Chapter 2

The days after Albel's night time meeting with the mysterious voice passed as quickly and smoothly as he hoped. Everyday he trained from dawn till sundown or led his troops through various military exercises. At night he would return to his room, shed his clothes and fall asleep immediately to be greeted by the cold morning light and the thought that another day had to be lived.

The nightmares he had had since childhood had began to fade somewhat, although he could not tell why. He saw his father dying before him, his flesh charred and melting by the excruciating flames of the dragon. And he himself would be screaming, his face contorted in revulsion and fault, ignoring the seething pain as the fire crawled up his left arm, rendering it useless for life. The guilt had only increased tenfold after that night and he welcomed the numerous times he drifted off into a dreamless, cold unconsciousness. He had hoped that it would be the end, that he would die and be reunited with his father as the blood gushed from his arm as they crudely sawed it off. From then on, no one would see him as the same person, no one would see him as the young boy on fire with exuberance to become a great knight like his father. No one…

Albel awoke drenched in sweat. The sun hadn't even risen beyond the snow topped mountains beyond the city. He got out of bed and dressed, proceeding to the bathroom to bandage up his hair for the day. As he reached for the cloth, he caught a glimpse of himself in the small mirror. The image caused him to halt and stare at the phantom which looked back.

What had he become?

Who was he? Who was Albel the Wicked?

Even he couldn't fathom the answer from the well of his subconscious. He hadn't really known himself after the incident, or perhaps he had just forgotten, lost in his own self demise and revulsion. Scruffy black hair, tinged with blonde cascaded around his crimson orbs as if it acted as a permanent veil to hide his emotions from the outside world. Emotions? Emotions do no exist anymore to me…He was handsome, not in a masculine way, but with a certain feline beauty in the manner his long body tapered in at the waist to join with slender hips that swayed teasingly as he moved. If he didn't have anything else in the world, at least he had this body and that could be used to obtain what he desired if and when needed.

Is that all I am? As if in answer a faint glimmer, like a brushing of mist, tainted the mirror.

"A beautiful body but a hollow mind…" the words seemed to hiss from every direction.

"Who's there?" Albel demanded, spinning around but seeing no one.

"Perhaps you are not looking close enough, Albel. Perhaps your not looking close enough at yourself, hmm?" The voice was taunting and seemed to escape it's host's lips like a snake.

"What street scum dares to enter my private quarters!" He attempted to wipe away the sudden mist on the mirror but it stayed firm, like paint. What was going on?

"I'm going to let you in on a little secret, Albel…Just when you believe you may be getting somewhere in this cold, caustic world, you will be smashed down, the pieces scattered beyond reach…"

"Heh, as if I don't know that already, fool!"

"But this time it really will be the end…"

"Enough of your mockery, show yourself!"

"Oh, we will meet, Albel, we will meet very soon. Remember, when we do you will be begging…" At that something soft and cold stroked his cheek. He slapped it away but there was no evidence of any physical substance. A soft chuckle sounded around him. Albel growled, sending his metal claw into the mirror with a powerful crash, the fragments shattering like a thousand stars to be lost forever.

That night after he had finished his chores with the King, Arzei told him to stay a while longer.

"I have something to discuss with you, Albel," the King said, wrapping a velvet dressing gown around his body and sitting himself down at his desk. Albel raised a well defined eyebrow.

"I have chosen the people to act as witnesses for this imaginary ceremony, shall we say,"

"And who are they?"

"Waltor, a few members of the Dragon Brigade, another certain individual and myself of course,"

"Will that be enough?"

"I don't see why not, everyone has high ranks,"

"And who is this other "certain individual"?"

"Ah, you will find that out in due course,"

"That means it's someone I don't like,"

"I did not insinuate that at all, Albel. Stop jumping to such conclusions,"

"Bah, whatever. How did you manage to convince them to do it? Bribery?"

"Perhaps, but many of them to begin with are not too keen on the tradition of the Ascension of the Flame ceremony," The King offered him a slight reassuring smile.

"This little plan better work," Albel grumbled. Arzei sighed, tired of the Black Brigade Captain's continual whining.

"I am the King of Airyglyph, if I say you are to be Commander of the Dragon Brigade then you will be."

