Chapter Text
"HE'S MINE!!" the Phoenix screeched, throwing himself bodily over the shivering Shield on the altar. Florescent orange and blue tails whipped wildly about the chapel, sending sparks dancing along the pews. "He belongs to me!!"
"Now, now, Phoenix," Cid said as he took very slow, very deliberate steps down the aisle. He pulled tightly at the edge of one of his gloves to ensure it was secure. "Your brother is a slave no more, remember? He is own man as well as his own master."
"Lies," Joshua hissed. His nails dug into Clive's flesh, making the elder brother whimper from the sweet agony. He'd turned his head towards the familiar sound of Cid' voice, but tied, blinded, and gagged as he was, was unable to call for help, to beg him to stay away... He was helpless in Joshua's possessive grasp, just as Cid knew he would be. "We are bound," the Phoenix stated matter-of-factly.
"Well, he certainly is," Cid replied. He managed to get no closer than ten feet from his quarry, which was actually much closer than he thought he'd get. Heat rolled off of the Witch-Dominant before him in suffocating waves, sweat beading his brow, but he held his ground. He would not be intimidated by the likes of a tantruming child, for that's all the damaged little lordling was. Appealing to Joshua's delusional side, he said, "why not let Clive speak for himself? If you two are 'bound' in the way you believe, then let me hear it from him."
A deep frown formed on Joshua's ashen face, crunching his brows together in a painfully sharp 'v' as he contemplated Cid's request... For the god in him knew his own words to be absolute, that Clive would be so lucky as to throw himself at Joshua's feet, to worship the Dominant of Fire above him... But the human in him knew better, that Clive was a free man who deserved the right to make his own decisions, to be a part of Joshua's life in whatever capacity he deemed fit...
"...so be it," he growled, his menace aided by the dual tones of his semi-primed state.
Cid's expression remained as smooth as he could make it, even if the heat made him squint and tears gathered in the corners of his eyes. There was a time limit, that much he knew, and it was ticking down quickly. The longer Joshua remained in this form, the greater the toll would be on him physically, potentially undoing whatever efforts Clive had gone through to restore Joshua's mental faculties. Not to mention, it was just hard to watch this regal creature be its own slave to the whims of madness... And through no fault of Joshua's own.
His eyes never leaving Cid's, Joshua walked to Clive's head and jerked off the blindfold first, followed by the gag. Clive gasped and blinked blindly into the dim of the chapel as he struggled to orient himself. "C-Cid..." he whispered hoarsely.
"Over here, lad."
Clive's head sluggishly turned to the side, and his unfocused gaze eventually found the Cid-shaped blur at the edge of the aisle. "Cid, don't... don't blame... him... I had to... to bring back... the fuh... the Phoenix..."
"Well, then," Cid said, spreading his arms wide to the scene at large. "I'd say mission bloody well accomplished." He dropped his arms with an audible slap. "Time to go home."
"He is home!!" Joshua contested. Walking around to the front of the altar, he situated himself between his prey and the older man. "You come into my castle, my place of worship, uninvited... And make demands of my property?"
Cid's jaw tightened. "Clive is no man's property," he replied, an edge finally creeping into his voice. It was obvious that the Archduke had struck a nerve. As such, he braved two more slow steps forward as he spoke. "He submits to you because he loves you, you twat, not be... cause..."
Within a split second, the dangerous atmosphere of the chapel turned into something far more cataclysmic.
For now that he was finally close enough, Cid was able to clearly see the engraved ring of metal circling Clive's neck.
"This is a new level of devilry, Phoenix," he rumbled. Already, the air around him began to spark with little purple bursts, long lines of bright violet-blue slowly creeping across his skin. "Even for one as insane as you."
"He submitted to me," Joshua snapped, his voice breaking like a child on the verge of tears, clearly upset at being admonished by his elders.
"This is not submission!" Cid roared in response. Even Joshua, drunk on his power as he was, could not help but shirk slightly back at the roar in the older man's voice, clapping painfully upon his ears like the warring thunder that now rumbled overhead. "This is abuse!!"
So loud was the Dominant of Thunder's voice that Joshua covered his ears with his hands, crying out at the volume as fat crocodile tears dripped down his blood-streaked face. "Shut up, shut up!!"
But he'd gone and done the one thing most people would have thought impossible... and caused Cidolfus Telamon to lose his temper.
