Chapter 28

Note: This is going to take place in Valemeros's point-of-view, the reason being that Sheena's chapter was actually supposed to be longer; however writing 21 pages of work made me reconsider making it any longer and so, with Lloyd still out of commission, taking his place this Chapter is Valemeros...enjoy.

Valemeros felt beads of sweat forming across his forehead as his chest threatened to lock up as he walked through the hallways; he made an effort to avoid both Cecil and Monique, the last thing he would need is for them to be needlessly worrying about him.

Walking through the hallways, Valemeros took a sudden sharp turn as he seemed to walk right through the wall, disappearing into a hidden room while gripping his right arm just below the elbow as if in agonized pain. The noble's rich, purple eyes gazed upon the summon spirit that hovered before him, glowing runes on the ground in a circle to keep the summon spirit entrapped there.

Origin.

Valemeros looked towards the winged summon spirit for a moment, narrowing his eyes slightly as if the very sight of Origin irritated him. The half-elven noble pressed his shoulder against the wall as he leaned against the cold surface. Carefully sliding his hand down his arm he pulled the glove off his right hand while giving out a groan of pain.

"What is this?" Valemeros demanded as he tried to pull his hand into a fist' his face twisted in pain with the attempt.

A purple hue consumed half of his hand as Valemeros let out a pained breath, one eye closing in pain as his breath transformed into a grunt.

"Miasma poisoning." Origin replied casually.

"How is it possible? I cured it as quickly as possible when I first got burned by the lethal poison." Valemeros sneered for a moment, the pain was constantly cutting away at the nerves of his hand, even the subtle chill in the air burned his hand like acid.

"Why are you asking me?" Origin replied as the spirit looked to the side.

"Because...one of your little pets did this to me." Valemeros hissed in pain, the noble always held a minor pride in always being able to keep a control on himself; however the pain served as an amazing method of making the noble lose his composure. "If anyone has the most knowledge about the capacity of summon spirits...it's you." Valemeros confronted.

"I thought the summon spirits were your pets now." Origin replied with a subtle tone of disdain.

"Cute." Valemeros narrowed his eyes as he walked up towards the invisible prison that Origin was somehow sealed in. "You were the only summon spirit who I couldn't alter the mind of...the rest act like nothing has happened...but you seem immune to most spells." Valemeros confessed as he looked down at the runes. "You gave me the most problems by not surrender your powers of your own free will...Maxwell however had some nice knowledge on how to siphon it from you." Valemeros smirked suddenly, finding humor through the agony the returning miasma was giving him. "I think you forgot just who is in control here now." Valemeros muttered, staring Origin right in the eyes. "I am not asking you for the answer to my question...I am demanding that you answer my question." Valemeros frowned.

"I am not your slave, half-elf." Origin stated firmly.

"Oh yes you are." Valemeros nodded while his fingers pressed into his forearm; a small hope that cutting off some circulation to his arm would ease the pain the spreading poison was causing. "Summon spirits are nothing more then slaves, awaiting an answer...these so-called summoners have everything wrong by believing that we can live in complete harmony...you all have an infinite power over your elements...if you will not surrender yourself to me than as you can see; I shall find an alternative way to attain your power." Valemeros smirked in a bitter manner, one eye closing again as a twitch of pain shot through his power. "Now...know your place and answer my question."

Origin gave a subtle glare to the noble as his muscles twitched for a moment, as much as Origin wanted to fight what Valemeros was saying, the half-elf had somehow wrapped a collar around the necks of the summon spirits when he ripped them out from Sheena; Origin could not understand how a mere half-elf was capable of erasing the memories of summon spirits and enslaving them all, the spirits do not recall their pacts to Sheena and worse, do not remember anything having to do with her. To them...Valemeros was their only master. Origin felt the invisible chains that Valemeros wrapped around his neck as well and the more he was imprisoned, the more that chain slowly constricted while siphoning his power slowly; because Origin had the most fight he was able to resist surrendering everything over to the noble...however with the power Valemeros was stealing from the other summon spirits adding to add to his own power, Origin felt his fight crumble and the mystic cage that Valemeros imprisoned him was slowly beating down Origin's resolve and weakening him to the chains of enslavement. Now when he heard Valemeros make a demand of him, some insane part of his mind pushed him to answer because it was the only right thing to do...slowly, Valemeros was winning not only Origin's mind but was also gaining his power.

The fact that Valemeros was now able to summon the Eternal Sword was more then enough proof for Origin to know who he was now forcefully bound to.

"What you have suffered is no normal miasma." Origin felt his mind surrender.

"What do you mean...not normal?" Valemeros grunted, looking down to his infected hand.

