Sion Astol gripped his aching temple as the Mad Hero inside him roared and raged with no end in sight. He gripped his chest as the yearning, crawled at him and threatened to cleave him in two. He wanted to see him, to touch him, to taste him…

The only person that could sate him…

… his lonely devil.

Sion gripped the edge of his desk to steel himself from breaking for the nearest exit. No matter what he couldn't go after him. He swallowed hard trying to talk some essence of reason into the madness in him fighting for a way out, fighting to find the other half that would make itself complete.

But he couldn't allow it.

If he did, if he relented and gave over the reigns to the darkness within himself, then surely this time, without fail. The Mad Hero would kill the Lonely Devil as he had done so many years ago so many time times throughout the generations.

He had gotten what he wanted hadn't he, and if not so then a majority of that which they craved had already been achieved so why could the blood of so many not quench the thirst of success and triumph. It wasn't enough, the Made Hero wanted more, it wanted the one thing that Sion held dear and could never give.

He had been foolish enough to hand over what he held most dear to him at the Mad Hero's mercy two months ago and yet still…yet still!

Ryner Lute lives!

The Mad Hero inside him howled even louder at the thought. The Lonely Devil was alive and out of reach as it had always feared. But it was for the best. It killed him to admit it but Sion was happy beyond words that Ryner was alive, that he had escaped the prison he had left him in but…the pain remained, like a fresh wound ripped open in his chest. He didn't want it like this. With every ounce of his being he had wanted to offer the one person he held dearest to him a world were indeed he could have his afternoon naps without fear or worry but it was a fool's errand, a dream that he was foolish enough to believe he could make into a reality.

As the time wore on the Mad Hero settled into silence at long last as a fragment of reality found it yet again. Sion sighed as the pain quaking in his chest ebbed away though the yearning remained as fierce as ever. But when did it not. At first it was an inclining feeling that compelled him to want Ryner near him and then it grew into wanting him to be able to confide in Sion. And steadily, the seeds of his demise found its roots when side by side seemed too far for his liking.

"I like your eyes,"

It was true that he had found his fascination with Ryner deeply rooted in his fascination with those eyes that marked him to be cursed from the day of his birth, the Alpha stigma. It was suppose to be a purely professional relationship but as it was written in their stars, destiny would not have it that way.

It had happened so fast and yet he could still vividly recall the moment, that first first time, he had dared to test the waters, dared to indulge his desires. And sadly, from that moment so long ago, with Ryner's body molded perfectly against his, when he had learned that this desire he had held was not his alone, he was addicted to him. He craved his touch, his taste, the sweet sounds he made in the throws of sheer extasy, he longed for it all.

If only they had not been born so different so…worlds apart and destined to collide…

Maybe in a different life they could have…

Sion gripped titled his head back, staring at the ceiling that seemed so near even though he knew it was a mile out of reach. At just the memories he felt a stirring in his loins but he ignored it. he gave himself a mental shake, gather the sheds of his resolve that managed to slip from his grasp. He didn't have time for this there was still so much he had to do…

But god damn it all to hell!

The world was fool's gold in his eyes, victory and world domination was so much like a silver lining in his eyes. They held no true worth for him now that he was on the brink of having it all and no one to share it with. There was no lethargic, lazy boned friend at his side to see the beginning of a promise being fulfilled and if there was not even this much then surely there was nothing. then to what end to he continue to pillage nations and slaughter hundreds apon thousands?

The simply answer was that he really didn't know, and no longer cared.

For that was how things always end up, being pointless after the battle had been won. But like the creatures of steel and blood that they were, he would soldier on, playing the puppet on a string.

Nelpha had fallen that night he had walked away and left Ryner and the world reveolving around him behind ad soon after so many had fallen too.

After so many years of hiding the blood on his hands, the mass murdering of traitorous noblemen to even human experimentation for the army he now had at his command. It all felt pointless when the goal to be met was on the horizon. What then will he do after the world was purged and made into a eutopia?

What then would he do when he feels as though he had never regretted anything in all his years as much as he did now?

He glanced down at the last treasure he had resting in the third drawer of his desk previously sealed shut and protected from prying eyes, that held so many memories, his mental world was now practically built around it, Ryner's Thesis, the one he had written during his imprisonment of two years "How to Build a Kingdom Of Afternoon Naps?"

He hesitated to touch the brown parchments he had ordered to be bound together gold, each page humming with only a brush of magic to ensure the ink's preservation. He should have burnt the damn thing. He knew he should have but how could he when it was the only physical thing he had left of his beloved.

Ryner Lute

He closed the drawer reluctantly as a glance at the clock on the wall signaled the call of duty. He had a years' worth of paperwork to shovel through with a fine tooth comb if he kept going at this pace he would die before he finished it all, which now that he thought about it, he might actually have preferred.