Fast as his namesake, Cid appeared directly before Joshua, cloaked in the armor of rage and levin as he grabbed Joshua's thin neck with an iron grip. The Witch-Dominant would not go down without a fight, of course, especially in the manic state he was in. Screeching like a bloody harpy, Joshua's nails turned into long, lethal talons that he dug straight into Cid's crackling flesh, the wounds bleeding lightning that hurt them both as they struggled. Cid roared in anger and released the petulant man, only to swing his other arm across the space between them in a ferocious backhand. For all his grandeur, Joshua went sailing across the chapel floor.
Clive whimpered from his position, helpless to intervene as he watched the altercation unfold. "Shh, I'll get you out of that, pet... Just hold on a mo," Cid tried to soothe him, abandoning the coughing mess of Archduke that was still picking himself up from the pieces of the wooden pew he'd smashed into.
"Don't hurt him," Clive begged as Cid approached. Had the poor man any tears left, Cid was sure he'd be weeping them now. "It's not his f-fault..."
"I know, Clive," Cid replied. He put a hand on Clive's cheek, his expression tightening at the rub marks of the collar, evidence he'd likely been stuck in it since his arrival. "...but that doesn't make it alright." Clive sobbed dryly, rubbing his face into Cid's hand.
"This... is an act of treason..." came Joshua's voice from behind. Cid glanced back over his shoulder at the younger man, who'd finally managed to gather himself back together enough to stare down his adversary. "If you take what is mine, then you make an enemy of duchy... And your punishment will be execution."
"Joshua...!" Clive tried to cry out, but his voice gave up the moment he tried, his throat too tired from its prolonged abuse to cooperate.
Cid returned his fierce gaze to Clive, his thumb rubbing reassuringly on the brunet's cheek. Keeping his eyes on his lover, Cid replied, "I know you want to fight to the death over possession of your brother, Joshua." As he spoke, his fingers slipped down and around the back of Clive's neck, levin sparking rapidly across their tips. "But it seems to me that you've conveniently forgotten that you're not the only Dominant of Fire."
"What are you doing...?" Joshua asked, a slight waver in his voice.
"You've brought the Phoenix back out, Clive," Cid murmured, fingers touching the locked clasp of the crystal collar. "Now it's time to remind it just who its Twin Flame is... Think Ifrit can do that, love?" His expression remained stern as he issued his orders. "For your brother? And for me?"
Clive couldn't help himself, and he gave a pathetical little whimper at the command...but eventually nodded. As did Cid. "Good boy," he whispered, leaning down to press a kiss to his distraught lover's dirty forehead. "Don't worry, I'll supervise."
"Don't touch him, he's MINE!" Joshua wailed, launching himself at the other two men.
"...time to fight fire with fire," Cid rumbled, then unleashed an explosive charge against the clasp of the crystal collar. And while the device could disrupt the flow of aether, it was powerless to hold its own against an external attack, and crumbled into levin-tainted dust.
Cid was out of there as fast as he'd come in, winking out just as an explosion of fire engulfed the altar. Clive let out a terrible roar that rattled the rafters and shattered the beautiful stained-glass windows, sending shards cascading down around them in jagged little rainbows. Lightning cracked outside, bathing Clive in a flash of light, all the colors of glass glimmering around him like gems suspended in mid-air as he semi-primed right there atop the altar.
At once, all his trappings melted straight off of his body, freeing him from his confines completely for the first time in a week. The heavy flesh between his legs was most elated by this, springing up immediately in jubilation. Large, clawed paws cracked the stone altar as he gripped it to steady himself while spikey armor jutted from his skin. Like a fairytale beast that transformed under the light of a full moon, he wailed inhumanly in his painful transformation; it seemed he'd taken Cid's words to heart, and completely surrendered to himself, allowing Ifrit to shape him however the repressed Dominant saw fit. This included sprouting a long, powerful tail from the wreath of spikes at the base of Clive's spine, and large, dual horns of bone and flame from his skull. Gnashing, oversized teeth filled Clive's mouth, chewing on every chuff as his heels and feet elongated to resemble that of a hound's.
In the end, it seemed only his face had retained some semblance of his humanity.
With a roar, Clive threw himself from the altar at his brother. And the battle ensued.
The Phoenix was clearly not ready to give up his lofty position of self-aggrandizing power, and so Joshua cried like a bird of prey as he rose to meet the challenge of his monstrous brother. He was, of course, immediately outmatched by the beast, who grabbed onto him with powerful claws and wrestled him straight to the cold, hard floor of the chapel. No matter how hard the Phoenix fought, he could not free himself from Clive's grasp.
