Leviathan's Daughter
GoldenEagle
Chapter Forty-Nine
There was flame, a mountain of it, an explosion. And then the world shifted, and Folken felt himself in a different place altogether, and yet not there at all. A woman paced, paced in this scene within his head, mousy brown hair, big hazel eyes. She was no beauty, but there was this aura she gave off, an air of strength and stability, despite her currently wound up stature. Then the words reached him, broke through his daze of heat.
"What's going on? You haven't answered any of my questions yet!" The woman growled. A calm and relaxed figure stepped from the shadows, another woman. Long, flowing silver hair, tainted blue at the tips.
"Relax, Cara. Help is on the way." Her voice held a thick accent, yet calm and authoritive.
"Don't tell me to relax, Dolfeen! If it weren't for you and speaking to him of that cursed legend he wouldn't be in this predicament. You think that, just because he's one of you, one of the Guardians, that he is invincible. Now look at him, laying in bed, dying of some poison of magic! Speak to me of his destiny now! Speak to me of your perfect peace, your perfect love! At least I loved him-"
The other girl interrupted her with a snarl. They stood upon a white-sanded beach, a lit hut behind them, and with the silver haired girl's roar, the waves exploded around them, echoing her rage. "Not love him?! Not love him! I would have given him the world, the universe, my very life! Do not speak to me of love just because he chose your love over my own requited feelings."
The girl's hazel eyes widened in rage, a hideous snarl across her face. "Do you honestly believe he would have chosen you, even if you had told him-"
The whirring of wings interrupted the woman, and Folken watched, from his strange bodiless position, as the dragon, the one who had come before him, landed. Yet this version of the beast was more lean, and it lacked the clouded over eye of before. Instead, both were a glowing crimson, and it landed with a great breath of steaming air. The brown haired girl backed off, fear evident in her wide eyes. "Again, I urge you to relax, Cara. This is your lover's savior."
And then, Folken heard it. The voice no other had heard except those with the Guardians' blood in their veins. That deep, musical voice. ~I've come to give my service for the Fourth. I've heard of the poison in his veins. I... believe I can help.~
Dolfeen, as she had been called, bowed, a welcoming smile on her face. "Welcome, friend. I have heard much of your great loyalty to our kind, Leviathan of the Old World. Please, come, we have no time to waste."
And then the scene changed, and Folken found his view focused inside the hut. There, laying in a fever and sweat, lay a man, his ruby red hair drenched in cold perspiration, his face pale, his closed eyes surrounded with dark rings. Leviathan, as the creature had been called, forced his head into the small hut opening before throwing his neck back quickly. The entire shelter flew into the air, to the side, revealing the dark sky and diamond stars.
~I've never done this before.~ He muttered with a deep, primal growl.
"We have faith in you." Dolfeen muttered, her pale hand on the creature's scaled neck, though her eyes were frozen on the unconscious form. And Folken saw what she had said earlier was true. She did have a love for this man, a painful love, a love he somehow knew she was forever destined to keep silent.
That's when things seemed to drift in a familiar direction. A faint glow issued from the dragon's armored chest, not quite as brilliant as Folken remembered it doing so above Persephone. As the odd light increased, the man's eyes fluttered open. If the Fanalian Prince had the breath to do so, he would have taken a short gasp. The man's eyes, they were red. The blood red, crimson and flowing. Before he had time for more thoughts, the world exploded, in the same flame that had consumed the moment when Folken had been pinned down below the beast's great foot.
Through the flame, he could see the man, rising, fire wings flowing, erupting from his back. The girl, Dolfeen, cried out, tears of joy, because she knew. Knew that he would be saved.
Rose, rose, flaming, and Folken realized that he wasn't in the vision any longer, realized that the man had been traded for another, had been traded for... "Persephone?" He whispered her name through dry lips. And in those final moments, Leviathan, the great beast, taking his final breaths, looked down at him. The dragon used that link, the link he had established moments before, and spoke.
