Chapter 26: Who Are You?

“Maybe you should go talk to Milo, see how he’s dealing with all this breakup thing,” Beatrice suggested to him after the game.

It had been a horrible affair in the end, and by how Milo walked alone from the court, it appeared that his teammates were not pleased with him.

But what could he do? The alternative was much, much worse. He would never put Milo in harm’s way if he could help it, and he would always do everything in his power to help it. At least he was protected from the pig-like face boy and his posse.

Beatrice patted him on the back, and seeing how he made no gesture or said nothing to keep her, she left with her friends, not without reminding him one more time that he should try to mend things between him and his boyfriend.

His boyfriend. Yes, it appeared that Milo had been that for a short while, and it had been a happy time for Sebastian, if not the happiest, as short-lived as it had been. Could it be that was what Luna Celeste kept blabbing about? Love, with its times of elation and happiness, but also despair and gloom? He was living through the second part now, and he would have much liked to do without.

He left the building where the match had taken place and was deeply lost in thought when he heard someone running toward him. Tani was rushing to him, her breath coming in short, her eyes full of worry. Was it about how he hadn’t wanted to take her to see the match? It was for the best since the game had proven just an occasion for their school team to be humiliated due to Milo’s subpar performance. Sebastian had wanted to protect him with all his soul when he heard the people around commenting on that, but he knew he was to blame, so nothing could be done.

“What is it?” he asked her.

Tani grabbed him by the arms and leaned against him, unable to breathe or talk.

Sebastian felt the now familiar alertness creeping in. She was almost crying, so it couldn’t be just about the basketball game. “Kai, some ugly boys took Milo,” she eventually managed.

His entire body tensed. “What ugly boys? Where?”

Tani continued to breathe hard and let go of one of his arms only to point in the direction of what looked like an old workshop. “I peeked inside, and they were starting to push him around and call him names.”

Sebastian ground his teeth hard. “Does one of these ugly boys look like an unwashed pig?” he asked.

Tani nodded. “They all look like pigs. I don’t know if they’re unwashed or otherwise.”

Sebastian began walking purposefully, with Tani on his tail. “Kai, you should call a teacher or something,” she pleaded as she ran behind him.

And put more innocents in harm’s way? That wasn’t something he was willing to do and had never done in his life. He scouted with his eyes and saw a thick wooden pillar leaning to one side, stuck in the ground. It must have been part of an old fence in another time, and it had to do.

He grabbed it with both hands to make it come undone as anger grew inside him. Curses formed on his tongue as he struggled with the damned thing.

“Kai, what are you doing?” Tani asked, more and more concerned.

“I’m settling the score,” Sebastian said through his teeth as the pillar began to move. “This,” he grunted, “strange world,” he added as the thing finally came off, “needs a kicking!”

Suitably armed now, he rushed toward the building where his would-be assassins were most probably harming Milo in ways he didn’t want to think of. With a loud cry, he pushed open the doors that rattled on their hinges by driving his shoulder against them.

Milo was on a chair at the end of the room, with his hands tied behind him by his position. Around him, Chet and his posse were shouting, hitting him from time to time. Sebastian took in his surroundings as dark flames licked along his veins.

As soon as he barged in, Milo’s attackers stopped and turned toward him.

“You scoundrels,” he said in a deep, rumbling voice he recognized from a different time.

“If it isn’t lover boy,” Chet said with a sneer. “What’s up, homo? We were just talking about you. Your boyfriend is a pussy, just like you.”

Sebastian jumped on the long line of tables and broke into a sprint. A new power surged through him, but no, it wasn’t new, he registered faintly, as he swung the wooden pillar and smacked Chet right in the face.

For a moment, a deadly silence followed. But then, Chet’s acolytes rushed to grab him while shouting obscenities. Sebastian moved with ease, the routines learned from online instructors coming to him like second nature. He evaded their maneuvers with ease, using his improvised weapon to hit them efficiently and where it hurt the most. It wasn’t his way of doing things to go against an opponent that was so poorly equipped, but the moment they had dared to lay a finger on Milo, these young delinquents had sealed their fate.

He was breathing hard when all of them were down on the floor, squirming and crying. But when he turned his attention on Milo, his heart sank. Chet was holding one arm around Milo’s neck while blood was pouring from his nose. Milo was struggling to kick him away, but his face was getting redder.

“Step away from him,” Sebastian hissed.

“No fucking way,” Chet blabbered, and the wild look in his eyes said that he was scared. “You’ll let us leave first.”

No moments could be spared. He cried out, and this time, when he launched his attack, he didn’t hold back and put his full strength behind it. Chet remained standing after the hit, but only for a moment, and then he crumpled to the floor. Milo began coughing and wheezing. Around him, Sebastian felt a breath of cold, one that he had known to be with him throughout his life.

He hurried to untie Milo when Tani rushed in. “There are teachers and people coming, Kai! Let’s get out of here!”

He didn’t understand why she was so keen on them running. He had defeated his enemies, so he would stand his ground. But when he turned toward Tani, he noticed how she took a few steps back. There was uncertainty in her moves, but she was too far away for him to read her eyes.

“Go, Kai,” Milo said in a raspy whisper. “You’ll be in trouble if you don’t. If they dare to tell on you, I’ll say otherwise. There’s a back door.” He pointed with his chin behind him.