When he looked panicked enough to fully prime, Cid stepped in and offered Joshua a laser-precise shock of lightning to scramble his senses, which Clive took advantage of and flipped his brother over to his stomach with a painful smack. Cid gave Clive the same treatment, if only a bit softer, to keep him from doing too much damage to the Phoenix...
"STOP!! LET ME GO!!" Joshua screamed as soon as he regained control of himself. "OBEY ME, YOU STUPID ANIMAL!! YOU BELONG TO ME!!"
Clive responded by loosing a mighty roar to the side of Joshua's face, the heat from within in making the air waver like a mirage.
"If I belong to you," Clive replied, his tone crunching like gravel, one clawed hand pressed down on the small of Joshua's back while the other wrenched the Phoenix's head back with a handful of glimmering, golden hair, "then you also belong to me."
There was no hiding the panicked look in Joshua's eyes as Clive took his claws from Joshua's back just long enough to shred the remains of the Archduke's ceremonial outfit, exposing his rear to the hot air between them - and the monster cock that throbbed before Clive, molten veins glowing orange, the surface pebbled with stone-like protrusions. For the first time since he'd arrived, Joshua gave a humanly meek, "...Clive..."
A dual-toned scream ripped itself free of the pinned little bird as Clive sank his disturbingly big length into Joshua's ass without so much as drip of spit - for he also sank his teeth into Joshua's clavicle, biting down hard enough that the skin broke and blood gushed to the surface. But even that pain was nothing compared to the feeling of being split from behind. With his hands now big enough to encircle the waist of his prey, Clive grabbed his younger brother with an unshakeable grip and immediately began thrusting into that small, writhing body.
To the Phoenix' credit, Joshua did not give up without a fight. Kicking and screaming, he threw his pathetic fists against his brother's armored body. It did nothing to dissuade the beast from its assault, other than perhaps annoy Clive enough that he pressed his full weight against the younger man.
Distantly, he felt the comforting, familiar buzz of levin-gloved fingers along his spine as a low voice chided, "let him breathe, creature..." Compelled, Clive lifted himself back up, allowing Joshua to suck in a life-saving breath.
Rearing back even further, Clive lifted Joshua up from the ground almost completely, and then held him out before him like a child's plaything as he thrust up into the over-expanded hole. Had Joshua not been semi-primed and flowing with the aether of the Phoenix, there would have been yet more blood spilled upon the chapel floor. Instead, only Joshua's fingertips and toes grazed the surface as he was pounded into relentlessly.
Every centimeter of him was filled with the studded appendage, the ridges bumping over every last sensitive nerve, obliterating the last of his senses. As Clive pulled him up and against his stony chest, one roughly clawed hand couldn't help but snake downward to clumsily grab Joshua's own flesh. Lost in the overwhelming sensations, he responded immediately, Clive's lack of coordination completely irrelevant.
"Let his hole rest, pet," came that guiding voice again, "don't go beyond what the Phoenix can mend."
He ripped Joshua off of his cock in compliance, though the fluttering ring of muscle had been so violently stretched that it did not immediately return to its usual form. Not that that mattered much to the repressed Dominant, who maneuvered Joshua around by his hair once more, until the inhuman cock had slapped him in the face. Realizing what was to come next, his eyes widened in newfound terror. There was no way...!
Clive shoved his head down onto it without waiting for him to take a breath, and his jaw unhinged painfully to accommodate.
Were it not for their dual altered states, nothing would have stopped Joshua from shriveling up at just how dirty it was, tasting himself on his brother, who had just split him open from behind. But there was no time for such thoughts of decency and sexual decorum, not as he gagged violently around the flesh in his mouth, teeth scraping on the textured surface as his throat ballooned out like pelican's. Tears ran over his cheeks as his face was fucked, blinding him as he choked, nearing suffocation...
"Good, Clive... I think he's just about returned to us," Cid said over Clive's spiked shoulder. Finally, the beast released the Archduke, who fell down to his back on the floor before him. "Guide him the rest of the way."
Clive dropped to all four over his brother, who was panting heavily, body shaking. "...brother," the beast grumbled, the touch of concern in his tone creating an unsettling lilt.
Laying upon his bed of Phoenix feathers, Joshua reached up a trembling, ashen hand to touch the streaks of light upon Clive's face. "...yes, Clive..." he huffed, chest heaving. A fresh tear slipped from his eye, a glowing, turquoise gem. "Finish it... finish me."
