Asami searched everywhere for Akihito.
The Fire Elf had been off overseeing the cleanup and the defense of the castle. Asami had not wanted his mate to have to experience the horrid scene they had arrived to. Nor was he going to allow for his mate to be in danger by depending on a defense system that hadn't been used in over two thousand years.
It had been nearing noon when Asami had breaker for lunch. When he'd arrived back to the bedroom he shared with his mate, Asami had been shocked to find it empty. Unadulterated fear had raged through him. Kwanöözi castle was not a place for the tiny Sun Elf to wander about alone. He searched everywhere, ordering his men to search as well.
It was nearing dusk when Asami came upon a secret passage located in the west wing. Following it, he found himself in a hidden room in one of the towers thought to be empty. He stood in shock at the sight of Akihito sitting next to a young blond elven woman. She was not much taller than Akihito and had long flowing blond hair. She turned to face the doorway and Asami found him staring into eyes that matched his own.
"Aunt Suanna."
The ghostly woman smiled. "Yes my dear child. My how you look like your father. He must be proud of the young man you have become."
"How can you be here? You died two thousand years ago."
Shanna smiled but there was no joy to it. She patted the bed. "Please cone sit and I will tell you all."
Asami eyed his deceased aunt for a moment. Suspicious to find her still here somehow. Frowning, he moved forward and sat down on the bed, pulling Akihito up onto his lap.
"Speak."
"A long time ago, this world was full of peace. There was no such thing as Dark Elves. Evil was nearly nonexistent. Then a half werewolf, half elf by the name of Kwanöözi came into power. Many believe that he only ruled for five thousand years but that is not true. He ruled for well over eight thousand.
"I am far older than your father, my brother Daisuki. "So i know more of the story." Suanna chuckled sadly. "If I were still living I would be celebrating my ten thousand and ninety birthday next month. Many who live now are far too young to remember anything but the last of Kwanöözi's reign. In the beginning, our people were happy. Kwanöözi was a wise and kind man. Under his rule, the elven nation advanced far. Perhaps to far.
"Our advancements caught the interest of the other nations. This was not the problem. Trade was a good thing and we were always on good terms with everyone. No it was those strange men who came one day. They appeared from nowhere and no one knew where they had come from. Their like had never been seen before. They were smart and easily settled themselves within Kwanöözi's most trusted advisers.
"It started slowly. The different nations began to feud. Then war came. The three thousand years of peace under Kwanöözi were gone and the dark reign of Kwanöözi began. It had taken only five years for those strangers to ruin everything.
"They were evil and corrupted. Under their influence, Kwanöözi began to kidnap his own people, killing those who resisted. Using dark magic and torture taught to him by those evil men, Kwanöözi created the very first Dark Elves. This allowed the darkness of the underworld to run free over the land of the living. The sky turned black and the sun could no longer be seen. Plants and animals started to die off.
"Kwanöözi slaughtered many, not just his own anymore, but everyone. Those he didn't kill he turned into his Dark Elf Army. You have seen the bodies littering the castle, yes? That is all that is left of the Sun Elves he had tried to corrupt and the female Fire Elves he and his men had tried to breed. Kwanöözi and his men turned to cannibalism.
"My mate, Daichi and I led a rebellion against him. That was how Kwanöözi and I met. He took an unnatural liking to me. In the dead of the night, he struck. Decimating our members and taking me and Daichi prisoner. He tortured Daichi everyday for hours, but my beautiful mate never broke.
"So Kwanöözi started bringing me to the dungeon. He would force Daichi to watch as he raped me. It was horrible. We fought, nearly escaping a few times but we were never strong enough. We lived here for three hundred years."
Suanna's voice broke as sobs fell from her lips. Akihito tried to pull her into a hug, but only succeeded in falling through her ghostly body. This caused Suanna to laugh. Wiping away her tears, she began to tell her story once more.
"It is very rare for an unmated pair to conceive a child together. It is even rarer for a child to be conceived by one mated person and one not. Yet after three hundred years, Kwanöözi had managed to do so with me. My mate and I were devastated. Our own child had died soon after being born. Due to the evil tainting the land, new life was a rare event. Newborns and young children died by the hundreds. Through our connection, we talked. It was how we kept sane while so many others died or fell into the darkness. We held nothing against the child. She was innocent. Kwanöözi's an my child was a female Fire Elf. I held her as she took her first breaths of life. I held her as she took her very last breaths just moments after being born.
"It was soon after that, that Daichi and I used the death spell on Kwanöözi. As he died Kwanöözi cast a curse upon Daichi and me. He entrapped my soul. Cursing me to spend my afterlife here in this tower. Separate from my soulmate. I can still hear Daichi's soul crying out in despair, even after all these years. Three hundred years of fighting to stay sane and out of the darkness, and then my mate was gone. Daichi fell into the darkness as he died.
"He is the one you now fight against. He was the one to kill Akihito's mother. I know all this because, even though he is corrupted and no longer remembers me, we are still connected as mates. I can see his thoughts. Not everything as some is blocked by the evil that now controls him, but enough to know things.
"Things like they want to bring Kwanöözi back to once again rule over the land. They have a plan to bring him back and it will work. All they need is a Sun Elf. Do not worry Ryuichi. Akihito is mated and with child so they can not use him. Nor can they use me, for I am nothing more than a spirit. There is one other however. She was the only Sun Elf to fall into the darkness. Though now a Dark Elf, she was once a Sun. It is all they need. She is already with child, already pregnant with Kwanöözi. It won't be long before he is born and darkness returns."
