"Despite your best efforts, people are going to be hurt when it's time for them to be hurt." (Haruki Murakami)

😭🙈

There was a sacred place where nothing hurt anymore. It wasn't that easy to access this place. Most people never found it - never even suspected its existence.

In this place, time didn't matter. Gone were the memories, the things most of us cling to, for better or worse. The future and its anxiety was equally absent. The present was nothing more than a mindless void. This was complete, absolute bliss.

On his worst days, back at the family's castle, he had longed for that feeling to not feel at all. That was it. That's exactly what the sacred place was.

There was a problem, though. The longer you stayed in the sacred place, the harder it became for you to leave it.

"Please, Headmaster, I'm begging you. Do something."

"I'm sorry, Ash, but I've done everything in my power. Now all we can do is wait and hope he will wake up by himself."

"But he looks so fragile now. I can't stand seeing him like this. My poor, sweet boy."

"I know, but remember how tough he really is and have faith. I am sure he will make it."

The sacred place used to be silent, before the voices entered it. They disturbed the peace, bringing confusion and agitation to the otherwise deserted haven.

At first, he tried ignoring them. They were merely familiar little noises he couldn't bother to decipher. He knew somehow that the little voices could shaken the very fundation of the sacred place. That wasn't something he thought he wanted. Surely, what he wanted was to remain in the sacred place. That was a reasonable desire.

Before he was aware of it, it was already too late. He had gotten used to the little voices and he could no longer manage without them. He expected them. Every time they didn't come, his sense of agitation grew. The sacred place wasn't enough anymore.

The little voices were everything the sacred place was not. They embodied love, life and hope.

"I can't focus on my duties as a prefect. I miss this little brat so much."

"You have to try and get some sleep, Ake. Even supernatural creatures need a break sometimes. At this rate, you will get sick before he even has a chance to wake up."

"Every time I fall sleep, I have these nightmares where he is dying. I don't want to sleep anymore. I don't want to wake up and find out that he passed away."

"I can give you things that should help, but please, try to take better care of yourself. I know it's hard, but you have to remain strong for your three mates."

"With all due respect, Headmaster, you have no idea what you're talking about. The three of us are stuck in a living Hell"

The sacred place had turned into a gilded cage. Along with the voices, the memories had come back, bringing a loneliness only three persons in the whole world could quench.

Now he could recognize all the voices. He could understand everything that was spoken and left unsaid.

Pain. There was so much pain in these voices. He knew instinctively that the only way to ease the pain was to leave the sacred place, but he didn't know how to do so.

"I'm so sorry, Faye. It's all my fault. I'm healthy again, and you're the one laying on the bed. It's so unfair that you had to sacrifice yourself for my sake. Please wake up. Please be fine. You're too precious to be dying. I will never forgive myself if you don't wake up."

The mental pain he felt at hearing these voices was quickly followed by physical pain, that only grew as time passed. His hands were the part of his body that hurt the most. They felt raw and tender.

As he couldn't seem to escape the sacred place, he started fearing that the voices would get tired and give up on him.

Except, they never did.

They became weaker, the sorrow they conveyed more tangible each day. Life seemed to be gradually drained out of these voices.

But they never left. They always came back, caressing his now slightly sunken face like a gentle breeze.

Everytime he heard them, he felt a mixture of relief and guilt. Relief for not be left alone. Guilt because how could the owners of the voices be happy, if they couldn't let him go? How could they move forward, if they remained at his side most of the time? In his happiness to hear them, he was being selfish, and he knew it.

One day, he absentmindedly started to repeat their names in his head. Their rare, beautiful names.

Ashur. Zephyr. Akhenaton.

Ashur. Zephyr. Akhenaton.

Ashur. Zephyr. Akhenaton.

That day, something happened within him, but it was too elusive for him to even notice. He did feel slightly better, though, so he started again the next morning.

Ashur. Zephyr. Akhenaton.

He never got bored of repeating these words to himself. They brought him a much needed semblant of joy.

Ashur. Zephyr. Akhenaton.

On the fourth day, he could clearly sense a turmoil in the sacred place. Its grounds seemed to have shrunken a bit, or maybe he was the one who become bigger.

That's the day when he discovered that names hold power. Some names, anyway. Three names, in particular, were a music to his ears.

Ashur. Zephyr. Akhenaton.

On the sixth day, he opened an eye. It only lasted for a few seconds, leaving him exhausted. It was a huge progress nonetheless. A progress that went unnoticed by all.

A few days later, he managed to keep both of his eyes opened. There was a young man with a tiny frame sitting on the chair next to the bed.

Fayez remembered him as the guy who had first welcomed him at the Institute. His friend.

The man whose name he forgot saw him, and his eyes widened, as he jumped excitedly.

"Nassiba! Quick, go get his mates! Fayez woke up! Oh my God, I can't believe he woke up! This is the happiest day in my whole life, and I've been living for centuries."

By the time his mates had arrived, he was unconscious again.

Luckily, this time, it was only a matter of hours before he woke up. He was in the infirmary and someone he loved very much was currently caressing his hair while reading a book.

