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It does not have a human form per se, a physical form yes the humans called it The Slate, but it did like to mess with how it would look if it did. Currently, it liked to look like an androgynous child with white hair. A ghost of how the first King of their choosing had looked. They missed those simpler times. Though they supposed they might have gotten themselves in this particular predicament by thinking the simpler times had never passed.
The Slate, as they were called, (they had no other name that they knew of) had many skills or powers at their disposal one of which they were currently looking into. The future was an odd and finicky thing, one little thing can completely divert the future into a very different path or could cause many other paths to open up each vastly different. They looked through the options of the current path, how many led to the same end, and frowned at how its gift would be turned against them if things were left alone. They would need to interfere if they wished to continue to exist or transfer their being to something else… which was not really an option as it would take far too long and not happen fully before the kings they appointed destroyed its host form.
Ungrateful. They thought of them before turning their attention back to the present. The Blue King, the most rational and trustworthy of their charges, was doing his best to do the job of the former Gold King by keeping the slate’s overwhelming power at bay. The Slate worried for their little blue one seeing the small crumbling of his sword. They knew he refused to draw upon the sword so as to not draw the worry of his underlings and The Slates hoped that it wouldn’t result in the demise of another King they felt was worthy of the power they gave. What happened to the latest Red King was an unfortunate failure sure but they understood the call of death when their loved one was no longer there, still they felt he was the best of the Red Kings they have ever chosen.
Sometimes The Slate wished they could just speak to the Kings them as they do each other but other times they found humans to be insufferable and left them to their own devices… which again is probably how they are in this current predicament with their continued existence in the balance. Perhaps the other higher powers were right, don’t leave the humans alone for too long or it will backfire. Well, it was certainly backfiring on them now.
They watched the Blue King suppress their power with his own and idly felt his sword crumble a bit more before their attention snapped to the new human that entered the chamber. Oh, well isn’t this interesting. They thought looking at the tall lanky boy, man? They’re not sure of his age just that he was younger than the Blue King as he walked across the floor in purposeful strides. They hummed ignoring the questioning looks both males gave the stone as it looked into this newcomer. Well, aren’t you a surprising little one.
They called upon the auras attached to the male so that they could speak. “What is this one’s name?” they asked once the Wolf and Lion were standing before them having taken the child’s form to comfortably inspect the young human.
“Fushimi Saruhiko is this one’s name.” The Blue Wolf answered them, pride in their voice for their vessel. The Red Lion sat trying to seem aloof but its eyes were sharp watching The Slate as if it was sure they intended to hurt their vessel.
“Hmmm.” The Slate hummed again. “And you two work in tandem? In harmony?” they ask in wonder and awe. It hadn’t been done before. It shouldn’t have been possible not with how the powers worked. When they designed them they had the powers have certain characteristics that would allow them or not allow them to coincide with another. With it basically boiling down to Colorless able to be paired with another color easily with its fluidity, Red being nearly impossible to pair with any other color because of its abrasiveness and need for control, and every other color having certain pairs they worked best with. Red and Blue should not have been ever a possible combination. Destruction and protection do not work with order and peace. But here they are in one vessel and not tearing the host apart.
“Not at first. But now? Yes, we do. Blue is part of my pride.” The Red Lion rumbles looking to the Wolf in confirmation.
“And Red is part of my pack.” The Blue Wolf spoke calmly shifting to lean their side against the Lion sitting beside them, the colors between them mixing making a soft Purple aura.
The Slate watched the two for a moment more with interest before turning their attention back to the future to confirm what they had already seen. “Your vessel is a very interesting one indeed.” They said aloud watching how this Fushimi Saruhiko would gain a third power alongside the two he already had. The Green aura at that. One that worked against Red and Blue, so once again it should not have been able to work. But the future said this human was resilient and bent the Green to his will with the help of the other two auras.
The Slate hummed once again as they returned their focus back to the present. The Red Lion watched them in distrust and the Blue Wolf now seemed on edge as well, both sitting tensely in front of The Slate. They thought over their plan to change the future with hopefully enough of a change that it would keep them alive, so to speak, for many more millennia. “He would be an excellent as a King don’t you think?” They spoke aloud watching the two auras tense even further under their words and looked at each other searching the others gaze for an answer they both would agree upon
“Well yes… He is special and would make a good King. A fine Blue King in my opinion. But… Is there something happening to our Kings that we are unaware of?” Blue Wolf asks its tail swishing in unease at the thought of their king in danger.
The Red Lion's muscles rippled tensing and untensing as it rose to its paws in the same worry. Its claws were extended and scrapping at the floor below, going unnoticed by the humans but very known by the other two, in preparation for the uneasy feeling they had. It hated what had happened to their last king and it would refuse to accept that the girl was in danger as well. Even still he knew his vessel would not take well to being fully Red again and it is not sure it could give up being a part of him for him to be a full Blue. Not again at least. They got lucky once with the girl still accepting of its human, it highly doubted they would be so lucky a second go around.