"Concentrated and liquified miasma is not so easily cured as the gaseous miasma that your mortal race has experienced." Origin muttered while glancing to the side with a frown. "Miasma in a liquid is far more potent, consider the miasma in the gas to be the diluted form of the poison, that cure that you used could be called a suppressant to the liquid state; actually, no mortal has ever encountered miasma in such a potency so it is only natural that you do not know how to deal with it." Origin shrugged once.

"Then how do I get rid of this poison?" Valemeros hissed lightly as he felt another sting of pain cripple his arm, like someone had just dropped a white flame into his palm. The pain was starting to make Valemeros physically ill as sweat drops continued to fall down the side of his face.

"The cure is the same, the method is different." Origin confessed.

"Method? What method?" Valemeros asked while shaking his head once, trying to rid the dizzy sensation that normally came with a fever.

"If you ever got seriously sick and took medication...would you just start walking around, exerting your body so suddenly? No. Miasma is a sickness of the mana and the reason it is so fatal to many is because as you know, mana is infused with everything and a sickness of the mana is a sickness of every cell in your body." Origin gave out a minor growl, he despised aiding this half-elf that dared to call himself his master and even suggest that summon spirits were his slaves, but Origin was also falling victim to the nobles effects finally...not completely, slowly but surely. "Take the medication again, have it healed over by another and do not use any mana. What you are suffering now is a relapse from consuming so much mana with your fight with Lloyd Irving. You suffer another relapse like this, you will likely kill yourself." Origin warned.

"So then what you are saying? I am just supposed to be helpless for...for...how long?" Valemeros grunted through the sickening pain as the fingers of his right hand twitched painfully before twisting on their own and the muscles locked, this caused Valemeros to stagger as his vision went spotted for a moment...the first sign of a threatening black out.

"However long it takes, it can be tomorrow...it can be next year." Origin shrugged. "Depends how deep the miasma is in your body."

Valemeros let out an irritated growl at the concept of being disabled from using mana for however long it took for it to flush out of his body. 'Verius.' Valemeros thought bitterly; he was about to turn around and leave Origin to continue his battle of defiance before stopping and turning around to face the summon spirit.

"How do I get my hands on that miasma?" Valemeros managed to smirk though his own agony.

Origin breathed out once as he closed his eyes; his body gave a twitch as he tried to regain any form of self control; such a resistance was in vain as the chains slowly tightened around his neck the more that time passed and the more powerful Valemeros was becoming.

"Miasma in that state, your best chance of gaining such a weapon is from Gnome." Origin felt himself forced to confess as he closed her eyes.

Valemeros gave a one nod as he stepped forward again, stepping up to the glowing runes before giving a pained chuckle. "There...you see...that isn't so hard, now is it?" he teased before stepping back, arching one eyebrow in a slightly arrogant fashion before turning on his heel to walk out of the chamber that sealed away Origin, gripping his arm against his body still.

'Relapsed...bah,even dead, Mr. Lloyd can be quite the pain.' Valemeros thought to himself before starting his walk back to his own chambers.

"Valemeros? What is the matter?" Luna frowned softly as she sat up from her peaceful resting position on her crescent moon.

"Miasma...just suffering a mild relapse." Valemeros breathed out once before he found himself losing his balance and crashing, shoulder first into the bookcase, tomes hitting the ground as the nobles knees buckled and he hit the ground hard in a kneel. Valemeros looked down as he noticed something he had not seen earlier, pulling up his sleeve he breathed out in agony. 'The miasma...is...in my veins?' Valemeros thought as he noticed the deep purple shading over where his veins were up along his arm.

"Valemeros!" Luna exclaimed suddenly as she lightly slid off her crescent moon and walked over to the noble with surprising silence that complimented her graceful steps before she carefully knelt down beside the poisoned noble. "This is no mild relapse." she whispered softly.

"Luna..." Valemeros uttered painfully.

"Yes?" Luna blinked once, touching her fingers carefully to his shoulder.

"Mon...Monique...summon her." Valemeros grunted out before giving a painful pause as his eyes shut tight and he let out a silent scream to recollect himself. "Tell her...tell her to bring the miasma cure...there is some left." Valemeros asked of the gentle summon spirit.

"Right away, Valemeros." Luna whispered as she closed her eyes, reaching out to Monique's mind. "It is done, I told her to hurry to your chambers with the antidote; she will be here in moments." Luna spoke softly while reaching up to push some of her bight green hair away from her face, the dim lighting in the room always managed to give Luna's hair a golden shine.

'I used...too much mana...with Extinction.' Valemeros cussed himself while enduring the burning pain. Valemeros felt himself fall to back onto ground, forcing his eyes to gaze at the ceiling, if he did not know any better he could swear that he could actually feel the miasma crawling higher and higher up along his arm.