That night Albel took a stroll along the frigid streets of Airyglyph. The tall, crooked buildings provided some shelter from the all prevailing winds coming straight from the mountains. But nonetheless, Albel the Wicked was cold and couldn't help but notice the chattering of his teeth in the silence. Only a few sounds now inhabited the streets of the cold city; drunkard yells, the odd person scurrying home, the bark of a dog. It probably wasn't wise to be out so late, especially in the back streets such as he was. All manner of crime and filth lurked in the rotten doorways of the hovels and taverns in the area.

He was suddenly startled out of his senses as something collided with his legs, almost causing him to buckle over. He looked down to see a small child had crashed into him. She didn't look more than eight years old, with filthy, moth eaten rags for clothes and hair tangled beyond repair.

"Oh, help me, sir! Please…." She sobbed, clutching at his knee. He was about to kick her off when he noticed two men come careering around the corner – equally as filthy as the child.

"There you are, my pretty!" the first said through a mouth of absent teeth. The other rubbed his filthy palms together.

"Get off the kid," he said gruffly to Albel. However, the child had already chosen Albel has her protector and ran around behind him. For a moment the Black Brigade Captain was unsure as what action to take. Who would he kill first? The two pieces of scum or the brat…hard choice…

"Please…they will take me to the workhouse…All my friends have been taken and they've never come out!" the girl sobbed from behind him. The workhouse, hmm? And what says she doesn't deserve such a fate? Something nagged at the back of his mind, making him hesitant.

"Alright, nancy boy, last chance: get away from the kid or we'll slaughter you both!" Albel's eye's snapped up to the face of the ruffian.

"How dare you! Do you even know who I am, fool?" he roared. The two men were momentarily thrown off guard as they sought to put a name to the enraged figure before them.

But Albel didn't wait.

In a flash he was upon them, katana drawn in a beautifully curved arch, expertly striking the collar bone of the first ruffian. The man let out a sickening yell, making Albel grin in pleasure as the blood spurted out. The other attempted revenge, bringing down a rotten mace which didn't stand a chance against the exquisite metal of the Crimson Scourge. In a matter of the seconds the first ruffian's partner was lying decimated on the ground.

Albel stood back, admiring his work, a smug grin playing across his pallid face. I think I'll just leave the bodies as a warning to the other scum around here… There was a gasp from behind him and he turned around, remembering the girl. She stood, small hands clasped into a ball on her chest.

"Sir…Thank you…" she said, her eye's wide with shock and gratitude. It was an expression Albel wasn't used to, especially since it was aimed at him. He tried to speak but couldn't quite find the right words. She smiled running up to hug his leg.

"Hmph! Get out of here before more come," he said, shaking her off. She nodded and ran off into the darkness, leaving Albel wondering what he had just done.

"An act of mercy? I would never have expected such a thing from Albel the Wicked," That bloody voice again. He didn't even bother searching the area, he knew he would find no one.

"What the fuck is it you want?" he snapped.

"Now, now, such harsh words…I only wish to test you…" At that some sort of apparition shot at him from the darkness, making him yelp in surprise. Something tightened around his neck, squeezing painfully. He attempted to pry the ghostly fingers off but they had the consistency of water and he couldn't get a hold.

"Pain is the gateway, Albel…the gateway to things you have never yet experienced,"

"W-what…are you!" Albel spluttered.

"I am all that you desire and all that you despise. I am the past, I am the future and I am what lies in between…"

"Talk….sense fool!" There was a sharp blow to his stomach making him scream.

"Learn to respect what is greater than yourself and we might just get along," the voice whispered huskily in his ear. He squirmed but couldn't get free, the grip seemed to be tightening, making his vision blur.

"W..Why!" he managed. There was a slight chuckle.

"Because I want you…"

He could feel the darkness beginning to overtake him. His hearing was fading, his struggling subsiding.

"Albel!" Another…voice? Suddenly the pressure on his throat was gone and he collapsed to the ground.

Footsteps approached, hands were all over him, brushing the hair from his face, shaking him. Slowly, his senses began to return, his eyes opening slowly.

"Albel, what happened? Are you alright?" A female voice. He knew that voice well, it was a voice that contained power, a voice that commanded, an intelligent voice. Probably the voice he most least disliked.

