Drawn in by an unseen cold hand

I pass even time as it flows to eternity

As your eyes look away into the hazy distance

What is revealed to them I cannot see.

As the moonlight shines on my bitter cold fingers

Frozen tears of mine begin to flow anew

I look at the sky, that distant far off dream

It always has me in its view.

~"Gentle Hands" by Tomoyo Mitani

Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Cloud or any of its characters. They belong to Level-5 and Akihiro Hino.

Author's Note: This romantic DC1 story is picking up where Chapter 4 of 'If Not for Hope' by Cerise2 left off. And no, "Scars of Time" and "Faraway Promise" are NOT references to the songs of the same name that Yasunori Mitsuda composed for one of his games that came out in November of 1999.

X~X~X

In the relative darkness and quietness of his airborne floating castle, Seda looked at the dark clouds that were going into the atmosphere at Dark Heaven Castle as he leaned his back against the wall, thinking about what he was going to say to Ruby when she arrived.

Looking down at one of his gauntlets with a sigh, the former King of the East saw his reflection in the cold metal on his protector as he hesitantly remembered her touch and how he suddenly reacted towards her.

"Don't beat yourself up, Seda." A calm, wise voice said behind him. Seda stiffened, then turned around to see an old man wearing yellow robes and a yellow hat.

"Hey, Simba." Seda said, looking at the Fairy King with a small smile as he turned away.

Simba smiled through his beard as he pulled out an emerald from his robes, carved it into a heart, embedded a diamond in the center and crafted it into a silver band, then slid the newly crafted ring into an empty ring box and slipped it inside the brown bag slung across the silver-haired time-traveler's shoulder as he disappeared.

The 21 year old silver-haired man looked up as he saw the beautiful genie from the town of Queens appear in the outskirts of his castle risen up to the heavens and shrouded in darkness shortly after being consumed in the burning flames of the war between his kingdom and the West that was soon followed by the birth of the Dark Genie after he witnessed the tragic death of Sophia. He momentarily shook his thoughts off and moved towards her as she smiled, his boots crunching the soft dirt underneath him. Wearing only his black top covering the top of his chest that has jewels on it, along with blue-white pants, elbow-length gauntlets, and shin-high black boots, Seda stood before her, feeling the power of Gods coursing through his fingertips as he once again studied her beautiful features.

"Just in time, Ruby." Seda said, earning himself another handsome smile.

"Sorry about that. I just recently bumped into Ungaga, who ended up marrying his fianceè." Ruby apologized quickly, flattered by the King's royal and radiant smile.

"I see that. You should've gotten here sooner or later." Seda replied, heaving a heavy sigh as his smile collapsed. Without looking at her and not caring about Toan's friend from the Desert town of Muska Lacka getting married, he added. "Are you ready?"

Ruby nodded, a smirk playing on her lips. "With pleasure!"

"Good, because we need it." Seda replied matter-of-factly as the silver haired male narrowed his eyes on her, walking towards the stairs. 'Mainly yourself.' He mentally reminded himself as he remembered his true purpose for this quest: to bring back his beloved Sophia.

Ever since he first had encountered and ruthlessly Dueled Toan deep inside the Divine Beast Cave under the control of the Dark Genie, he had been haunted and pestered by his selfish thoughts. Although he had been successful in obtaining the power that he needed to kill his enemies during the heated war between his kingdom and the West, Seda still had a price to pay which the dark blood that coursed through his veins manifested itself as the Dark Genie after his castle was consumed in flames shortly after the birth of the creature and the death of his beloved.

His thoughts lingered back when he first obtained the power through painful results.

X~X~X

Burning pain ran across his shoulders, warm blood trickling down his face. He grunted, resting his back against one of the oak trees that littered the battlefield. He wiped some of the blood out of his eyes, hastily ripping a bit of his shirt off. He wrapped that cloth around his head, pressing his hand against his forehead.

From the sides, the roar of war came strong. Agonized screams rung out, the roar of explosions and the whinnies of horses made a macabre song that echoed throughout the war torn area. He closed his eyes, groaning in pain, placing his hand among a nasty scratch across his arm.

"Damn it." He breathed out, his voice cracking with pain. He looked to his left and right, only to see fallen soldiers, scattered around like rag dolls. Among the various ranks, his own horse lay, its legs weakly moving. He grit his teeth, attempting to stand. He let out a small grunt of pain, his legs barely supporting him. He slowly made his way around the oak tree, before letting out a sharp gasp.

