Imnolu didn't like how long Pyrrhus had been gone. Normally, his cousin was home long before now. Tuesday nights meant that Pyrrhus was meeting with the reincarnation of his long-dead husband. Tyndareus. Things had gone well for a week or two, but that…

Pyrrhus had trusted Tyndareus not to ambush him. But that didn't mean that just because Tyn wasn't planning one that one wasn't being planned at all. The Negaverse had eyes and ears everywhere.

"Fuuuuck," he groaned, rolling out of bed. He wasn't going to rest until he was sure Rylafein got home safe and sound.

He texted Isidor. Cousin's not home yet. Headed out to look for him. If I don't text back by morning with news, something's gone wrong and we're BOTH missing. He didn't want to worry his partner, but fighting a secret war meant he had to take every precaution. Isidor would be able to do something. Inform someone, make a plan. More than the plan he was making now.

He made his way out and found a quiet place to transform, becoming Troilus in an instant. Gods, he detested having to hide who he was. He missed the easiness of his home planet, where Imnolu and Troilus were one and the same in every moment, where his skin stayed its gorgeous dusky purple and his fluffy tail wagged without a care and his ears stayed elfin. Round ears and no tail were the worst. He didn't mind the dark brown skin so much, but it was still startling to not see himself as the way he'd been for over a thousand years.

Much of it had been while asleep, sure, but that didn't make it any less strange.

His eyes scanned the park, as well his aura sense, seeking Tyndareus by any means at his magical disposal.


Tyndareus did not like worry. It was a terrible emotion to feel. The anxiety of the unknown, creeping up and bubbling over and hounding someone like a stalker, half a step behind at every turn, whispering terrible "what-if" possibilities about the recent past, present, and near-future. If one was unlucky, perhaps also worries about the distant past and distant future. Luckily, he didn't usually have that problem.

Tonight, he had a problem, and that problem was Worry. It ate at him as the minutes ticked by, longer and longer, until Pyrrhus was an entire hour late, and he bit his tongue hard to distract himself momentarily with pain. It only worked, well, momentarily. He finally began to pace as the worry and irritation and exhaustion began to set in. Where the ******** was Pyrrhus?

His head snapped up as he finally sensed the aura of a super Order senshi, relief and caution warring for attention within him.

But though the person that approached was purple with elfin ears, he was too tall to be Pyrrhus. Not to mention, of course, the fluffy tail.

"Ah. Pyrrhus's cousin," Tyndareus acknowledged, brow furrowing just slightly. "Did he send you out to meet me instead of himself for some reason? Is he sick?"

Troilus had finally seen Tyndareus with his long white hair and quickly began making his way over to the Corrupt Senshi that had, a lifetime ago, once been a wonderful friend.

He hoped that Tyndareus, this Tyndareus, could be an excellent friend again. His cousin deserved to find happiness in a romantic relationship once again, the same way Troilus himself had found it again with Isidor.

Though Tyndareus's words halted him in his approach briefly.

Ah, s**t.

"Nope. He didn't come home, so I came out looking for him," Troilus explained tightly, trying not to glare at Tyndareus. None of Tyndareus's words rang falsely in his ears. The worry and the pacing seemed genuine, especially since he'd been doing so without being watched.

"I'm guessing he never made it to his meeting with you, then."

Tyndareus's jaw tightened, nearly clenching but making an effort to not crack a tooth in his emotional turmoil. "No, he most certainly did not," he agreed, pursing his lips. "I haven't heard anything. He just didn't show up this time."

Worry circled around him harder, a predator hunting down its prey, taking small leaps forward to bite at his heart and work it into overdrive.

Troilus inhaled deeply and exhaled shakily, running a hand through his hair. "Well, that's not great news," he mumbled. "I definitely saw him leaving to go meet up with you. He had no intention of leaving you hanging. If he couldn't make it, he would've gotten a Knight to use their ring and send a letter."

He began to lean back, stretching out his back with his hands on his hips, stance wide, until his back popped and he sprang back upwards. "We've been up this particular creek before. Sort of. I got kidnapped once. It wasn't my favorite thing, but I did annoy them enough that they pretty much gave up on keeping me their hostage. Any hints you might have? Clues? He's killed at least a few people that I know of, so he could easily have made an enemy from someone on your side. Well, your current side."

"I can't say entirely for sure," Tyndareus admitted with a soft sigh. "There's too many possibilities. Could even just be random chance with a General. God, I hope not. I…"

How the hell had he already gotten so attached that the rest of that sentence was going to be "don't know what I'd do without him"? ********. ********. That wasn't supposed to happen to people like him. He wasn't supposed to… fall in love or whatever the ******** was happening here.

"But I don't think that, if he's been kidnapped, that they'll be anything like the people who kidnapped you," he said grimly. "You were probably being held for a ransom or something. If Pyrrhus was being held for ransom, you or I would've heard something about it by now. No, this feels personal. Tell everyone you know to look for extra suspicious activity. I am going to do some of my own careful investigating from the inside. Meet back here in 48 hours. Deal?"

Troilus nodded. "Deal. See you in two days," he said evenly.

It was only after he got back home that he allowed himself to break down.