At First
Genre: General/Romance
Pairing: Dhaos x Chester
Warnings: AU, Shounen-ai
Rating: T (Rating probably will not change.)
Disclaimer: Tales of Phantasia © Namco
Summary: Chester knows he knows very little about Dhaos.
Author's Note: I've played Tales of Phantasia a bit now. I'm probably half way through, shy of the twenty-nine hour point. Wish me luck!
This is the worst chapter EVER. Nothing has ever taken me so long to write… Not even my essays. I blame major writer's block…And perhaps lack of motivation.
Chapter 2: Strawberries
It had been three days since what Dhaos preferred to call 'The Totus Incident', and Dhaos has been busy doing whatever demon lords who in their spare time. Eventually, he had told Chester he would be busy preparing documents to send back to his 'home' and he would be separated from him for a 'little while'. Trusting Dhaos enough to believe in a 'little while', he simply nodding and left the blonde to his own devices.
Dhaos' castle wasn't as bad as it seemed. When the night came, the sky was lit with thousands of sparkling lights, and when morning came, it was as if an artist drew his brush with orange into the clear skies… Chester didn't exactly know where Dhaos' castle was. He wasn't quite sure how people could miss such a massive structure…
It was just such a morning when the archer woke from his not-so-restful slumber. He had been curled in a massive wad of sheets and mussed blue hair. With a grumble, Chester managed to free himself from the self-created prison and stumbled out of bed to get dressed. Unlike any other morning, Chester felt something was missing. He couldn't quite place his finger on it, though he could feel it.
As a wise man once said (or perhaps it was Cless' father, he wasn't sure), that 'Because I exist, I am.' Chester was certain he existed. It would be hard having a mental conversation with him self if he didn't. But for some strange reason, he didn't quite feel like he was anything. An awkward empty sensation filled his every step. Eventually the archer grew annoyed with it.
The sun was too cheerful. It shone its dazzling, cheery rays on the otherwise morbid stone castle, warming up the hard slabs of rock that made up the walls. Morning dew clung to the tips of leaves on strawberry plants outside his windowsill, not quite ready to fall. Even the not-so-prominent green moss that grew in a secluded corner of Chester's room gurgled happily, basking in the sun's warm beams. Chester gave it a look of disgust. He didn't want to think moss could gurgle.
Even as he strode down to Dhaos' private chambers; Chester ignored the emphasis on private, of course; every step he took felt out of place and unsure of. Something was missing. The door swung open with the tiniest of creaks, alerting Dhaos of the visitor.
He turned in his tall backed chair, smiling rather brightly at the archer. Chester winced. It reminded him of the all too merry sun outside. "I didn't expect you to wake so early." He commented casually, a worn pen resting between his long fingers.
"It isn't that early." Chester retorted, almost grumpily. Perhaps that was why. He over slept? No, he was pretty sure he had no specific time of waking since he stepped foot in this bizarre building. Dhaos merely waved off the annoyed comment, stretching his neck to the right then to the left. He flicked his pen lazily, and returned to the parchments sprawled upon his desk.
Usually it wasn't such a mess, but this time, he couldn't exactly figure out what to say. Every time he got half way through the writing, he decided against saying such words, and restarted the entire document. Half way through that one, he would stop that one and decide to go with the former version. So forth and so forth, Dhaos toiled into the nights.
What Chester had thought was a paper weight turned out to be a clay platter, its contents hidden from his view. His eyes, well honed due to the archery, picked up faint hints of green, red, and white resting in the platter. Chester chose not to ask as Dhaos picked up one of the round items and placed it in his mouth. Somewhat confused, the archer wondered how even such a simple motion could be done with such grace. Or rather, why it felt like his heart just jumped into his throat.
It was then and there Chester realized he hadn't known too much about Dhaos. For one, he didn't know where Dhaos came from. He didn't know why he was on Earth. He didn't know why Dhaos had brought him to his Castle in one piece. For Martel's sake, he didn't even know Dhaos had to eat.
One of the times stained parchments fell to the stone floor and Chester stooped to retrieve it. It seemed Dhaos didn't notice, or perhaps it wasn't worth paying attention too. Chances are that document would have been discarded for a newer, probably better version anyway. So the blue-haired archer held the paper to the light of a flickering oil lamp, reading the contents to himself.
'I have arrived on Aselia without any problems. It seemed that retrieving the seed would be easy. However, complications occurred. I found this world's tree was dying as well. Humankind has found the scrolls containing information of Magitech. Mana is being depleted here…To prevent what happened to Derris Kharlan… The only thing I can do is to destroy them, and hope it will give Yggdrasill enough time to flourish once more…The Kharlan Tree will be brought back. I vow upon it…'
That being said, the rest of the text trailed off. Chester blinked once, then twice. 'He's writing back to where ever he came from… Reporting back?' He thought to himself, still clutching the paper tightly. Destroy humankind…To keep the Tree alive. The archer didn't quite understand which tree, and why it was so important.
"Dhaos." He started, placing the paper on the lord's desktop. The scratching of the pen stopped, yet the blonde didn't look at him, much less reply. From his distance, Chester could see that the bowl was actually filled to the brim with strawberries, and a small pool of cream lay at the bottom. "Why do we have to be destroyed?"
He remained as silent and as still as stone.
"Where's this… Derris Kharlan?"
Again, no answer sounded from the motionless demon lord.
"Dhaos! Why can't I know? What's Magitech? Why are you here? Why aren't you answer?!"
Silence unnerved the usually calm archer. Every word he said brought him a step closer to Dhaos. Chester suddenly felt something pressed against his lips. It felt cold, yet sweet. Without hesitation, he simply parted his lips slightly, and it moved inward. From his perch in the wooden chair, Dhaos had a rather laughing smirk.
"Finally, you are quiet." He said jokingly, watching with mild amusement as the archer flushed under his gaze like the strawberries lying in the bowl. His finger was still resting against Chester's slightly opened lips, while one of the cream coated berries was imbedded in his mouth. "Chew. You will choke." He said. Though at the time it didn't seem that Chester could have gotten any redder, he managed just that.
As his jaws moved to subconscious will, Dhaos pulled his finger back. A small bulge formed in Chester's neck as he swallowed, then disappeared. Nimble hands caught Dhaos' just as it left the young archer's mouth and slid it back in. A victorious grin broke out on Chester's face as he met eyes with Dhaos' surprised gaze. A warm tongue ran across his finger tip before it released from his hold, and Dhaos curled his hand by his side again.
"You had cream there you know." Chester said with an air of wisdom.
"I would have guessed." Dhaos replied, a ghost of a grin taking place on his face.
"… I missed you. You know…your company. You left me alone for days. Writing about my kind."
"I will take care as to warn you before hand. Satisfied?" Chester nodded.
Some odd seconds past before either had the breath to say anything. As he took a somewhat shaky breath, Dhaos smirked. "So…" He started, his other hand letting go of the pen. The metal on the outside felt warm as it was in his grip for so long. "You wanted to know about Derris Kharlan and the great Mana trees…" Chester nodded.
"Well," Dhaos popped a strawberry in his mouth before continuing. "A long time ago, there was one world, just as it was today… There were two siblings and their names were…"