In front of him, was a large army of soldiers. Sharpened spears glinted in the sun, a large wave of shields met his eyes, glowing orbs were floating just behind the countless soldiers. He clenched his fists, as the soldiers began a slow, steady march towards his kingdom.

"No, I need to stop them.." He said, trying to take a step forward, almost collapsing, doubling over a bit in pain.

"You will fail that way, Seda." Turning around, he found himself looking at a brown hooded figure. A staff was held in his right hand, a blue gem on top glowing brightly. "At your current state, you would not be able to take one of them down."

"I cannot just stand here and accept defeat." He said, almost bitterly. "This is my kingdom! My home, my family, I cannot just watch it die in front of me!" He said, clutching his sword tightly. The hooded figure let out a sigh, shaking his head.

"You are a stubborn one..." He went silent, almost pondering. "I can grant you the power you need, the power you seek...But at a cost." He held out a jeweled dagger, pulling back his sleeve, exposing his arm. "Hold out your arm." Seda hesitated, before looking at the impending army. "Do you not want the power to defeat your enemies?"

"Yes." Seda said, almost hesitantly. "For my kingdom!" He said, more firmly, more confident. The brown robed stranger nodded, before giving Seda a scratch among the arm. He cut his own arm, some strange, dark colored blood dripping into Seda's wound. For a few seconds, nothing happened, before Seda let out a loud scream, the wound bubbling and healing itself.

His wounds slowly began to heal themselves, all of them hissing and steaming. He doubled over in pain, clawing at his heart as though it was on fire. He fell to the ground, hitting the ground and clawing at it, as though it may help relieve the pain. Bright, piercing light began to shoot out of his body, as though it was trying to escape. The glow faded after a short while, Seda laying prone, forcing himself up after a few seconds, looking at his healed body.

"Go. Save your kingdom." The hooded figure said, turning away.

"How?" Seda breathed out, looking at his hands, as though they were foreign.

"Do you feel the power, glowing in your chest? Do you feel how it pulses, how it begs to be released? Focus it, into your hands." Seda, almost afraid, focused upon his hands, a dim light glowing from it. He slowly raised his hands to the sky, a orb of pure white light glowing between them.

The robed figure slowly walked away, slowly lowering his hood, revealing a old, wizened face, a white beard on his face.

"I pray you can control the power I have given you." Simba had said, before walking away, as Seda's enemies crumbled into ashes.

X~X~X

As they headed up the double staircase that lead to the interior of the once proud castle that was under his rule, Seda stopped and narrowed his eyes as a familiar terrible laugh escaped from the depths of the shadows. He turned around to face a materializing demonic monster with silver hair, a muscular torso along with a well toned chest and a pair of demonic wings which protruded from its back along with beaming red eyes, long black fingernails and a yellow eyeball that was slit like a cat's lodged in its forehead that he gave birth due to the witch blood that was mixed with his blood and was later unleashed by his unspeakable hatred four-hundred years ago.

"Damn it, Dark Genie. Not you again!"

The Dark Genie looked down at the 21 year old silver haired man who was his creator and smirked wickedly at him. "I can rule this world, and did you honestly think that pathetic Hero of Atlamillia can really defeat ME in your time, Seda?!" He sneered in a sarcastic voice as a terrible laugh escaped from the depths of his throat, with a smirk being replaced by a snarl as he gritted his teeth. Seda shook his head as he fixed his gaze at the evil creature that he gave birth due to his anger, despair and hatred at losing Sophia four-hundred years ago. It seemed necessary enough as the noble warrior realized that the Dark Genie was referring to Toan.

Finally able to get his revenge and redeem himself for what he gave birth in the past, Seda grasped the blood red handle of Atonement and pulled it out slowly, the naked steel glowing in the darkness as Ruby read the cold determination spread across the steady young King's face.

"Shut up, Dark Genie! Sometimes, I wish I hadn't given birth to you in the first place! You will pay for ruining my life and for taking Sophia away from me!" Seda roared as he grasped his sword with a cry of rage.