"You…" he murmured, taking in the large, concerned blue eyes, the matching sapphire hair that fell in waves down her shoulders.

She grabbed him under the arms, pulling him to his feet. He nearly fell over but she caught him, steadying him until he regained his balance.

"Maria…Why aren't you with the other fools?" he finally managed. She smiled. She wasn't dressed in her usual attire, instead she sported a plain, brown, woven dress over a white shirt, a familiar garment of this time in Airyglyph.

"Come, it's probably best we get out of here before discussing anything," she said matter-of-factly. He complied and followed her as she made her way back through the city towards the inn.

Once they were in, Albel immediately went to the fire and warmed his freezing body. Maria looked at him thought fully before taking a seat on one of the soft, expansive sofa's that adorned her room.

"So what brings you to such a miserable dump as Airyglyph?" Albel asked, still with his back to the azure haired girl.

"You, actually," she said bluntly. Albel turned briskly, his hair tails smacking against the mantle piece and dislodging several ornaments.

"And what's that suppose to mean, fool?" he hissed.

"The King summoned me here to act – no pretend – to be witness to this Assension of the Flames thing,"

"You!" his voice caught in his throat. How could Arzei ask such a worthless worm to do something as imperative as this?

"You sound surprised, Albel. You didn't think you would ever see me again, did you?"

He gapped at her before realising what he was doing and swiftly returned to his normal stoic, hard stature.

"Why should I let such insignificant matters such as that occupy my mind?" he said sardonically. Maria sighed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Is that any way to speak to one who will be helping you?" she said, raising an eyebrow.

"Huh, don't speak back to me, worm!"

"Fine, if that's the way you want it, I'll tell the King I'm not interesting in helping you," She waved a hand in the direction of the door, dismissing him. Who does the bitch think she is? He was just about to storm out, hopefully slamming the door of it's hinges, when a thought occurred to him. The people probably saw the useless wench as a hero for helping defeat the ignorant bunch of oversized fishes in spaceships. Hmm…they would look up to her…that would mean I would have more chance of becoming General...He bit his lip, inwardly contemplating what it would mean.

"Alright…I'm sorry…" he growled, not even looking at her. She turned to face him.

"You don't sound it,"

He would have liked nothing more to strangle her there and then and be done with it, but he put on his best smile – more like a sneer- and tried again.

"I'm most terrible sorry, Miss Maria Traydor," he said in his sweetest voice possible, although it pained him to do so. A grin played across her clear face and he thought she was going to laugh but she stifled it.

"Alright, Mister Nox, apology accepted," she said smugly. He shot her his worst glare.

"Will you ever change, Albel?" she sighed, shaking her head.

"Why should I?"

"Oh, forget it,"

"So, are you still going to support me?" he asked, half expecting her to have changed her mind.

"You think I would come all the way here for nothing? Of course I am,"

"Hmph…thanks…" he mumbled. She pouted then turned away giggling.

"What's so funny, maggot?" he snarled.

"You, you're so stiff, can't you ever lighten up?"

"Whatever…I need to ask you a question," he fiddled with his fingers, staring at his lap.

"Oh?"

What if she thinks me mad? That could ruin everything…But, I need to know for my own sanity…if I really am insane…

"What is it, Albel?" she asked again.

"Did you happen to see what tried to take my life?" he asked sincerely. She looked at him puzzled for a moment.

"I thought it was the men lying on the ground, you had obviously killed them…"

"But you didn't see anything attacking me? Just answer the question!"

She was startled by the sudden desperation in his voice and leaned forward on her seat, her eyes examining his face.

"I didn't see anyone, Albel. You were already on the ground when I arrived…Is there something your not telling me?"

Albel felt a sudden and intense fear swell up inside him. If Maria hadn't seen anything…then I must be mad…Ghosts do not exist, that's a ludicrous prospect! So he was seeing things, and believing them. What was going on? What was happing to him? Had all the years of solitude and slaughter finally taken their toll on his mind? He stood up abruptly and went for the door.

"Albel! Wait a minute!" Maria called, but he took no notice: he had to get out of there, he had to be on his own, even if only insanity awaited.

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NextHeaven: yeah, i know this is probably the biggest pile of crap ever written, especially since i haven't dared read through and correct any mistypes. Ah, what boredom can make one do.