~Just as I gave my life then, I give my life now. Do not... Do not let her forget me, hm?~ A wry grin cracked the creature's lips before a final white blast shattered Folken's senses, and he was out cold.
************
Van Fanel, the king of a kingdom that was no more, sat, his head hung, his hands desperately trying to rub warmth back into the cold palms within his grasp. They had allowed him to stay, for he would not allow it any other way. So while the others were in hiding from the disease, he refused to turn away from it, refused to leave her. Hitomi took in a shuttering breath before releasing it. This sound was the only twisted comfort he could find, her gasping and sputtering keeping him from losing hope. He kept rhythm with her breath, taking in air only when she would, releasing it, only when she would. In... Out... In... Out... In......... Out.
Van didn't know why he had held his breath before he realized the reason. His eyes widened as he turned his gaze on Hitomi. Her face was pale, unmoving, her chest frozen. "Hi- Hitomi?" The king's voice was quiet as he slowly took her in, her lips fading to a shade of blue. "Hitomi!" It was a cry now, enraged at what had happened. "Don't you even think about it! Hitomi! Hitomi!!" His voice rose and then faded, and then with a final outburst of confusion and loss, he gripped her shirt material and laid his head against her chest, tears of utter rage and misunderstanding welling in his blurred eyes.
And then, without completely understanding why, those tears stopped, and Van raised his head, slowly up to her face. He heard it then, more calm than before, more steady. In. Out. In. Out. Green eyes fluttered open, glowing against her pale face, the fever gone from them. A small smile filtered across her blue lips, which were now shifting to the usual pink. "Hitomi?" He was almost too afraid to speak at all; afraid the sound of his own voice would shatter this dream.
Tears coursed down her face. "The Aeon... I should have known. It spoke of fire and rebirth... The phoenix, the Aeon... Persephone... She's alright..."
***********
Folken woke, his eyes fluttering open. He was pinned down, pinned down by... Ivory? Bones? The memories hit him with a sudden rush and he pushed the large object off of him before stumbling to his knees. His eyes widened as he saw the mass skeleton of a reptile, a dragon... Leviathan, the beast, nothing left but white bones which seemed to be covered in stardust, glowing in the moonlight. And there, at the center of the tangled jungle of ivory, was a jewel. A dragenergist, Folken realized with a few slow blinks. He stepped over the huge animal's breastbone, Leviathan's ribcage jutting up into the sky, longer and taller than him.
With a slow, deliberate move, he reached out and took the jewel. It throbbed and glowed to life at his touch. The energist was breathtaking, in constant motion, of red and black and orange and yellow and, deep inside, a blue wisp. Like a fire raged within the heated stone. It was hot to Folken's touch, almost too hot when held long, and he let out a shuttering breath.
He was stepping over the ancient bones, out of the center of its ribcage, when his foot caught and he stumbled forward, being thrown to the ground. He groaned as he felt something hard shoved into his gut, as if he had been kicked... No, it felt more like someone's knee... "Persephone..." his voice was a whisper as he opened his eyes slowly, almost too afraid to breath.
And there she lay below him, her eyes closed, but instead of the deathly paleness, her cheeks were flushed, as if she had taken a long run. Her chest rose steadily, and she stirred in her sleep. Folken was frozen, for a split second, before he pushed her shirt up, looking for the wound that he thought had killed her. A large scar was in its place, pink and tender as if it had just completed healing. He touched it with his one good hand, but drew back his hand quickly at the heat that met his fingers. It was an almost unbearable heat, like a strange fire. He felt it radiating off of her now, noticed it as it surrounded him as if there were embers smoldering beneath him. "Persephone... Wake up." He muttered, not noticing the tears that fell down his face, mixing with the suite there and turning black. One fell from his face, and then another. The first hit the ground, but the second fell onto her upturned face. A flicker of instinctive agitation crossed her face, as it might when a fly lands on someone's nose in their sleep.