Jumping onto the gigantic hands that buried themselves deep into the ground and in front of the Genie's face after he narrowly avoided the blasts from the creature that nearly vaporized the ground underneath him, Seda skillfully landed on the Dark Genie's forehead as the evil demon tried to desperately get him off, thrusting Atonement in the eyeball lodged in the center of its forehead and practuring its skull, green blood was slowly oozing out of the yellow eyeball. The Dark Genie screamed and wailed in sheer pain as Seda jumped down after he withdrew his blade, staggering a bit as he quickly regained his balance and watched as the manifestation of pure evil had turned into his Second State form and roared, exposing the crystal before him.

Readying his sword for yet another strike, Seda smirked slightly as he charged in and rammed his blade into the creature's mouth with one quick thrust all the way to the hilt, hearing a bloodcurdling scream as the Dark Genie hissed and vaporized into the Darkness Beyond Time after the young King sheathed Atonement.

"I will kill your future descendant and destroy this pathetic world, even if it takes me ten thousand years to do so, Seda!" The Dark Genie managed to get out, fixing his gaze on the silver haired warrior.

"Just keep your nose out of my business, Dark Genie. I will never give birth to you again, so don't you even think about following me." Seda said, looking away from the dying form of his creation as the Dark Genie finally melted into a large pool of mixed human and witch blood that finally dissolved. Seda kneeled on the ground in pain as he felt a gaseous dark cloud leave his body and a great weight being lifted from his shoulders.

"Seda!" Ruby cried out, running towards him. Seda then turned around, only to find himself hitting the ground as she buried her face in his chest, noticing a deep cut on his side that ripped through his vest. Snapping her fingers, his vest sewed itself back together as his skin knitted together.

"Are you okay?" She asked, cupping his face in her hands as he blushed.

The young King nodded. "Yes Ruby, I'm absolutely f-" but Seda was caught completely off-guard when Ruby captured his lips against hers in a kiss, closing the distance between them. His eyes widened in complete shock. Was this real? Was she actually crushing her lips upon his? Shaking it off, he returned the kiss, wrapping his arms around her waist.

When they pulled apart for breath, both of them were blushing as they looked into each other's eyes until Ruby finally broke the ice.

"I'm terribly sorry about that." Ruby apologized before being cut off when his cold fingers touched her warm lips.

Seda shook his head. "No, it's okay. Can you do me a favour, though?"

"What's that?" She asked, leaning towards him and handing him a vial of crystal liquid.

"Get off of me. You're getting dirt on my vest." He said, downing the liquid in a quick swig and coughing violently before throwing the vial across the ruined courtyard as he tried to get up off the ground.

Ruby felt her heart skip several beats when she realized that she was still on top of him, and quickly got off of him, again saying "Sorry." as Seda dusted himself off. Returning his sword to its scabbard on his side, he said. "Let's go. We don't have all day!"

As they soon entered Dark Heaven Castle, Ruby was greeted by a wave of darkness that passed by her and Seda. When it cleared, they went to the Gallery of Time, only to find out that the passageway was closed.

"We'll never get past this." Ruby said, pushing her hands on the clock.

"Let me try it." Seda said, stepping up to her after wiping his forehead from sweat.

"You sure?"

"I'm positively sure." Hesitantly, Seda nodded to her. Raising his left hand, a sphere of magic began building up in his palm. Smirking, the beam hit the clock, its hands spinning around like a propeller. Ruby nodded as she jumped into the portal, Seda following after her.

As soon as they arrived on the first floor, Ruby looked around the dark corridors, checking to see if any monsters were around. Sadly, there weren't any, until Seda arrived with a fireball in his hand.

"Here I am." He said, touching her shoulder.

"Are we ready?" She asked, looking behind her.

He nodded. "Certainly."

After killing off many of the monsters and obtaining the clock hands, Seda stopped Ruby from touching the clockface.

"Stop, I want to tell you something."

"What is it?"

He opened his mouth to speak, but right before he could say it, Seda was suddenly impaled by a black dragon's horn through the abdomen. Blood slowly oozed out of the wound as Ruby quickly killed the beast.

After arriving at the entrance to the Gallery, Ruby lied Seda up against the wall, healing the wound on his abdomen. After several months, she restored the battle-trained warrior's body to normal.

"Ruby?"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you marry that rich greedy bastard anyway?" Seda asked.

