Erinia of war:

"Albel! Why are you still up? Your shift was hours ago." Fayt opened the door to be surprised with the lights on and Albel sitting restlessly on the second bed.

"You expect me to sleep through this ape's snoring?" He scoffed.

The boy sighed. "Come on, Albel, what's bothering you?"

"Why are you angry with me?"

"I already told you I'm not-! I see how it is... I'll tell you why I'm angry if you'll tell me what's wrong."

"And vis versa." Albel grinned. "Sounds like a fair game. Now wake the ape and let's go before the old man grows angry as well."

Fayt groaned, hating the chore of waking Cliff up, wondering how the heck Albel had woken him up for his shift the night before. "Here goes... Cliff..." He nudged the shoulder with his palm. "Cliff, get up..."

"He'll never wake up if you do it that way..." Albel rolled his eyes. "Here." He snatched up a thick book from the opposite side of Cliff's bed and came back with it. "Like this. Wake up, maggot!" He threw the book with all of his Nox might, making it bounce off the blond's head and land back in its spot on the floor.

"Huh?"

Fayt smiled, nodding in approval to Albel who looked back with a self-assured smirk.

-

The three escorted the king and Elena out to the fields where symbology was dancing through the grass. Two men stood opposing each other on a battle field defined by the crowd of people at its edges.

"How ironic. We're honoring war for a wedding that will help secure the peace." Elena gave a chuckle, making Arzei smile.

"Thanks to the war, we can have an astronomic wedding."

She smiled and nodded her head, not wanting to mention the war dead on such a day. At last she had a future past the war. Without the need for weapons she would have been out of a job, but now she would be queen.

Dion would never have it. He would never receive a future past the war. He and Ameena would never see a day like this. No wedding celebration with added happiness thanks to seeing the war through to the end. Not all love could survive a war.

"Elena..." Arzei touched her back lightly, giving her a sad smile as he leaned in. "We survived. And you're queen now. Think of what we can do now, all the lives we can improve, all the deaths we can avoid. You are queen, and I am king."

"You're right." She smiled and nodded. "Together we can turn the world into a place where no one has to die before their time and love endures forever."

"Feh, what a joke." Albel scoffed a few feet behind them.

"Albel..." Fayt shot his friend 'the look.'

The red eyes glared back, a mix of hurt and pride.

"When you love someone, it gives you the strength to do anything just to see them again." The green eyes softened a look at his folded hands. "That's what Ameena taught me. And didn't you do that as well?" Emerald gaze came up to pierce right into ruby. "Don't I remember you saying something about fighting to make the woman you love happy?"

Albel grimaced, taken aback.

"Love is one of the strongest forces out there."

"That's the biggest joke of all..." He mumbled under his breath.

"What was that, Albel?"

"Fayt Leingod, I challenge you." He stood, smirking. All heads turned and stared in shock at the two, even though Albel hadn't raised his voice very loud.

"Albel- what!"

"What, you're going to be a coward and run? Are you going to dishonor the goddess, angering her and causing the bride infertility!"

"No, I-!"

"Then fight me." He gave a stubborn 'hmph' as he turned, hand resting on the Crimson Scourge as he walked onto the field, Fayt following awkwardly behind him. The judge was glancing around at them, confused, until Albel gave him a threatening look. "Well?"

"Oh, right! The rules: No horrible bloodshed. No death. When the bell rings, you must stop. No items allowed. Keep attacks controlled and within the ring."

"Yeah, yeah, just start!" The bell rang and Albel started his slashing charge across the field. Fayt straightened his posture from awkward to ready, bringing up the Divine Avenger to block the onslaught.

The katana flashed in the sun as it slid, slicing a chunk out of Fayt's glove.

"You know... we really shouldn't be fighting while we're still wearing our ceremonial garb..."

"Shut up. We're supposed to be bodyguards, right? They should expect their fancy clothes to get a bit tattered, then!" With that, the claw came in and slashed at the tunic while Fayt's attention was on the katana.

With a slight yell of frustration, he went in to counterstrike on Albel's left side, cutting a horizontal line in his belt. With a blush, he realized how close he was to cutting off the only thing that held the skirt together. But he was quickly distracted when the Crimson Scourge cut into his thigh.

The bell rung, resounding in his ears and increasing his pain as he groaned, hand groping to stop the wound from ripping him apart.

"Where's love now?" Albel scoffed, walking back up onto the king's platform while healers tended Fayt, soon allowing him to follow.

"What was that for?"

"To stop your annoying drivel about love overpowering all. But I suppose all Earthlings are like that. After a 'half hour' of mind-numbing 'television,' I understand where you get it."

"That's just because you were watching weekday cartoons. They're for preschoolers." Fayt scoffed.

"So, you're saying they're wrong now?"

"No, it's just that-!"

"Fayt... love loses."

"Did your father really lose?"

-

Needless to say, they were quiet the rest of the day. When the battles were finally over, everyone returned to the cities and halls to feast and celebrate until the next event. At midnight, the king and his queen would go to their room and the bodyguards would take their shifts until the sun rose.

Cliff would take first shift that night, then Albel, then Fayt. The large man sat outside the door as the two others crawled into the two beds.

Fayt was laying on his back, eyes closed, when Albel finally spoke.

"Hmph, you really did a job on my clothing. I'll have to hope the tailor stays sober enough to fix it." There was a snap, causing Fayt's eyes to snap open. "Forget that, I'll just use another belt."

The boy shifted, eyes following Albel's dark figure as he walked across the room to the trunks. As his eyes adjusted to the dark, he could make out the slender form of two bare legs, throwing his head back against the pillow and staring at the ceiling before he saw anything else.

Tomorrow, he would try forget the whole incident and wake the other two up just like he would normally do.

Tomorrow, the third day of the goddesses. Tomorrow belonging to the youngest sister, Palmira, goddess of rain, water, and beauty.

Hopefully there wouldn't be a swim suit contest.

Wait... Elicoorians don't own swim suits... so that means... !

Fayt didn't sleep well that night.


Ok, I wanted a deep, stirring ending... but I killed it xD it was worth it, ne?

Sorry it's so short > I couldn't think of anything else to do for Erinia... I'm still trying to figure out what to do for Palmira. Maybe... hmmm...

Ok... I have a cute idea now...

Thanks to everyone who's been helping me out behind the scenes! Much love!