"Valemeros." Luna whispered with worry actually hinted in her tone.

Luna was the only one Valemeros felt guilty about binding to him like a slave, the other summon spirits did not matter as much to him; he could siphon their power dry for all he cared; However, Luna is the beauty of the moon and he felt that she should be free but yet he wished to keep her close to him as well; with him, she would have a less chance of being used against him and so Valemeros chained and bound her to him; erasing her memories along with the other subservient spirits.

"...Luna..." Valemeros whispered in agony, still gripping his right arm tightly.

"Yes, Valemeros?" Luna replied softly.

"Lend...me your lap...please..." Valemeros asked.

"Of course." Luna gave a small comforting smile.

The ageless maiden carefully slipped her hands under the nobles head as she sat with her legs tucked under her elegant form, placing the head of the feverish noble in her lap as she rested her hand carefully onto of the mans purple shaded black hair.

"Monique shall be coming shortly, Valemeros. You just need to bear with the pain a little longer." Luna spoke softly; her eyes half closing as she inspected Valemeros. 'His mana structure is very unstable, almost like parasites are eroding away what keeps the mana in his body together.' Luna frowned while she carefully wiped the sweat beads that were falling down from his forehead.

"Lord Valemeros!" Monique called out the moment she opened the door, followed closely by Cecil as the two entered to bed chambers of the weakened noble. Monique's eyes darted around the room quickly and spotted Luna almost instantly; she narrowed her eyes for a moment before looking down to see a sight that caused the deepest fear to tremble through her body.

Never had she ever seen Valemeros laying on the ground and breathing as shallow as he was at that moment, the beads of sweat glistened in the dimly lit room.

'It cannot be,' Cecil thought as he hesitated on advancing another step, taking in the shock of seeing Valemeros struggling so much. 'Is this Lloyd really powerful enough to cause this to Lord Valemeros?' Cecil felt his teeth grit together as he watched Monique run forward and kneel before their fallen Lord. Cecil blinked once when he saw Monique gently pick up Valemeros hand, the bending at the elbow actually caused the half-elven noble's body to lock up as he let out a soundless scream of pain and Cecil knew instantly when he saw Valemeros hand in the dim lighting. '...Im...Impossible...miasma is still infecting him?' Cecil held his breath for a moment in surprise.

"How do I stop it's spread?" Monique asked Luna while twisting the lid off the container that sealed the herbal salve that was supposed to have cured it the first time around.

"You shall need to cut off the advance of the poison; it seems to have burrowed in deep into his bloodstream already. If it is not stopped now, sadly, I cannot guarantee his survival." Luna spoke softly. Even though Luna knew very little about controlling miasma, being the summon spirit of the light she was charged with the secrets of curing every aliment that could spread across the lands.

"How am I to do that?" Monique frowned lightly; her eyes staying on the shallow breathing Valemeros. "There is no way to get the salve into where the poison is because his wounds were healed over by my own powers the first time he got infected."

"Then you will need to get the curative properties inside his body, where he is infected so the salve can suppress the poisons advance and break it down enough to be cured with healing spells." Luna whispered, even the summon spirit hesitated to speak of what actions would need to be taken to allow the herbal salve entry.

"You want us to cut him open." Cecil uttered out in disgust. "Cut open Lord Valemeros so we can smear the salve into his blood stream." Cecil stated with a firm tone, making sure to confirm what the summon spirit was implying.

Luna closed her eyes as she gave a very light nod of agreement.

"You..." Monique felt a protective sneer curve the corner of her lips as she leaned forward to stare right at the summon spirit, watching as the gentle woman opened her eyes to meet with the glare from Monique. "How dare you..." she softly hissed, lifting a hand as she reached over, threatening to grab the woman by the fabric that crossed over her chest, just above her breasts.

"Monique...that is...not helping the situation." Valemeros grunted out in pain as he shifted his body, the woman's facial features almost instantly softened as she looked down at Valemeros.

"Lord Valemeros, there is no wound for the salve to be placed." Monique replied while dropped her hand away from Luna so she could look down at her fallen lord.

"Than...than make one..." Valemeros uttered out before grunting once more in agony.

The request actually made Monique feel sick to her stomach as she swallowed hard and forgot how to breath for a few vital seconds. "Wh...what are you saying?" Monique fearfully asked, just to get the clarification she knew she heard the first time.

"The salve...needs to...get into my bloodstream." Valemeros grunted out, every pause being caused by the twitches of agony that the relapse of miasma was inflicting to his body. Origin was correct in that the relapse was worse than when he was severely burned by the liquified poison the first time around. No text book he had read in his libraries every spoke of any case producing a backlash.