Their eyes met briefly, and Milo blinked fast like something was preventing him from seeing well. Sebastian just nodded and rushed out. He hated to leave Milo like that, but he would get the proper care.

The only place to go directly was home. He had thrown away the wooden pillar and tried to dust his clothes to the best of his abilities, and yet, people on the subway had kept throwing strange looks in his direction. There was a slight tremble in his arms, the energy he had felt coursing through him still not yet consumed entirely. Tani hadn’t come after him, and he could only assume that she was safe with those people.

He needed to change his clothes, and later, to call Milo and see if he was all right. Now that he had done this, the assassins were sure to come after him and him only. Milo needed protection, and other people were now involved, people from this world who wouldn’t allow Chet to beat up boys like Milo.

The door closed behind him once inside Kai’s bedroom, but not because he had done that, so the sound took him by surprise. He turned on his heels to find himself face to face with Tani, who had a strange improvised hat on her head and held a stick with a star at its tip. “You’re not my brother,” she said while her hand trembled on the stick. “Who are you?”

Sebastian stood there baffled for a moment. “Can you see me? The real me?” He pointed at himself. Where was a mirror when he needed one? Was he transforming into his real self?

“All I see,” Tani said, “is my brother’s body but there’s someone else inside him!” She swung the stick in her hand wildly.

Sebastian narrowed his eyes. Was that a tinfoil hat? He walked toward Tani, making her squeal. With a sure move, he grabbed her tinfoil hat, made it into a ball, and threw it on the bed. “I’m not an alien,” he said. Yes, he had seen those horrendous movies, and he seriously doubted tinfoil hats were any good at offering protection against creatures from another world.

She cried out in despair and raised her arm, dropping her stick. Sebastian groaned. Dealing with little girls scared of aliens wasn’t something he had any idea how to address. He seized her wrists, trying to be gentle but firm. She stopped her shouting and stared into his eyes, looking scared.

“I’m not your brother, it’s true,” he said in a measured voice, “but I have no intention to hurt you. I’m not a bad man.”

Tani blinked a few times, but it was a good sign that she wasn’t shouting anymore. “Who are you then?”

It was strange to hold her arms up like that, so Sebastian let them down slowly and then took a step back. “Are you sure you’re capable of listening to the truth? I tried telling it to Milo, but he wouldn’t believe a word I said.”

Tani nodded, but she was so pale that Sebastian worried she might faint. So he took her hand and guided her toward the bed, and made her sit. He grabbed a chair and sat at a fair distance from her to ensure that he didn’t scare her any more than he had already done.

“My name is Sebastian, and I am the Protector of Ifigia. I am a prince in my world.”

“Ifigia? Is this in Europe?” Tani asked.

“No,” Sebastian said firmly. “It is not anywhere on this planet, and according to everything I’ve read since coming here, it is not anywhere in this universe.”

Tani inhaled and exhaled, then repeated the procedure. Sebastian allowed her, seeing how shaken she was. But the color was turning to her cheeks, and her eyes were now shining with curiosity. “Are you like from a fantastic land?”

“It would be a good definition according to the rules of your world,” Sebastian agreed.

“Do you have dragons there?”

“Yes, there are dragons,” Sebastian confirmed.

“And beautiful princesses?”

“I think so, although I would not be the right person to judge their physical appearance.”

“Do you mean that you’re into boys in that world, too?” Tani’s eyes were as big as saucers.

Sebastian sighed. It was so like Tani to ask useless questions. But he needed to be patient with her and establish what made her see behind the body he was inhabiting by chance or curse. “Yes, I prefer men,” he said shortly. He found the conversation inappropriate given the young age of Kai’s sister, but he had no choice but to offer answers as clear as he could.

“You’re from a BL novel, lol!” she exclaimed.

“I assure you my world is not fiction.”

“But if you’re here, where is my brother?”

Sebastian let out another long and heartfelt sigh. “I can only assume that he is currently inside my real body, ruling Ifigia in my stead.” He didn’t have the heart to tell Tani that he believed Kai was ill-equipped for such a task.

“I bet he’s making a mess out of it,” Tani said.

He couldn’t help a smile. “It is a possibility.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” she continued. All the fear from before was gone from her face. “So, he’s now surrounded by bishies who want to sleep with him?”

Bishies. Oh, right, he remembered the term. It meant beautiful boys. “At the moment, I believe he would only have to fend off the advances of my royal concubine, Conrad --”

Tani made a sound like she was choking. “You have a royal concubine?”

Sebastian frowned again. This conversation was surely going places that were making him feel uncomfortable. “The thing is,” he said quickly, “I have no idea what happened that your brother and I switched places in such an incredible fashion. I suspect a curse, but I have no proof. I was also suspecting that Chet and those other boys were assassins sent to kill me, but I think they’re just delinquents and nothing else. How is Milo?” he asked, suddenly alarmed. Under the surprise that Tani had discovered the truth about his identity, he had forgotten about the boy.

“The teachers took him to the infirmary. And those jerks were taken by a security guard, and an ambulance was on the way when I left. I think they’re in deep trouble. They might get expelled. And Milo didn’t say anything, and the others didn’t dare to rat you out. No one would believe them anyway. My brother is incapable of hurting a fly, and you cracked that jerk’s nose open.”

Sebastian waved, wanting to get to the heart of the matter, now that he had the confirmation that Milo was all right. “Tani, I must ask you. How could you tell I’m not your brother?”