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Zeraora Fanfic – The Lone King (Collab with ZDX36)
【 Day 6: Traitors 】
The sixth day. Zephyr slept peacefully in his room. Everything was quiet, but suddenly, the lock of his room’s door clicked open, and a lean figure slid in soundlessly. A shadow fell over the Zeraora’s face as cold fingertips reached out and touched his cheek.
“……!” Zephyr woke up, startled by the icy cold.
“Fros…lass…?”
Through his still groggy and blurry vision, he looked up at the maid’s pretty face, hovering just a little above his own. The room was still pitch black, lit only by the little moonlight entering through the window.
“What happened? The sun hasn’t risen yet…” He asked the girl, rubbing his eyes as he tried to resist a yawn.
“Shh…” Froslass pressed her fingertip lightly against his lips.
“……”
The maid pulled away a little once he quietened down, sitting at the edge of the bed and speaking softly.
“Mister Zephyr, you’re… leaving tomorrow. I never had time to talk to you during the day because of our respective duties, so I came to see you…”
“Oh…” Zephyr smiled at her warmly. He sat up and leaned against his pillows to take a better look at her. “Haha, I don’t mind. I’ll keep you company, then. You’ve been such a great help since I first got here–always taking care of me. I had the best stay. Thank you so much, Froslass.”
“N-No! I should be the one thanking you, Mister Zephyr!” Froslass said with a deep blush. “Like the others, I’ve been touched by your warmth. I’m… really glad that you’re here… It’s…”
She leaned in closer… uncomfortably close, her icy breath puffing frostily in the air as she placed her pale, frozen fingers on Zephyr’s shoulders.
“It’s going to be a waste if you leave.”
She kissed his forehead, and Zephyr immediately felt his body begin to freeze. He wanted to scream, but no voice came out as he gritted his teeth, unable to stand the cold that bit into his bones. Thick ice began to encase his arms and legs as his body temperature dropped severely. At the back of his head, he remembered Rhyme telling him once that a Froslass had the habit of freezing humans and Pokémon they like to take home with them. He began to panic.
“Fros…lass…!!” The Zeraora struggled, shivering, trying to fight back in vain. The maid hugged him tightly, freezing him even faster.
“You’re my light in this dark place, so I’d like to keep you with me… Forever.”
“……!!”
Just as Zephyr thought that this was it, his room’s door slammed open with a loud bang. A large white figure flashed across the room, knocking Froslass off him with great force. Zephyr struggled and broke free from his frozen state. He looked up at his savior in surprise.
“Your Majesty!!”
Z stood there, fangs bared in anger as he held Froslass by the neck against the wall in a vice grip. The maid struggled with all her might but was unable to break free. Fear filled her eyes as she began to feel the weight of her situation.
“Froslass!! I’ve assigned you to take care of him. What have you done?!” The king roared. Angered, his voice had no trace of his usual gentleness.
“Your Majesty…! I-I…!” Froslass stuttered, unable to find an excuse. “How did you find out…?!”
“Mismagius informed me. She’s been watching over our guest with her spells,” Z revealed. Froslass glanced at the doorway, seeing the witch watching them quietly from there.
“Zephyr’s made so many contributions to us, and you… you tried to kill him!” Z yelled in disbelief, drawing out his claws.
“There’s no place for traitors in Euhitras!!” He swung his sharp claws at Froslass, not a shadow of doubt in his raging eyes. Zephyr barely made it in time to stop him, grabbing onto Z’s arm with all he’d got.
“ZEPHYR!! What’re you doing?! LET GO!!” Z pulled away forcefully, knocking the other cat off him.
“……!” Zephyr fell to the ground. The king yelled at him.
“Why are you protecting a traitor?! She tried to kill you!!”
“Your Majesty, please!” Zephyr pleaded, grabbing onto his waist. “I’m okay. And she’ll learn from her mistakes. There’s no need to kill her!”
But despite his words, Z ignored him. The king’s anger seemed unnatural, as though there were lots of other things from his past that drove him to raise his hand.
“YOUR MAJESTY!!” Zephyr’s claws dug into Z’s skin as he held him back with such force. “PLEASE! You’re a good king, not a monster! Have mercy!!”