Monique felt violently ill the moment that Valemeros confirmed what her mind already knew but tried to battle anyway. The thought of being forced to inflict any pain upon her lord was asking too much for her; she had vowed to herself personally to never be the cause of any pain to Valemeros.

"Monique." Cecil spoke in a whisper as he walked closer to her, placing his hand on her shoulder gently in comfort. "I'll handle this part for you." Cecil somberly stated.

"Ce-ceil?" Monique frowned in surprise at Cecil's request. "You are going to cut his arm open? Lord Valemeros's arm?" a shiver of disgust at the thought tingling down her spine still.

"Do we have a choice?" Cecil stated in a bitter tone, doing his best to try and maintain a calm and cold expression across his face.

"I do not believe so, sadly." Luna spoke softly as she looked between Cecil and Monique before her eyes fell down to look at the suffering noble that was resting in her lap. "The longer we wait, the more chance the miasma may spread and if the poison reaches his heart." the summon spirit sighed out as he eyes slowly closed before completing her statement. "Then it shall be too late to remove it from his body and it shall only be a matter of time before the mana dissolves in his body."

"Then we must act quickly, for Lord Valemeros's sake." Cecil nodded before looking back down at Monique; her fearful expression would be burned in his mind for years to come, that much Cecil knew but he also knew what he had to do.

Monique forced herself to lean against the door frame and cover her ears while she tried to block out the screams of agony that came from inside from Valemeros from the combinations of how much nerves the miasma was burning away while the poison was slowly tearing apart the mana structure in his body; the agony of his arm cut open to administer was also one of the factors to the screams that erupted from the room. Monique had never in all the time she had been in Valemeros's life, heard the noble scream in such agony before; even when he was severely burned the first time by the miasma did not match what she was trying to block herself from hearing now.

"There is nothing more painful then feeling the mana separate in your body." Monique briefly heard Luna's voice in her head, a memory of what the summon spirit said to Monique before the tearful redhead forced herself to leave the room.

That phrase echoed in her mind now as she shut her eyes tight; the muscles of her jaw tightened while a surprising energy of anger swelled in her body and for that moment she wished with everything that she would be able to meet with the purple ninja again and put the claim of the summon spirit of the moon to the test.

"If there is...a more painful sensation than mana being separated; I'll find it...just for you, Sheena." Monique gave an aggravated growl in her tone.

Night came while Monique rested her forearms on the railing of the balcony, looking over the ocean that sparkled a radiance of white gold from the bright moon, creating a sight of breathless beauty in the dark, cold night. Monique rested her chin on both her forearms as she half-closed her eyes while dazing off for a moment.

"Valemeros..." Monique whispered out in a sigh; her mind relived on how their lives were five years ago, before all these events had started to unfold. Those were such happy times for Cecil and her.

'What am I doing? I cannot be so selfish right now...life is not always going to be easy, sometimes you need to fight for it.' Monique thought as she shook her head once as if upset with her reminiscent thoughts.

"How did I know you would be here?" Valemeros asked as he walked up to stand beside the troubled young half-elven mage.

"L-Lord Valemeros." Monique jumped slightly as she stood up straighter and turned her head to look upon the noble with her bright green eyes.

She was relieved to see him up and about and better yet; his face was not twisted in any agony, not even hidden agony. Valemeros looked over to her in a glance and gave the greeting smirk that she could adored; that smirk always made Monique smile on the inside and tonight was no different.

"You are looking well." Monique responded with a small smile; she also did not want to worry Valemeros by acting out of her usual character, by not acting like the Monique he was used...the Monique he originally-the red haired beauty pushed those thoughts from her mind as she gave Valemeros a sultry smile as she placed her hand on the railing and leaned her body weight onto the stone surface. "What am I saying? You look more then just well, Lord Valemeros. As always you are stunningly and exceptionally handsome." Monique flirted.

"Heh," Valemeros responded, leaning against the railing and resting his weight on the healthy arm. "I need to ask you a favor, Monique." Valemeros spoke lightly while keeping his eyes to the water.

"I live to serve your wishes, Lord Valemeros." Monique truthfully worded.

"This miasma shall be present in my body for an undetermined amount of time." Valemeros started as he kept his eyes on the water of the ocean; the noble tapped his fingers casually along the stone railing. "Luna stated that I cannot use any of my magic for an undetermined amount of time...the mana in my body is unstable." Valemeros stated before Monique had to ask.

"Unstable?" Monique knew what it meant but she wished to know as much about it as possible so she could understand fully what her Lord was going through.

"As you can clearly observe, I can move around again. It is like I was never affected by the poisoning to begin with; however, the mana inside my body is very unstable and if I were to do another battle like I did with Mr. Irving it would likely kill me. If I had to compare it to something, picture the mana in my body like the natural immune system that wards off infections and the more mana I use the weaker my immune system is to stop the miasma sickness and worse; because my mana would be thin from exerting myself, it would also cause the mana to spread faster and that is why relapses seem to be worse than the original affliction." Valemeros briefly explained before casting his purple eyes over to Monique, seeing that she was listening intently.

