowns.
"What? Oh, is that, like, your boyfriend?"
"What?! No! No. No?"
"Not judgin' you, dude. I'm not trying to steal your boyfriend. See, there was this monster-"
"Q? Yeah I sent him over here. Despite our circumstances, Lox was always nice to us. We're not going to let you take him. You can't break the curse, anyway! And there's nothing left- no kingdom, no riches or gold, so leave us alone!" For the first time since getting Mitch's attention, Jerome speaks up.
"Curse? Wait, is that the prince from those stories? His parents didn't invite someone to a party and they threw a tantrum-"
"I was the only one they didn't invite! Everyone knows you invite all the fae or none of us!" Seto yells. Jerome winces, but Mitch shrugs.
"Man's got a point. That's not cool." Seto looks surprised.
"Thanks... yeah. Yeah! It wasn't! And when I got there, they told me to leave! I gave them a chance, said I could do good, but no! No one likes me! No one wants you, Seto, go back to the bogs and rot!"
Rule number one, never give away your name free of charge.
"Seto? That's a neat name. So what's the catch, true love's kiss or whatever?" Seto, again, looks surprised. He slightly loosens the pressure on Jerome's throat.
"No, that's stupid, I don't like that. He just needs to be taken by someone with no inentions other than helping him."
"Oh, so you can't because he's your boyfriend-"
"He's not my boyfriend!"
"Okay! Okay! because you care about him. Better?"
Seto nods. Mitch shrugs.
"Cool, don't kill my buddy please." And with that, he turns around and pokes Lox in the nose.
For a moment, nothing happens. Honestly, this is what Mitch expected. While he couldn't think of anything he'd get out of it, he was sure there was something, and maybe Jerome counted? Over all, he was curious. The poor guy had been here for a long time, too, so who knew how long it would take before anyone else tried.
And Lox opens his eyes.
The knife in Seto's hand clatters to the ground, giving Lox just enough time to sit up before being tackled off the bed in a hug. Mitch backs up as Jerome steps forward to meet him, leaning on one another as the prince claws his way back up.
"Seto what th- it's dark. How long did that take?" he mutters. Seto laughs, burying his face in Lox's shirt, refusing to let go. Lox looks at Mitch and Jerome.
"What are you two supposed to be?" he asks. Mitch shrugs.
"Who knows, man. Your fish is causing a mess downstairs, wanna calm that down?" Lox looks worried.
"Q? What? How long has it been?" he gasps. Seto mutters into his shirt and Lox pales.
"Listen," Mitch offers, "We don't got much, seems like you two don't either. What do you say we put this all behind us? You can stay here, but you're welcome to travel with us, too!" Jerome frowns, trying to remind Mitch that Seto had just threatened to slit his throat. The message doesn't get across.
Lox nods, and Seto carefully helps him to his feet. Together, the four of them make their way downstairs, unaware of the future adventures that may take place.