Ruby let out an exasperated sigh as she looked at her wedding ring disgustingly, realizing that he was talking about King, her "loving" husband back in Queens, a small town that was once a large kingdom back when Queen La Saia ruled at the age of 18 before she drowned herself on her wedding night after her soon-to-be husband, Rando, abandoned her at the altar in exchange for eternal life. "Well, the only reason I did was because that fat idiot wished me to marry him. Bastard."

'Ouch.' Seda thought hesitantly, his violet eyes focusing on hers as he closed them. "I can't blame you. He loves money more than he loves you," a small chuckle escaped from his lips as Ruby glared at him. "Seriously, you should divorce the guy and move on with your life."

"Why would I do that? Is something wrong, Seda?" Ruby asked, breaking Seda's train of thought as she looked at her companion.

"Nothing's wrong. But I have something I want to give you." He said, looking in her emerald eyes with a painful expression planted on his face.

"What is it?"

"This." He said, pulling out a sapphire pendant that was accented with diamonds around the rim and was held together by a tiny golden chain.

"This is so beautiful." She said, fastening the chain around her neck. "But I wanted the real reason why you needed me to go with you on this quest, since you never told me back in Queens."

"Why should I have to tell you anything, Ruby?" Seda asked, looking at her coldly. "Like I said before, it's none of your concern."

"But why?" Ruby asked, clasping a hand on his shoulder.

Electric jolts sparked throughout Seda's body as he heaved a deep sigh. The silver haired time traveler from the past looked at the beautiful lavender haired genie from the town of Queens that was standing before him.

'Perhaps I should really tell her about my ambitions.' He thought painfully, covering his ashamed face with his hands as the fragments of his memories that lead to the birth of the Dark Genie and his redemption in order to prevent its rebirth began crawling back inside his head. Feeling his heart stop unexpectedly, he looked at her sadly.

"Ruby, I… Listen, the real reason why I need you to come with me is because I need to get something." Seda said, glancing at the two moons that were illuminating the sky.

"Which is?"

"A forbidden wish from you." He said as he grasped her hand.

Ruby gasped at his confession, her eyes widening. "So that's why you needed me. Where did you learn all this?"

"Yes. I have read it in one of my books in my era, so I must get your permission so you could revive my fianceè, Sophia." Seda said, looking at Ruby with a serious glint in his violet eyes as he walked past her and into the throne room of his old castle. He began casting the Forbidden Spell to open the portal leading to the Gallery of Time as he looked at Ruby, who had tears forming in her eyes.

"Ruby, what's wrong?" Seda asked, looking at her sadly.

Tears streamed down her face as Ruby ran into his arms and buried her face in his chest, sobbing uncontrollably on his shoulder as Seda literally froze on the spot. "I can't leave your side again! Ever since your future half committed suicide, I've been all alone. I'm begging you, don't walk away and do this alone, Seda!"

She started to sob to which Seda thought about how he prevented the embodiment of pure negative energy that was known as the Dark Genie from gaining access into his mind and to abuse his magical powers for its own bidding back at Dark Heaven Castle by thrusting his sword through his abdomen in order to further prevent the creature from reuniting with his body as well as destroying the world that it was born, and embraced her, looking at the small black box in his hand.

'Pretty soon, I'll have my beloved Sophia back and confess my feelings towards her.' He thought, opening the box to find a beautiful heart shaped emerald ring that mysteriously appeared there. He thoughtfully thanked Simba after he put the box back in his bag as he looked at her, feeling blood rush to his face.

"Ruby. I may remember what I did back in this castle, but I will protect you, no matter what fate might have in store for us." He whispered in her ear. His warm breath was almost making her shiver slightly, his left hand was resting on the hilt of the Atonement as the steel broadsword glowed fiercely in the torchlight.

Ruby's head tilted to the side as she looked at the King of the East, her heart skipping a beat as her emerald eyes met his beautiful royal violet ones. She straightened up so that they were eye level with each other.

"Y - you mean it?" She asked, her bright emerald eyes looking up at the man as though he was going to knock her out at any moment. She shuddered as she felt his fingertips gently brush away the tears from her beautiful face.

But he didn't. Instead, Seda cupped a hand under her chin, tilted her face upward with his thumb, and nodded, smiling as he took a step towards her.

"I do mean it, and… thank you for saving my life four-hundred years ago. If it wasn't for you and the Moon People, the birth of the Dark Genie would've destroyed mankind all over again." He said, feeling their breath hitch as the two leaned closer to each other.