"You cannot use magic anymore, Lord Valemeros?" Monique asked while trying to hide the expression of worry that was trying to surface on her face; her eyes gave her away however.

"For an undetermined amount of time, that is correct." Valemeros bitterly confessed while staring forward again. "While I am such a weakened state; I shall be depending on both Cecil and you to bodyguard me." Monique could tell that it pained Valemeros to even request such a thing and she could understand why, Cecil and she always looked up to Valemeros and never saw him as the one who needed to be protected. Through the years of which Cecil and she had known the young noble he had always been the one to protect both of them.

"It shall be my utmost pleasure, Lord Valemeros." Monique nodded once; even though she knew he hated to ask such a request, Monique could not help but feel happy that for once she shall be the one to protect Valemeros...to repay him for the times he had saved her. Valemeros's body gave a notable twitch of irritation as she glanced over to him to see his lovely purple eyes close while thinking about what he just needed to request. Monique knew his pride was wounded the moment he was forced to ask such a thing.

Monique let out a soft sigh before she looked to the ocean.

"Lord Valemeros." Monique whispered lightly to the distressed noble. "You know that I live to serve you in any way possible." Monique gave a supportive smirk as the eyes of the noble locked on the green beautiful orbs of her own. "Uh...Cecil too of course!" Monique quickly added with a touch of nervousness to the tone. "Besides, you gave both Cecil and I something that we could never repay you for." Monique actually softened her tone to that of comfort. "You gave us our lives...had it not been for you, half-elves like us would not have survived in the streets much longer." Valemeros gave a subtle shrug and she knew he was about to imply to not bother thanking him for his mercy. "You protected us and took us into your house, gave us names, a place within the manor and more importantly; you gave us both a reason to live." Monique battled the tears of happiness at the memories flashing in her mind. "Lord Valemeros, you have watched over, trained and protected us these past twelve years, please let us return the favor this once." Monique reached over, gently placing her hand on his left hand. "It is the very least we could do for you...for all you have done for us." her tone was not that of a whisper. The beautiful maiden took as step closet towards him as she boldly placed a hand on her shoulder and turned him to face her so she could rest both her hands gently on his shoulders, just above his collarbones while gazing into his eyes. "Neither of us, Cecil or myself, want anything to happen to you Lord Valemeros and we will support you to the end." she continued to speak a soft whisper. "You mean too much to us." Monique's expression changed slowly into a sultry smirk as she laced her fingers to lightly grip the fabric of Lord Valemeros's robe and gently pulled him closer to her, actually earning a blink of surprise as Monique shattered the tender moment by returning to how she normally is. "So for once...you are going to let us take care of you." she gave out a playful purring tone. "I have been waiting for the day that I could...take care of you." Monique winked.

"Hmhmhm, I guess my hands are tied then." Valemeros responded in a low tone as if he was telling Monique a deep secret while maintaining a sly grin on his face.

Monique gripped the black fabric of Valemeros's robe a little tighter as she leaned in close, to the point their noses almost touched, staring right into the nobles eyes with a mischievous gleam in her eyes. "Oh I can only wish."

The soft chuckle that Monique had grown to adore filled the air once more; she knew whenever he gave such an alluring chuckle it would only stir her up even more.

'How I love you...Valemeros.' Monique whispered in her mind.

-One Week Later-

Valemeros sat his chair while shuffling through some papers on his desk, a perplexed expression on his face as he let out an irritated breath.

"Lord Valemeros?" Monique asked while peeking her head into the room.

"Hm?" Valemeros made the soft sound to ask the question of what she wished of him, slipping one paper from the front to the back of the pile.

"Richter is here, Cecil is trying to stall him but he doesn't seem to be much for conversation and even less with the patience." Monique informed while glancing over her shoulder, half her head disappearing behind the door before she looked back to Valemeros.

"I had forgotten." Valemeros confessed as he carefully placed the papers down and then glanced over to his right hand, tightening it into a fist with a slight narrow of his eyes. 'If my mana does not stabilize itself soon then it is going to put a stop to my plans.' Valemeros lip slowly curled into a snarl at the thought of all his hard work being wasted by one lowly summon spirit.

"Lord Valemeros?" Monique blinked, noticing his fist trembling in what she could easily see as anger, her expression slowly transformed into one of worry, wondering if Valemeros was blaming himself for the lose of his powers.

-Brief Flashback-

"Back again? Two visits in one night, I feel special." Origin bitterly remarked.