To anyone else, it might have seemed that Joshua was asking for a killing blow - something to put him at long last out of his misery. Perhaps, in a way, it was. This was the be the end of this delusional episode, after all. And so, Clive obeyed of his own free will, slipping back into his brother to finish the job he'd come here to do. Instead of fighting against the assault, Joshua now clung desperately to the beast ravishing him, crying out in a combination of pain and pleasure as Clive's claws or spikes dug into him, picking up to an especially brutal pace.
All the while, Cid kept a careful watch from the safety of the rafters above, a thin trail of smoke dissipating into whatever remained of the incense hovering above their heads...
-+-+-+-
Sometime later...
Joshua had begun to fuss a few minutes ago, groaning quietly, tossing a bit in the nest of silken sheets and pillows in which he'd been laid. As such, Cid knew it was only a matter of time before the Archduke woke, and decided to take up his watch in the sill of a window, puffing quietly on his roll of tobacco as he waited. Not much later, and blond lashes fluttered as Joshua finally came to. It was no surprise that the first thing from his mouth was a raspy, "...Clive?"
"Not in," Cid replied. Joshua's sharp eyes found him immediately, narrowing suspiciously.
"...it's been awhile, Telamon."
"Aye."
"...where is he?" he asked, pushing himself into a sitting position. He winced, still a bit sore after... well, the whole week's worth of events, Cid wagered, despite the Phoenix's healing flames.
"Doing his duty as First Shield," was Cid's response. When Joshua continued to stare pointedly at him, the older man sighed and snuffed out his smoke before walking to the foot of Joshua's ridiculously opulent bed. "He's been with the Undying since yesterday, doing damage control for Your Grace."
"Yesterday...!?" Joshua balked.
"Aye. You've been sleeping comfortably for almost twenty-four hours."
Joshua blinked in genuine surprise, his gaze falling to his hands. "...I see. When will he return?"
"Haven't the foggiest," Cid replied. Already, his tone had taken a short, clipped tone. Joshua didn't react to it, probably expecting what was coming his way. "While he's away," Cid continued, "I thought you and I might have a chat." He paused to grab one of the chairs and drag it to Joshua's bedside, sitting in it backwards and draping his arms across the back. "A long overdue one."
It looked like Joshua wanted to say something, but his mouth snapped shut almost as soon as it had opened. "...right," he murmured, eyes narrowing at his own fingers.
At least he hadn't had the audacity to ask what about, which meant that they truly had succeeded: the spell was broken, and Joshua was once more in control of himself. That did little to temper Cid's anger, which was evident in the tightness in his voice as he spoke. "...you put a collar on my husband."
A lot was levied at the Archduke in that one little phrase, not least of all Cid's proclamation as to what Clive meant to him, and how Joshua had not only blatantly disregarded that, but first and foremost, his own brother's autonomy. "I... didn't mean to..."
"You didn't mean to," Cid mocked bitterly. "Clive came here to help you when you were vulnerable, like any good First Shield would. Like any brother would. And you thought the best way to reward him for his efforts was to collar him like a fucking slave?"
Joshua's shoulders hunched at the berating. "It wasn't...! I didn't...!" He ground his teeth in frustration. "I don't-"
"I don't want your excuses, boy," Cid interrupted. "Why in Greagor's name do you even have such a wretched device!?" Then, his grip on the wood of the chair tightening audibly, he asked, "don't tell me you came to have it for this..."
"NO!!" the blond shouted, finally turning to make eye contact with the older man. "It's not like that, Telamon, and you know it!"
"Do I!?" he countered. "I seem to be more aware than you and your idiot brother combined! I told Clive that coming here would put him in danger, and I was right."
"He was never in danger," Joshua said petulantly.
"I told him that you wouldn't let him leave in a week, and I was right."
"I knew you didn't want him to come here!"
"Of fucking course I didn't, you bloody idiot!" Cid barked. Joshua flinched back at both the insult and the volume. "Look at what happened; he came to help you and you collared and abused him the whole time he was here. You took advantage of his... devotion to you. And don't even get me started on whatever the fuck that was in the chapel."
Joshua had gone back to staring at nothing, but had now drawn his knees up beneath his chin, hugging them closely. For a man almost in his thirties, he looked so much like a child... Cid steeled his gaze, refusing to be tricked by the vision, and waited for the Archduke's next excuse.
"...I didn't mean to," he said again. But before Cid could berate him again, he added, "I remember being so afraid that he would leave... I suddenly couldn't bear the thought of being alone." He shook his head. "I lost... I lost control." He brought his trembling hands out before his eyes, staring at them as if they had betrayed him. "That stupid collar wasn't meant for my brother... It was meant for me."