“Not particularly. Not yet anyhow. If we stay on the current path we will all be in danger. But I think I have a solution.” The Slate said looking back at the two auras’ vessel. “He will be the key to saving us. But I must act quickly so I am sorry for this.”
---
Saruhiko falls to his knees as immense pain burned in his veins, what words he had been about to say to his Captain cut off in a near scream of anguish. In his blurry peripherals, he can see Munakata try to step toward him to help but something stops him, preventing him from reaching the third-in-command.
“Fushimi-kun!” Munakata says in a tone as close to panic as Saruhiko has ever heard him being, even while it was muffled under the sound of his heartbeat roaring in his ears.
Blue eyes locked on to The Slate below him in terror and he tries to get away from the thing but it was a struggle done in vain. He was stuck in place by a force like a heavy hand keeping him down all but pushing his body fully to the floor. “No, no, no, NO!” he practically yells as he begs for what he has a sinking feeling is happening to not happen. “No, I don’t want this!” He yells again feeling as his Red is ripped from him, a Red lion with a wild and tangled mane appeared before him with the same look of anguish that he feels on its scared maul, mouth open in a roar before it disappeared in a quick wisp of smoke, gone faster than it had appeared. “No! Please don’t take them!!” he’s full-on begging with tears pricking at his eyes as he begins to panic.
His tears blur his vision as he finally feels his Blue being pulled from him. Another form appearing before him, a ragged and battle-torn Blur Wolf shows itself its head tilted up howling in sorrow before it too disappears like smoke. He collapses onto the ground hands curled to his chest near his heart as he openly cried for the lost feeling of the two auras near the organ. His purple was gone. Gone. It was gone. He couldn’t feel them at all and he didn’t even know what he had done wrong for The Slate to take them away from him.
“Do not fret little one.”
Blue eyes snap back up to a figure kneeled beside him, a small child they had never seen before. Though the air around them was old power and strong.
“Do not fret. I know you did not want them gone but I had to cast them out for this to work. They did not want to leave you either, know that, they fought me so very hard to stay. But there was nothing they could do against me. You will be a King. You really are a truly special one. I am not normally able to speak to you humans, you are truly unique.”
The child spoke to him but he’s not even sure he’s understanding them right. “You… You did this?” he said through clenched teeth as his hand gripped his uniform tightly above his heart. The organ pounded under his ribs hard, his lungs squeezing in panic at the words the other spoke. “I don’t want to be a King. I refuse.”
“Ha. You are an amusing one little one. None of them wanted to be a King, I chose them just as I am choosing you now.” The child spoke in an amused tone before standing from their kneeling position in front of him moving their eyes to the glass floor below them. “I think you will be pleased, however, even if it is not what you want at this moment.”
Saruhiko gasps as the next feeling spread through him quickly. He’s not sure how to describe it but it felt like a rush of adrenaline like that of an intense fight with Misaki mixed with how he felt that one time he got drunk with the others of his squad where time seemed to simultaneously be too fast and too slow.
Then his mind just stopped. White incasing his brain and vison.
---
All at once, he’s more aware of everything. He feels like he can breathe freely and that time has snapped back into place. There’s a new weight in his chest that wasn’t there before but his eyes focused on the person in front of him that held his cheeks oh so gently wiping at tears he hadn’t realized he was still crying. “Mi-Misaki?” he says with a stutter as he looks over the other's face noting the worried and slightly frightened look in his eyes.
“Y-yeah it’s me. You had us all worried you damn monkey.” Yata says in a mix of relief and teasing. “How are you feeling?”
“Terrible.” Saruhiko admits quickly as he presses into the gentle touch letting Yata begin to fix his hair with the hand he didn’t press into. “They’re gone, Misaki. They are gone.” He says through a tightening throat as tears started spilling anew. “I didn’t want this. I didn’t-” He says cutting off in a hiccup as he fights back another sob. He wanted his Red and Blue back… not whatever this was.
Yata nodded his head sadly. “I know. I know. We will figure this out I promise Saru. I promise.” He says in a lower tone before pulling the other into a tight hug letting him fall into quiet sobs to morn his lost powers. His hazel eyes looked up out of the glass ceiling at the new sword that slowly spun proudly above the building. He wants to hate the thing, he does, but he feels like this might be a blessing in disguise. For now, though he was going to comfort his friend.
He lets Saruhiko calm himself before pushing on the other’s shoulder to wipe at his face again, re-fix his hair, and straighten his glasses that had become askew with the hug. “There we go. You’re alright. Look Saru I know this sucks but you’re not alone okay? You have me, Kusanagi-san and Anna, and your clan is on your si-“
“They are not my clan anymore.” Saruhiko cuts him off with a frown. “I’m a King now… I can’t be a part of Scepter Four anymore... I don’t even have a clan…” He says in a spiting tone and shakes his head. “What’s a King worth if he doesn’t have any clansmen?” he asks with a click of his tongue.