"How will I know when it is will be safe for me to use my mana to generate spells again?" Valemeros demanded, the sleeve of his robe thorn and still soaked with fresh blood while the surface of his skin glistened with the remaining red substance.

The moment the salve was administered, Luna used her own healing arts to seal Valemeros wound and aid the salve in once more sealing away the miasma so it could do it's job. Valemeros's arm still tingled numbly, a sensation that could only be compared to the nerves getting chilled on an extremely cold day.

"You will know." Origin quickly responded.

"Not good enough...I am not going to go by just 'You will know.' That will lead to second guessing and you know what will happen there? I will kill myself on a relapse." Valemeros firmly replied.

"That would be a shame." Origin stated in a monotone voice.

"You may not like me...but you will listen to me. Tell me exactly how I shall know this miasma is no longer a threat to me?" Valemeros shot out in an aggressive tone; his eyes slightly narrowing at the summon spirit while he advanced a step forward.

Origin gave a subtle glare the half-elf before seeming to give in finally as he closed his eyes while speaking. "You will know, when the miasma leaves your body it shall release the mana that it has been suppressing and that mana shall combine with the mana you are already storing in you body and not using. When both those sources combine together it shall all release like an explosion, a flood of mana if you will. All that shall need to be released and it will force out all the access mana; you power shall increase in a massive burst for a short period of time and that is when you know you have recovered from the miasma poisoning." Origin bitterly confessed.

Valemeros gave a subtle smirk at the idea of gaining a burst of power, unfortunately he also knew he would not be able to control when he gained this sudden rush of mana. There was no way he would be able to keep such knowledge up his sleeve as a hidden advantage and neither Origin nor Luna had an answer to how long the miasma poisoning would last and he trusted Luna to tell him the truth; she was the summon spirit of light, the mother of all light based spells in a sense, she would know a cure for any poison and how long recovery would take if such a thing could be predicted.

"Hmhmhm, critical knowledge to have and you ke-" Valemeros started to say.

The noble was abruptly cut when Valemeros snapped out of his flashback; blinking in a somewhat bewildered manner before realizing where he was.

"Go to Richter, tell him that I shall meet with him very shortly." Valemeros nodded before Monique gave her nod in reply and disappeared behind the door while it came to a close.

Valemeros glanced down at the papers at his desk as he gave a subtle smirk and shrugged once before pushing himself up from his desk and walking over to the large, golden-framed mirror in his and made his last checks to make sure that he was presentable before nodding once. The noble looked down at his right hand, turning it so he could look at the back of his and gazed upon the dark purple exsphere that was mounted in the golden keycrest, reaching over as he touched a thumb over the marble like surface. Retreating his left hand away he slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out his thin leather gloves so he could slip it on to cover over the keycrest and complete his self image of what he had accepted as his public appearance before turning around to exit the room.

"Know that I despise when a noble thinks they are doing me a favor by keeping me company with their servants." Richter stated in a firm, disapproving tone, not caring that both Monique and Cecil were still in the room.

That was Richter's greeting to Valemeros the moment that the noble entered the room.

"I enjoyed their company though, Richter." Emil worded softly, the crimson haired researcher gave a subtle glare towards his more gentle companion. "Or...not?" Emily nervously stated while looking to the side nervously, his attention suddenly engulfed by the fireplace.

"I am very busy, Lord Valemeros, make it quick." Richter commented while walking over to close the distance.

"How dare you speak to Lord Valemeros in such a-" Monique started before being cut off by Valemeros lifting his hand lightly.

"Quite alright, Monique. I knew exactly what type of man Richter was when he came to my attention." Valemeros commented. "How is your Vanguard coming along, Richter?" Valemeros asked casually while folding his hands behind his back.

"Not as difficult as you would think." Richter commented quickly. "Many of the Sylvaranti are very discontented with how those of Tethe'alla treat them, look down on them, and even abuse their people. Promising a solution is gaining a quick response of support." Richter stated in a stern tone while reaching up to press his glasses higher up on the bridge of his nose.

"As predicted, that is good news indeed. I have something that would actually aid in the crusade." Valemeros commented as the noble gave a subtle smirk. Richter gave the noble a slight tilt to his head, a silent unasked question that Valemeros only gave a chuckle to. "Surely you did not think that I would just sit on the side and not have my own part in this." Valemeros walked towards the fireplace so he could gaze upon the burning embers. "In my storage, there you shall find a countless number of keycrests and exspheres." Valemeros informed with a sly smirk. "as you know, an exsphere can turn your basic village into a fighting warrior at least, pushing people beyond their normal limitations of their body. Such a tool should help gain even more support to let people know you can give anyone a fighting chance." Valemeros glanced over his shoulder.