"A-Ashur" he managed to utter feebily.

The hand on his hair stopped petting him, and he almost whined at the loss of the sensation.

"Faye!" the loving voice was shaking. "Finally. After all this time, you - you're. Fuck. I can't even - Thanks, Lord. Shit. I can't wait for the others to find out you're conscious again! They're gonna - How are you feeling, sweet boy?"Ashur asked, his eyes shining brightly.

It was rare for Ashur to speak so much. Fayez instinctively grabbed his large, warm hands, and their fingers intertwined.

Someone else suddenly appeared in the vampire's field of view, making his mate growl.

"Wow, calm down, Ash. You have to hold yourself in check, because I don't want an angry bear or God knows what else in the infirmary."

"I'm sorry, Headmaster. I promise I won't shift. Just let me take Fayez into our bedroom." Ashur demanded, sounding impatient and mildly annoyed.

Weird. The prefect was always soft-spoken and even-tempered, always talking about the Headmaster with great respect. Yet, now here he was, being a bit rude to the ruler of the Institute.

Wait.

Ruler of the Institute? Headmaster? Really? It couldn't be.

"Hel-Helmut." Fayez tried to say, with great difficulty. "You're the - you're the. The Head-"

"I'm the Headmaster, yes." his friend confirmed, as he lightly pressed his shoulder down. "Don't move around to much. You're still very weak."

"You're the - the Head. You didn't tell me... Ass-asshole. You never told me!"

That made the two men laugh. Fayez's cheeks burned with pleasure. He had missed happy sounds. They seemed to come from happier times.

"Glad to have you back, buddy.' Helmut added with an unusually soft voice. "I will just run a couple of tests on you, before your big mate loses his cool and drags you into his den. Is that alright with you?"

Fayez just nodded and, true to his words, Helmut quickly did what he needed to do - taking droplets of his blood, testing his reflexs, asking him to answer a few simple questions.

"You're good to go. I advise you to keep these gloves for a few more days. You also need to apply this healing cream twice a day, for at least a month. Avoid carrying heavy stuff. Oh, and don't take hot shower, no matter how nice it may feel. Lukewarm water would be preferable. Baths are strictly forbidden. Okay?"

That was way too much information for someone who was still barely awake. Fayez wasn't sure what he was supposed to answer.

"We will take care of him. If anything happens, I will bring him back to the infirmary so you can check on him" promised a deeper, richer voice that belonged to the man who was now holding Fayez against his toned chest.

"I know you will, Ashur." Helmut replied confidently. "Our boy is in good hands with you."

"Thank you for everything, Headmaster. You're the best."

"Tell me something I don't know." the slender guy smirked. "Okay, I will give you guys some privacy. Don't forget to close the door behind you when you leave."

The second the door closed, Fayez was engulfed into a warm embrace.

"Ashur?" he asked shyly, his voice muffled against Ashur's chest.

"Just one second" the prefect replied, as he held Fayez even closer - impossibly close. So close it felt like they were becoming one. "Just one second, love, and then we'll go. I just need to feel you against me for a little while, or I will become crazy."

Fayez understood, as he felt the same. He said nothing, and allowed himself to be hold, as he hugged his man back just as hard.

He basked in the other man's warmth, inhaling his unique smell until he felt like he was getting drunk on it. Finally, he could breath again.

He couldn't believe he had almost lost all these feelings forever.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to cause you any pain, I swear." he eventually said, as he traced the ovale of his mate's face with his fingertips.

"Shush, silly boy." Ashur replied sternly. "Stop apologizing. Although you scared us to no ends, in the end, everybody is fine. Zephyr is healed. With time and a lot of care, you'll be fully healed, too."

"I feared you would be mad. After all, I disobeyed you. I lied to you."

"I'm not mad. I'm feeling many things right now, but anger isn't one of them."

Fayez nodded in relief, his suddenly too heavy head rolling on Ashur's shoulder.

"Okay, time to go and meet your other two mates, before we put you to bed." Ashur declared, picking Fayez up bridal-style before walking toward the door.

Much to Fayez's dismay, he never put him down, not even after he left the infirmary.

"I can walk" Fayez protested, although the mere act of talking already felt energy-consuming.

"You're not walking" Ashur dismissed him immediately, his hold on him tightening slightly.

"But I-"

"Look, Faye." Ashur interrupted him, as he looked down so that their eyes would meet. "As I've told you, I'm not mad at you, but I'm still worried sick. To be honest, right now I half feel like putting you on a leash to make sure you never do anything so reckless again."

Fayez blushed, and found himself unable to maintain eye contact with the commanding prefect, as his mind couldn't help but conjuring up the image of Ashur collaring him.

They walked in silence - or rather, Ashur walked, holding his precious package against his chest like he was afraid to break it.

"You're really over-protective sometimes" Fayez mumbled against the prefect's skin, but the behaviour of his man was making him feel warm inside.

Ashur said nothing, but, as he arrived in front of their bedroom's door, he leaned toward the young vampire, and whispered against his ear:

"You think I'm over-protective? Wait until you're reunited with Zephyr and Akhenaton again."

Without further warning, he opened the door.