"...aye?"
Suddenly, Joshua's hands flew to his hair, grabbing fistfuls as he stared wild-eyed at nothing. "I'd asked the Undying to procure it, to keep it near... from before, when Ultima still called this body home... I'd intended it as a means to keep me under control if anything should happen..."
"Joshua..."
He sucked a shaky breath. "I hadn't thought about it since... I'd only meant to keep Clive close to me...! I was convinced he'd flee once he knew about...about what I'd done when I wasn't myself...! I knew that you would come and take him from me, because who wouldn't!? After what I've done...! The bodies...! The dead...!"
"Joshua."
He gasped, suddenly wrapped in a warm, spice and tobacco-scented embrace. It melted him instantly. "I'm sorry, Cid," he whimpered, like a child caught red-handed, with no other recourse, forced to face his mistakes and truly, truly remorseful. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to, I didn't mean..."
"Shhh, calm down," Cid chided him gently. Joshua wept quietly in the older man's arms, all while Cid made himself comfortable on the too-soft bed, leaning back against the headboard as he rubbed gentle circles on Joshua's trembling back. "You feel so alone because you have made yourself alone," he said. "Surrounded by your worshippers, and by the dead... It's no wonder you feel as you do."
"I can't leave," Joshua whispered through his quiet tears. "It's... I am too dangerous."
"Not true at all," Cid replied. "You know that you are welcome to stay at the Hideaway, as always. There, you would no longer be separated from your brother, and he could look after you if you start to feel... off." Then he added softly, "I could look after you."
To his surprise, Joshua chuckled. The blond finally pulled away, creating some distance between himself and Cid as he tried to discreetly wipe the moisture from his face. "Can you imagine?" he asked after a moment, sagging back against the headboard beside the Outlaw. "I get my brother for a week and look what happened... Think of the damage should I have unlimited access to you both..."
Cid couldn't help but smirk at the slightly self-depreciating joke. Grabbing one of Joshua's hands, he brought it to his lips and gave it a tender kiss. "Think of how much happier you and your brother might be," he tried. "And even those Undying you insist on running ragged? Not to mention the local graves."
Joshua rolled his eyes, but a tiny smile remained on his lips.
However, they both already knew that Joshua was not yet ready to leave. "I can do more from here," he eventually answered. "And... it really is safer. Not just for Clive, but for everyone."
"If you ask me, it's staying here surrounded by the past that's making you sick," Cid supplied. "But I won't force you." He sighed gently. "Though I have a proposal for you that might make you reconsider. If only temporarily."
"And what's that?"
"The next time you decide to take leave of your senses," Cid began, not missing the way Joshua cringed away from him, "come to the Hideaway anyway."
Joshua whipped around to stare at him incredulously. "Did you not just hear what I said?"
"I did, aye, but I don't recall you being in charge of the Hideaway's safety."
And then the Archduke's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Then why? Do you mean to prevent Clive from returning here once you leave?"
There was the spirited, possessive, half-out-of-his-mind cult leader that Cid knew. He laughed in disbelief. "No, you fool. Greagor's sake, what is it with you and ordering your brother around? He's his own man, Your Lordship. He'll bloody do as he pleases, what I want be damned. He's here now, isn't he?" Joshua didn't respond, but he had the decency to look at least marginally chastened. "Look, lad, I wasn't joking about getting away from here every once in a while. It would do you some good, I'm sure of it. Doesn't have to be the Hideaway, mind, but Tarja's got a far better knack for dealing with medical conditions, mental or otherwise, than your brother's arse does. Though, not for lack of trying."
Joshua remained silent, though the flitting back and forth of his pale eyes told Cid that the younger man was seriously considering the offer. "How about this," the Outlaw added, "you feel yourself starting to go, then you just have your little underlings procure you another crystal collar - ah, yes, yours did not survive yesterday's events, not sorry to say... You get yourself a new collar and, if you're so worried about all this damage you might do, then you put it on yourself, and then you can come to your brother and I."
It was quite the offer. And had heavy stipulations for the Archduke. "...I'll take it under advisement," he eventually replied, but his tone was genuine enough that Cid believed him.
Just then, a soft knock on the door preceded it being slowly pushed inward, a curious, concerned brunet poking his head in. "Cid? Is Joshua up yet?"
"Hello, brother," Joshua replied, directly.
Cid slid away to allow Clive to take his place, never more than a few paces away.
The whole of Rosaria over, it seemed at last that the long-held breath was released.