"Where did you get a dwarf to make so many keycrests?" Richter asked, narrowing his eyes in a suspicious manner.

"Please, I have been preparing for this moment the day the worlds melded together, I have had two years to gather so many keycrests and get new ones forged. I have the ear of the king, all I needed to do was convince him that as a gesture of good will, we need to get new keycrests forged for the many suffering Sylvaranti that were former slaves of the Human Ranches and without a keycrest they shall turn into monsters. The king found me a dwarf and we banded together to make these keycrests for those slaves...the only thing is, those survivors shall not see them." Valemeros turned around to face the inspected researcher. "They are needed for a much higher cause; that is where you come in." Valemeros gestured with one hand before folding his hands behind his back again with a subtle smirk.

"You are a sinisterly clever man." Richter said in an ironic tone.

Even though the young noble knew he was not saying it as a compliment, Valemeros could not help but give a smirk as he gave a tilt to his head while observing the researcher. The moment of silence between the two seemed to stretch far longer then the seconds that actually passed by.

"You have your supplies now, gaining suitable supporters to attach them too shall not be too much of a problem now I shall assume." Valemeros completed.

"And what shall you do now that you have supplied these exspheres? Perhaps you would like to see some of the people I have trusted as officers." Richter commented, the tone used was one that obviously showed that he did not care one way or the other what the answer would be.

"I have matters I need to tend to, I shall leave that to you." Valemeros turned around, putting his back to the research as he looked back to the burning fire.

"So that is all?" Richter asked.

"That is all." Valemeros confirmed. "Cecil shall guide you to the storage room when you are ready to take your leave."

"We leave now." Richter huffed out, looking towards the door.

"Umm." Emil nervous stated, looking to Richter for a moment as the man cast a cold glance his young companion. The urge to be silent followed as he dropped his gaze to the floor, so he was not locking eyes with Richter anymore. "N-nevermind."

"Speak you opinion, Emil." Richter confronted.

Monique blinked as she observed the tense air around both of their guests and she looked over to Cecil wondering if such a thing was actually normal between a leader figure and their subordinates; the only thing that Cecil replied to Monique's silent question was a casual shrug.

"N-no, it's nothing Richter." Emil reassured, trying not to sound shaken.

"Emil, you really need to be more brave. Have more confidence in yourself and speak you mind." Richter demanded in a slightly aggressive tone.

"It's just...well..." Emil stuttered.

"Say it." Richter coldly reassured.

"I'm...hungry...and using that teleporting thing to get here made me...uh...tired." Emil nervously stated as he attempted to sound as brave as he could at the request of Richter. Emil kept his head lowered while bringing a hand to the back of his head to rub it gently so at least his arms were doing something; discomfort forced Emil to shift and move, do something at least to try and distract himself.

"Hm." Richter responded while folding his arms and looking down at the young swordsman.

"Sorry." Emil said when he heard the response and felt Richter's eyes lock on him.

"Don't be." Richter confronted while looking over to where Valemeros was standing. "We shall be staying here until Emil's fatigue vanishes." Richter commented.

Valemeros lifted a hand and waved it off; like the very request to stay longer was not even worth mentioning, symbolizing that he should have assumed it would be safe to stay with pestering the noble with such a minor detail.

"Come then Emil." Richter commented while turning and walking towards the door.

"You not going to...cook are you?" Emil hesitatingly asked.

"I have improved my cooking skills." Richter said in a mildly defensive tone.

Emil gave a subtle moan while he nodded once, already his face had started to become a little pale from the thought of what Richter may cook this time around.

"Fine." Richter confessed.

Both Richter and Emil walked down the hallways of the manor, Emil looked behind him and than looked around to make sure they were alone before looking over to Richter who was only looking in front of him.

"Um...Richter?" Emil wondered.

"What is it, Emil?" Richter asked, glancing over to the young blond.

"So then what are we going to do now?"

"Hm, it would seem that I was correct; this young noble does not know what he is getting into and he does not know who is trying to use. Valemeros has supplied us with exspheres and keycrests and I shall be sure to make the most use of them; however, this noble still things he can be safe by sitting on the sidelines. What he does not know is that now that he has served his purpose...we in the Vanguard will soon have no need for him anymore." Richter casually remarked in a cold and calculating manner, the very statement actually earned a minor smirk from the researcher.

"Wait, you mean we're going to betray him?" Emil asked in a stunned tone.

"Betray implied a pledge of loyalty, Emil. I do not recall agreeing to be a slave to some noble in the very beginning of this, the noble just implied he gained a puppet he can toy with." Richter pointed out while the two continued to walk down the carpeted corridor.

"Well...what are you going to do with the Vanguard then?" Emil could not help but wonder.

Richter glanced over to Emil, contemplating telling the young man.