Ruby hesitantly backed up against the wall until she unfortunately hit it, her cheeks turning a shade of pink as she realized how close they were and that he closed the distance between them.

"You're welcome, Seda. W- what are you-" but she literally froze when Seda crushed his lips against hers, kissing her as he caressed her face in his hand. Her eyes lit up in complete shock and her first reaction was to pull away, but reconsidered her actions. Emerald eyes fluttered shut when the distance remaining between their lips was closed by him.

After a long moment, the two of them broke apart, their faces heavily flushed from their first true display of emotion, Ruby smiled up at him before she said. "You're not going anywhere without me!"

"Good. Let's go!" He said, touching the clockface that lead to the Gallery of Time to travel back four-hundred years ago.

X~X~X

When the two arrived in the past, they saw lifeless corpses lying around the hallway, soon to be followed by a bloodcurdling scream that sounded like it could bring the dead back to life. 'This isn't good. Oh God, if only I hadn't given birth to the Dark Genie in the first place. Dammit.' Seda thought shrewdly, shaking his head.

"We have to hurry before the Dark Genie obliterates everything in my castle!" Seda urged.

Ruby nodded. "Okay."

They ran outside the castle, past town, into the open field, and they arrived at a gateway to a graveyard. The two entered and looked around; trying to find what they were looking for.

"Found anything yet?" Seda asked, examining a gravestone as the sun reached the mountains, indicating that nightfall was dawning.

"No." Ruby said, looking ahead. "Is that a fountain…?"

"I think so." Seda said, walking towards it and examining it. Water was filling the fountain through a stone angel holding a basin that seemed to be chipped.

Noticing a small vial hanging on the left wing, he took it, pulled out the cork from inside, and placed it under the angel's head, realizing that it filled up with a crystal blue liquid as he used his power to repair the basin.

"We found it. Incredible." He said to himself, not realizing that a King Mimic was right behind him.

"Seda! Behind you!" Ruby suddenly screamed.

Seda turned around to see a King Mimic trying to slap his face with its hands, but caught his sword as Ruby threw a throbbing cherry to momentarily stop the beast in its tracks. Seda severed the devilish purple tongue of the beast, resulting as a painful cry that came from the beast as he wiped his blade, and thrust Atonement through the skull as the King Mimic died. He then joined Ruby as she tried to fend off the large horde of black dragons and blizzards.

"Looks like we're goners!" Ruby said as a black dragon froze her.

"Damn!" Seda cursed under his breath after a blizzard punched him in the stomach, tasting blood inside his cheek. As he fell to the ground and once again ready to accept death, Seda was about to close his eyes until he heard the sound of a sword hitting something.

Peering into the midst of the clouds, he squinted as he saw a blond haired man rode through the rest of horde on a white stallion, clad in a suit of dark blue armor as a sword shredded the card soldiers. A couple spears and swords hung from the stallion as he dismounted.

"Are you alright, King Seda?" The knight asked, kneeling before the King of the East. Seda got up and panted for breath as he wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead, quickly gulping down a bottle of water that Toan managed to buy at Queens.

"Yes, Jeremiah. I'm fine." Seda said, looking at the man as he sheathed Atonement. "What brings you here?"

"Milord, I have come to serve you and you only." Jeremiah said, stabbing his spear into the ground.

"Who is this man, Seda?" Ruby asked, leaning into his ear.

Seda smiled, his ruffles smoothed. "This is Jeremiah, the paladin of my knights alongside Lance and Alfred, my loyal cavaliers."

Jeremiah bowed gracefully to his King. "An honorable pleasure to serve you, My Lord. Who is this lovely young lady that you're travelling with, Sire?" He asked, glancing towards Ruby, who blushed deeply.

"I would like you to meet Ruby. She's… my companion." Seda said as Jeremiah grasped at her hand and kissed it, causing Ruby to blush a red that almost matched her top. "Anyway, can we get a ride? My legs are awfully exhausted."

"Certainly, Your Majesty." Jeremiah said, nodding as he stood back so his horse wouldn't kick him into a tree.

"Okay!" Seda said as he quickly mounted the horse, took the reins, kicked her flanks, and rode out of the cemetary and towards the castle after creating a cloud of dust in his wake.