Chapter Text
Worn-out brown boots kicked dust into the air as the man they belonged to trudged up the road leading to Camelot. His messy blonde hair and tired shoulders, hunching under the weight of a dirty brown bag, served as evidence of the long journey he had begrudgingly taken to get here.
After seeing his brother eating berries, the berries that Shizuo spent hours picking, he threw his family’s wooden dining table at his brother, breaking the table as well as several of his bones.
After that day, the other villagers feared his strength, and Shizuo feared that he would accidentally hurt someone else. His mother sensed this and sent him to meet someone in Camelot-- a man named Gaius who could help him control his strength and anger. He was reluctant to leave his mother and brother to fend for themselves, but he was even more afraid of hurting them, so he agreed to make the journey to Camelot.
The high peaks of the city’s castles were finally visible in the distance, and Shizuo continued on towards the city with as much reluctance as he had when he left his quaint village.
He did not stare in wonder as he passed through the magnificent gate to the city like most people did; it was only once he walked into the main square that something caught his attention. A noisy crowd of people were looking at something, shouting jeers and insults, and in the center of all those people, there was a man about to be executed.
The sound of drums and loud shouts from the crowd were quickly cut off. Looking around, Shizuo saw that everyone was looking up towards the castle, and Shizuo followed their gaze to see the king, Uther Pendragon, standing on one of the balconies of the castle. He wore the gold crown on top of his gray hair with an air of authority.
“Citizens of Camelot,” he said, addressing the crowd. “This man, Thomas James Collins, is guilty of practicing witchcraft-- a practice that I, Uther Pendragon, have banned in Camelot on penalty of death.” His voice rang out over the crowd with great confidence.
“Let this serve as a lesson to you all,” he continued. “I pride myself as being a fair and just king, but for the crime of magic, I can think of only one punishment.” He signaled with his hands to the guards, who grabbed Thomas by his shoulders and knelt him over the block.
The crowd waited on bated breath as the man with the executioner hood raised the axe above Thomas’s head and swung it down. Shizuo cringed and looked away as the crowd gasped at the scene.
Uther’s voice rang out over the crowd. “It has been 20 years since we have captured the Great Dragon and outlawed witchcraft from this land. So I declare a festival, to celebrate the day that magic had been driven from Camelot, and the city freed from the evil of sorcery for good. Let the celebrations begin!”
There was no applause from the crowd, instead, an old woman started wailing in anguish, gripping her robes in clenched fists and kneeling to the ground, crying. She looked up at Uther with an expression of sorrow and hatred. “There is only one evil in this land, and it is not magic, it is you!” The woman let out a choked sob. “You took my son away from me! I promise you, by the time these celebrations are over, you will pay for what you have done to this land!”
“Guards, seize her,” Uther ordered with a nonchalant wave of his hand as he turned his back to walk into the castle. As the guards ran to grab her, the woman screamed, held out her hands, and Shizuo could see her mutter an incantation before she vanished in a cloud of smoke.
Murmurs swept through the crowd as it began to disperse, but Shizuo could only stand there in shock and outrage. Why did his mother send him to here, to a place where his special ability would not be accepted? He contemplated going back, telling his mother that she must have made a mistake, for there was no way he could find help in a place like this. But, the journey had been a long one, and his tired limbs told him they were not keen to make it again.
So, he walked up to the steps of the great castle, nodding awkwardly to the two guards on either side of the main doors, reaching to push them open when one of them yelled, “Halt!” Shizuo’s hand froze an inch from the door handle. “What business brings you to the castle?”
Shizuo stiffly put his arms at his side as he turned to face the guard. “I’m here to see Gaius, the Court Physician,” he stated uncomfortably. The guards looked at each other, and then turned back to give a curt nod to Shizuo. Suppressing a tick of annoyance, he pushed his way inside the great doors of the castle. He followed the conveniently placed sign that directed him to take the right hallway to find the Court Physician.
Gaius’ room was messy and cluttered with dozens of bookshelves along the walls and tables with books and alchemy ingredients spread haphazardly on top of them. Suddenly, there was a loud scraping sound from above him, and Shizuo looked up to see a big black cauldron falling down right on top of him, about to crush him. A rush of adrenaline shot through him as he reached up and caught it before it collided with his head, carefully lowering it to the ground.
He heard a startled gasp from somewhere above him. An old man with long white hair was standing on a balcony above him, looking down over the ledge with a shocked expression. “How- how did you do that?” He questioned startledly before hurrying down the ladder and coming face to face with Shizuo.
Shizuo began to speak but was cut off by the man. “Was that magic? That cauldron weighs more than twenty of you, how did you catch it?”
Shizuo froze in shock as he realized the magnitude of the situation. Remembering what Shizuo saw in the square, he shuddered. “No! It's not magic. I- I just--”
“Whether it's magic or not, you'd better be careful." The man interrupted. "If the King sees you lift a cauldron that heavy, there's not a doubt in my mind that he'd jump to conclusions. When it comes to magic, the King takes no chances.” Gaius said, turning away and bending down to inspect the cauldron for any scratches. Furrowing his eyebrows, he looked up at Shizuo. “Who are you anyway?”
“My name is Shizuo Heiwajima. You must be Gaius, right?” Gaius looked at him with a bewildered and confused expression on his face.
“You weren’t supposed to come until Wednesday.”
“...It is Wednesday.”
“Oh!” Gaius chuckled. “Old age. It gets to you.” Shizuo let out a nervous laugh, and the old man smiled warmly. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone about...” he motioned towards Shizuo and the cauldron with his hands, “...that. You did save my cauldron from breaking. This thing cost me nearly a year’s worth of earnings; it’d be a shame to lose it.” Gaius sighed.
Motioning for Shizuo to follow him, Gaius showed him to Shizuo’s new bedroom, and he just managed to remove the heavy bag from his back when Gaius grabbed his arm and led him back into the main room. “We’ll get started right away! I need you to make a special delivery for me.” He brought Shizuo to one of the tables and placed a small flask in his hand. “I need you to take this to the Prince. Poor boy’s suffering from nightmares. If he’s not in his chambers, he’s practicing with his soldiers in the courtyard. Bring it directly to him, wherever he is. He doesn’t like people being in his chambers when he’s not there.”
“Sounds like an asshole,” Shizuo muttered under his breath.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
The castle was very big. After getting lost twice and asking a guard for help, Shizuo finally found the Prince’s chambers. He knocked tentatively, holding his breath, but there was no answer. He let out his breath and made his way outside to the courtyard.
Shizuo heard the the rhythmic clashing of swords as he turned the corner into the courtyard. Dozens of knights were standing around, watching as two men in armor dueled. The one with brown hair was sweating profusely and looked immensely terrified, while the smaller, black-haired one, the one that was clearly winning, had a smirk on his face that made Shizuo’s skin crawl.
When the raven haired man spotted Shizuo, his smirk widened. The black-haired man stepped back and sheathed his sword, saying something to his opponent with a dismissive wave of his hand as the other man bowed his head and joined the other knights. The raven haired man walked over to stand in front of Shizuo, placing a hand on one hip.
He made a show of looking Shizuo up and down, assessing him with that smirk on his face. “Are you here to try to become a knight?” He asked in a mocking tone with a hint of fake pity.
Shizuo clenched his fists. The amount of intense hatred he felt for the stranger in front of him was like no kind of anger he’d experienced before, and he found himself saying something that he would later deeply regret.
“I don’t like you.”