Meanwhile, Valemeros continued to gaze into the flames of the fire while keeping his hands folded behind his back.

"My Lord," Cecil started, gaining a backwards glance from Valemeros. "I cannot say I completely trust that man." Cecil confessed while looking the closed door.

"I am with Cecil on this one, Lord Valemeros." Monique spoke out in a whisper-like tone, loud enough for both of her companions to hear.

"That is only natural." Valemeros chuckled.

"What do you mean?" Cecil wondered, a long 3 seconds passed before he mentally reminded himself of what he forgot to add. "My Lord." Cecil added to complete his inquiry.

"Oh, the wheels in that mans head have been turning the moment I first invited him here. Richter is going to take the exspheres and the keycrests and than he shall separate himself from me; he will take full control of Vanguard." Valemeros spoke while keeping a smirk on his tone. "People like him cannot be controlled by men like myself, they are pushed by their own personal agenda that even I cannot change...manipulate and take advantage of however." Valemeros grinned while slowly turning around to face his two loyal subjects.

"You are not going to stop him?" Monique wondered out loud, folding her arms over her chest as she gave a slight tilt to her head to express her curiosity.

"No, you see...by Richter taking full control of Vanguard it actually cuts my ties to them and so I cannot be a suspect the king and I maintain being one of the trusted voices in the King's ear. I can encourage him to bring his army together and force the Vanguard and Tethe'alla to go to war...it shall all fall into place very soon." Valemeros grinned, expressing a glee that at least this part of his plan was all falling into place. Valemeros also ignored the fact that his plan was going as smoothly as it was, if his plan continued to flow by so easily then his only worry was that his mana was unstable and he would need complete control over his mana in order to finalize the last step of his plan.

"Are you sure he will play according to plan, My Lord?" Cecil asked.

"Hmhmhm, there are various reasons why I choose Richter for this and him being predictable due to his nature and how he thinks is one of the reasons why I selected him." Valemeros confessed before looking to the window that looked out to the night skies. "Cecil, Monique." Valemeros spoke out; both of them responded to their names being called by standing a little straighter and more at attention as they both looked to their lord. "It is important that we move these plans as soon as possible, I cannot wait for Richter to be ready, gather the exspheres and the keycrests and get them out of the manor." Valemeros commanded.

"Right away, Lord Valemeros." Monique smiled lightly.

-Days Later at Night-

Valemeros walked to the balcony of his manor as he stepped along the stone surface and walked over to the right of the balcony and continued his walk up the stairs that snaked around the top of the manor to lead to the top of the manor. It was there that the young noble liked to spend his nights, it was so peaceful to him and it was there that he could enjoy looking at the night skies when they were their clearest.

Dark purple eyes looked up into the skies as he set his eyes on the brightly lit moon, casting it's radiance over the dark ocean surfaces. Valemeros closed his eyes and took in a deep breath of the salty ocean air while the wet breeze slide through his long, near pure ebony locks, the moon only gave a minor hint that his hair had a purple tint to it's surface.

"It is only a matter of time." Valemeros remarked when he realized his plan was soon going to come to fruition. Valemeros's eyes opened once more as he looked at the glittering stars that brought the otherwise black canvas of the night skies to life. "Humanity...shall never be the same after this and that is exactly what I am hoping for." Valemeros gave a sudden grin at the thought. "Then they shall feel the vengeance...the fury of the half-elves."

Valemeros gave out a chuckle before something in the night skies caught his eyes; his laughter stopped instantly as he blinked once. "Hm?" Valemeros sounded as his eyes followed the light in the skies, it shot passed the night and disappeared into one of the few clouds, it was only seconds when the illuminated anomaly appeared on the other side of the clouds. Valemeros could only squint his eyes as he tried to make out the object that disrupted his otherwise peaceful moment.

The object had a tail, that much could be told, a tail made of fire while the rest of it's body was concealed by the darkness. One thing that could be made out in the light of the moon was that the body of this object was shiny, like a carapace of some insect or even metallic. The object flew passed the manor, high up before turning out in a wide arch before making it's way back over the manor.

Such an action only made Valemeros even more suspicious as he watched the objects movement. The object flew over him as his eyes continued to follow the speed that the thing flew.

"VALEMEROS!" shouted a voice from high up.

Valemeros's eyes shot wide open as his sights left the burning tail of the flying object; his eyes instantly looked to the source above his head and what he saw was enough to shock him as his lips parted slightly in bewilderment and he tried to step back.

Falling down towards him, baring twin swords, wearing a red jacket was none other then Lloyd Irving; back from the dead and his eyes were locked on Valemeros as he dropped down towards the half-elven noble, his swords already draw and at the ready as he slashed down towards him.