Luckily for Zephyr, his voice finally reached Z. Tears formed in Z’s furious eye as he bit down on his lip in frustration. He dropped Froslass, panting heavily as he tried to calm down. Still angry, he turned around, leaving the room with heavy footsteps.
Later that day at noon, Zephyr sat in his bed, looking out of his window. Unlike the previous bright days, it was gloomy and raining outside today, as though the sky joined them in their misery. He could see the Ceruledge guards on the castle grounds below, escorting Froslass towards the castle gates. The maid didn’t have anything with her and wasn’t wearing anything, so Zephyr deduced that she had been exiled as punishment–to leave the castle and join the rest of the Unclothed.
The Zeraora saw Froslass glance up at his window for a moment, deep regret in her eyes. Her lips formed a silent apology, before she turned away to exit Euhitras’ gates, never to return.
“……” Zephyr sighed, feeling sad for her. Then he heard his room’s door creak open. He glanced there to see that it was Z, entering and walking towards him. He looked out of the window again without a word.
“Zephyr… You’re overly nice, aren’t you? Feeling sad for someone who almost killed you,” Z said, sitting on the edge of Zephyr’s bed. He seemed to have calmed down from his previous outburst.
“You don’t have to be so hard on her,” Zephyr said, “She… was a sweet girl, and she really did her duties well.”
“Doesn’t clear her from her sins,” Z retorted, “A traitor’s a traitor. Their stabs hurt more than if you’ve been stabbed by your worst enemy.”
The king put a hand over his eyepatch as he said it, frowning and gritting his teeth in frustration. Zephyr could feel Z’s fury begin to rise again, so he asked worriedly.
“Did something happen? You can talk about it if you want.”
“……” Z hesitated for awhile, wondering whether he should talk about it or not. He eventually made his decision.
“Alright, since you’ve contributed so much and you’re leaving tomorrow, I think you deserve to know,” he said sternly, turning to face Zephyr.
“The cause of Euhitras’ downfall? It’s… a traitor.”
Zephyr gasped nervously at Z’s words, feeling the great tension that came with the unravelling of a deep secret. Z stood up and walked to the window, looking at the stormy cliffs and crashing waves in the distance. He pointed at them and began.
“Those cliffs? I was born there, along with several other Zeraora–all my elder brothers.”
“……!” Zephyr remembered the portraits he saw in the castle gallery. He allowed Z to continue.
“We Zeraora are rare and powerful Pokémon, sent down to earth through lightning by the gods themselves–royal blood. But it wasn’t easy to be the king of Euhitras. It’s a title granted only to the strongest Zeraora, so I fought my beloved brothers tooth and nail to the death.” Z paused, sighing sadly as he recalled the events.
“Aside from Della, I had a faithful general who was a good friend to me–a golden Lucario who promised to always protect me… only to shoot me in the eye and take my kingdom once I’ve defeated my brothers!”
Thunders roared outside and Zephyr gasped in shock. Z gripped his eyepatch angrily, feeling the same fury he felt on that very day.
“He knew me well, so he knew my weaknesses. I was no match for him, so Della… she… I lost her to him…” He trailed off, trying his best to regain his composure. “We fought at the entrance gates. Everything went his way and he sealed me away for a long time using mysterious spells. I’ve awoken only recently, but what greeted me was… my beloved Euhitras… in ruins…!!”
He sobbed bitterly, but wiped his tears. “Ugh… Forget it… That general’s gone by now, so it’s over. It’s all in the past now… Yeah… All in the past.”
There was an empty smile on Z’s face as he hugged himself, and Zephyr could feel that he was still bitter about it, unable to fully let go. Of course, the world had been so unfair to him, and he was left here as the last survivor with his homeland in ruins. Zephyr couldn’t even imagine the amount of pain Z was feeling right now.
He sadly leaned forward, pulling Z closer so that Z’s leaning on his chest, hugging him gently.
“I have a friend who holds me to his chest like this whenever I’m sad,” Zephyr told him, “It’s okay to cry, Your Majesty. Let the sadness and the past flow away with your tears. I’ll hold you for as long as you want.”
“……” Z looked surprised, but closed his eyes, burying his face in Zephyr’s chest as he sobbed.
“Zephyr… You’re… really overly nice…”
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