Defiance; Birth of the Renegades

Chapter 10

Z'eh and Yuan, confrontation

Quote inspired by the song "Everything you want" by Vertical Horizon

The anger of angels who will never return falls upon us all for our sacrilege. But their anger –much like them- is impotent. It is a touch of fire in the mind that can easily be doused by cool reason. We have made it as such; casting them from heaven we have stolen their wings and made ourselves into their image. And they, now lost amongst the mass of mortals, now they look upon their desecrated halls and do weep.

As do all who understand must weep, all who have lost, their tears, our tears, are one and the same.

Yuan Vor'esse

Author's Note: I just wanted Z'eh and Yuan to have it out without Rene stepping in, so I arranged it and got about as much a surprise out of Z'eh as did Yuan –and probably the lot of you- enjoy the short angsty chapter guys!

This had to be a joke! He stared at the glossy black tunic and pants that had been left for him. He stared numbly at the clothes, at the helmet, that had been left for him. The sapphire in the front of the helm's eye winked at him in macabre humor, as surly as the man who had "gifted" it to him must now be laughing.

"Sick sadistic bastard." Z'eh snarled, throwing the helmet aside. "I'm not some damned Desian!"

The helmet smashed into an inoffensive wall. Whatever it was made out of was good, it was thick and despite being thrown against the wall full strength only fell to the ground with a hollow clank and rocked back and forth on its smooth domed top. It tipped, in its rocking one of the helmet's straps became loose and though it was a tiny nudge…

Though small the nudge was more then enough. The helmet fell over and now looked up at him from the floor with its one sapphire eye.

"I'm not a Desian!"

Pooled in the golden sunlight, neither in the edge of shadow or the edge of light, the helmet's eye no longer caught flashes of light to wink with.

X

You're have one man, a virtual slave, a child bound to one place by your own shortsightedness, and more time then you can imagine on your hands?

So what do you do with it all?

What could he do with it all?

He could safely offer Rene distraction; her adoration for him would stall off the inevitable realization that they were both trapped by his stupidity. Now he had no more distraction to offer. While they were alone Yuan could weave illusion or offer evasion, but the intruder…

The bandit had come from the world, and the world came in with him.

Now he had to figure what to do with the situation. The most obvious was to kill the man, after all accidents happened…

But Rene would skin him alive if he did that, she was fond of the bastard and…

Someone pounded on his door, since Rene was knew the password it could only be the bandit. It was more of an effort to end the racket then any act of civility that motivated him to wave a hand at the door and cast the spell that opened it.

Dressed in black, features lost under the steel helmet, Z'eh stormed into the Seraph's private chambers. The room was more of an office then "private chambers though. The main room which Yuan sat and Z'eh steamed in only had two pieces of furniture. A wooden desk filled with blank papers that would someday be filled with notes on the cardinals and Chosen's to come, and a chair. He leaned back into the leather padded chair –padding he could not feel- and stared up at the man with narrowed eyes.

"Is this your idea of a joke?!" The bandit hissed. "Because I swear to Martel if it is I'll…"

"Get electrocuted again?" Yuan offered when the man's dog like snarls got on his nerves. "Because if you try to back any threat against me that's all that will happen. You are little more then an ignorant child, you cry out at my every act and bawl for freedom, yet you don't comprehend just how tightly you are bound because you can't see the bonds. Or rather you see the blood your struggling draws but refuse to see the cause."

Z'eh growled, fumbled out the short sword on his belt and Yuan raised an eyebrow.

"You can't kill me you know, I am immortal."

"You're a lunatic. You've chained that poor kid to you in this place and you're a vulking lunatic!" Z'eh roared.

Yuan stood, his black cloak rustled about him as he studied the passionate half elf before him with the detached interest he'd study some sort of insect. Yuan coolly strolled from behind the desk, casually went in front of it and instinct made his fingers dig into the geometric design that had been carved into the molding that ran along the wooden span that ran between it's edges.

"That's your interpretation of what you see, nothing more nothing less. But, feel free to give killing me a try."

Z'eh more then eagerly complied. Blade leading the false Desian smashed his blade into Yuan's chest. It went though skin, bone, and lung without even slowing. The weapon didn't tangle on rib, and even the hilt went through the blue haired half elf, though the wound was too small to actually accommodate the weapon's passing.

Z'eh's dark eyes were wide, his fist, still wound around the handle of his blade, was pressed against the white unstained front of Yuan's tunic.

Yuan chuckled, his voice was pinched sounding, but his left lung had shut down to accommodate for the weapons coming, so he was only working with half the air to speak with. He smiled, a mocking little grin, and the bandit shuddered. At last the man let go of his weapon and staggered back in horror.

With the air of a man pulling out a burr from his tunic front Yuan pulled out the blade from his chest. Yuan turned his face aside. With a shaking hand he pulled the locks of blue from his face and coughed up a few droplets of blood. After licking his lips the Seraph let his hair fall back into place and threw the weapon aside.

"You want freedom, you despise my actions, the uniform I offered you was so grave an insult you'd shed my blood over it, isn't it?"

Z'eh gapped at Yuan, he knew how far away his room was from the office, and there was no way that the man…

Yuan cleared his throat, and his voice assumed its normal tone.

"You thought I was just another half elf, didn't you?"

Z'eh only looked up at him in numb terror.

"You don't understand the world around you, so you act blindly. Thrashing like an animal caught in the snare, all you do is writhe and scream, and ultimately all you achieve nothing save the destruction to all that's around you."

"Then tell me…"

Yuan blinked, stared down at the man with ice hued eyes.

"If I'm so ignorant, then change that…"

Z'eh's eyes were wide, his face pale, his lips little more then a thin line on his face. The ill trained warrior shook with horror. Half-elves lived in the world of magic, the world of the real, all at once, it was not the supernatural that disturbed them, rather that which was a perversion of the supernatural and natural worlds. And in all imagining there was no greater perversion of anything then a lifeless being.

There was no greater perversion upon any world then an angel made by Yggdrasil's hand.

"You have guts-" Yuan congratulated the man. –but you're not strong enough."

"I'm stronger then that little girl you picked up from who knows where."

"Ozette." Yuan snapped.

Z'eh gapped as he recognized the name and Yuan nodded as one piece of the puzzle came and fit snuggly.

"Where did you come from Z'eh, from another world? They thought you were a lunatic, that's why you're so free with the term. Because you've heard it most of the time you've been here, haven't you? How many years has it been Z'eh? How many long years have you heard that word?"

And at his words, Z'eh crumpled. All facades of strength fell from him, and he wept.

"I may be a harsh person, cold, bitter, cynical-" Yuan murmured as he walked by the weeping man. "-but I am not insane nor am I a sadist. I will not inflict the truth upon you, because it would annihilate whatever sanity you've clung to over the years. Just know that you aren't insane, yet. I'll let you know when your wits start to slip a little."