Yata rolls his eyes at the question. “The Silver King never had any clansmen until recently. Do you think he was worth nothing before that?” he asks and Saruhiko frowns at him before shaking his head. “Then why would you, the worthiest person I can think of being a King than anyone else, would be any different?” He watches as his best friend gives him a pout before clicking his tongue and looking towards the rest of Scepter Four.
They both watch for a moment how Munakata speaks to Kusanagi, Anna, and the rest of the Blue clan before making his way over to the pair. Yata helps Saruhiko stand up before the Blue King reaches them and Saruhiko brushes his uniform off with a frown. “Fushimi-kun, I am glad to see you are alright. It’s an honor to have you as a King but do not worry, this won’t affect your standing at Scepter Four any. I am not willing to give up my third-in-command over this. Though this certainly makes things more interesting. Do you have any feelings about what your powers are? The Colorless Kings have always been different each time but you should have an idea of what it is already.” Munakata speaks calmly and with a slight comforting smile.
The younger black-haired male frowned and looked down concentrating on the feeling in his chest. It took a moment before his eyes widened. “No. That doesn’t make sense.” He whispered before raising his hand incasing each palm with a clear flame before colors slowly bled into the flame. “Red and Blue are dominant… I... Misaki I still have them! Well not exactly. I think… I think I can copy a power I am familiar with? Wait…” He frowns again before looking at Yata again who raised an eyebrow at him. “I-… I can enhance other powers as well…. I think that is what this is telling me at least. Copy and Enhancement.” He said before looking back at his Captain.
“Interesting…” Munakata hums bringing his hand up to his chin as he thought. “This certainly tips the scales in our favor against the Green clan. Now it will be like we have two Kings for every color on our side.”
“I think that is what The Slate was going for… and why they said I would be pleased even if this wasn’t what I wanted…” Saruhiko trails off as he grabs his knives transferring the power into the blade and throwing it in a burst of red and quickly followed it with another in blue letting a pleased smirk grace his face when both stuck in the wall near the rest of Scepter Four each of them giving out surprised sounds. “You all need to get back to work. This doesn’t change anything by Captain’s wish.”
“Yes sir!”
“You enjoyed that a little too much,” Yata said with a roll of his eyes as the blue clan left quickly to follow their thirds orders. “You doing okay now?”
Saruhiko nodded and looked at Yata. “Yeah, I think I’ll fine. What are you and those two doing here? There’s no way Captain called you guys.” He said as he jutted his chin over towards Kusanagi and Anna were talking to Munakata again since the man had wandered back over to them
“No, he didn’t. Anna had a feeling and said that you needed me just before Kusanagi’s heartless woman called. You really had everyone worried. When we got here there was like a barrier around you that wouldn’t let anyone pass and all of them were doing everything they could. You were on the ground and I just… I just ran to you and nothing stopped me… then you just came to.” The redhead said with a shrug of a shoulder. “I just remember thinking that nothing was going to take you away from me again and I was so … scared I was scared that whatever was happening was going to do that. For good this time.”
“I won’t leave again I promise.” Saruhiko said easily reaching to grab Yata’s hand.
“Yeah, I’m holding you to that Monkey.” He lets a few moments of silence set between them before speaking again. “You really think The Slates did this to help us?” Yata asks as he squeezes the other’s hand.
“Yeah, I think so. The Captain is right it will make it to where it is as if we have two kings for every color that I know. I know how the Gold words well enough so I could use that and Silver, I have just about the same knowledge on his to work with. Red and Blue are a piece of cake. I can feel them even now like I always had before.” He said and raises his free hand up to his chest fingers pressed to his sternum. “I hated how I felt when The Slate pulled them from me… It was like it pulled a piece of me out with them. Even in that short amount of time that it was.”
The red head nodded in understanding. “I get that. The time between Mikoto-san and Anna… It was hell not having my Red anymore.” He said as he leaned his side against his friend’s letting the other support them both as he looked down at the Slate below them.
“That time sucked for me as well but I know it wasn’t near as bad for me as it was for you. I didn’t realize how attached I was to the Red until then.”
“Yeah… Hey Saru?” Yata says waiting for the other to hum in answer before continuing. “You really aren’t alone. Your clan cares for you I'm sure many of them will pledge to you as well as your Captain… And well… I love my red and I would never give it up but…” he pauses looking up at Saruhiko with a smile. “I will as well. This scared me so much that the thought of not being at your side is just as bad as not having my red. You are a part of me just as much, if not more, than my Red… So I want to be able to stand by your side as your clansmen… That is if you’ll have me.”
The newly awaked Colorless King blinked down at his oldest friend in surprise before smiling at him.
“I couldn’t think of someone more fitting to be my first clansman than you Misaki.”