She let out a small groan before opening her clear, blue eyes. She was met by a pair of grey ones and a sigh escaped her mouth. "Folken, I had the worst dream... Dillandau was laughing at me, but he was crying... I was afraid I had hurt him somehow, and I felt as if my entire body were in flames and I cried..." She closed her eyes and laughed in dreamy remembrance, unaware of the increased flow of tears on Folken's face. "I dreamed I was dead and that I'd never see you again." Her eyes fluttered open and her face contorted into a concerned frown as she saw the look on his face. "Folken, it was a dream... Wasn't it?" Her eyes brimmed with tears and she sat up quickly, looking around her. The ground was blackened with the previous fire and the air still smelled of sulfur. And there lay the mass skeleton. Her eyes widened. "Leviathan."
She turned towards him. His head was still bowed, his form still in the same position, and his shoulders shook slightly from held back sobs. The tears increased on Persephone's face, her eyes squinted, her mouth pulled down as she tried to fight the tears. "Folken... Oh, God, Folken, what happened? What happened to me?" She leant into his form and was welcomed with open arms as he pulled her to him violently. She couldn't move to comfort him, besides the tightly pressed hug they were in now, so she merely moved her head, kissing his shoulder blade, his neck, with light brushes. And they stayed that way for a long while, the two moons shining high above, one a beautiful blue and green, the other a snow white.
Author's Note: yes, yes, I couldn't let her die. Not just yet... I have plans for her yet. No, I'm not done, and PLEASE don't tell me it's cliché and corny that I brought her back, cause I know that already. * sigh * So, I have a little bit more. Actually, only about three or four more. I know that for sure. The next one is going to be a lemon (hopefully, depends on how my mind goes through), but for those of you who don't like that stuff, I'll make it to where you can skip it and still know what's going on. Anywho, please read and review! My comp crashed, so I'm writing all of this on a laptop and a different program, so it's kinda weird for me. Oh, by the way, if you were wondering what the vision Folken had was, it was when the Fourth Guardian was poisoned, kind of. Leviathan mentioned it earlier. That was his "son", as he put it. Sorry that had to go with an explanation. Hehe. * sweat drops *
GoldenEagle
Chapter Forty-Nine
There was flame, a mountain of it, an explosion. And then the world shifted, and Folken felt himself in a different place altogether, and yet not there at all. A woman paced, paced in this scene within his head, mousy brown hair, big hazel eyes. She was no beauty, but there was this aura she gave off, an air of strength and stability, despite her currently wound up stature. Then the words reached him, broke through his daze of heat.
"What's going on? You haven't answered any of my questions yet!" The woman growled. A calm and relaxed figure stepped from the shadows, another woman. Long, flowing silver hair, tainted blue at the tips.
"Relax, Cara. Help is on the way." Her voice held a thick accent, yet calm and authoritive.
"Don't tell me to relax, Dolfeen! If it weren't for you and speaking to him of that cursed legend he wouldn't be in this predicament. You think that, just because he's one of you, one of the Guardians, that he is invincible. Now look at him, laying in bed, dying of some poison of magic! Speak to me of his destiny now! Speak to me of your perfect peace, your perfect love! At least I loved him-"
The other girl interrupted her with a snarl. They stood upon a white-sanded beach, a lit hut behind them, and with the silver haired girl's roar, the waves exploded around them, echoing her rage. "Not love him?! Not love him! I would have given him the world, the universe, my very life! Do not speak to me of love just because he chose your love over my own requited feelings."
The girl's hazel eyes widened in rage, a hideous snarl across her face. "Do you honestly believe he would have chosen you, even if you had told him-"
The whirring of wings interrupted the woman, and Folken watched, from his strange bodiless position, as the dragon, the one who had come before him, landed. Yet this version of the beast was more lean, and it lacked the clouded over eye of before. Instead, both were a glowing crimson, and it landed with a great breath of steaming air. The brown haired girl backed off, fear evident in her wide eyes. "Again, I urge you to relax, Cara. This is your lover's savior."
And then, Folken heard it. The voice no other had heard except those with the Guardians' blood in their veins. That deep, musical voice. ~I've come to give my service for the Fourth. I've heard of the poison in his veins. I... believe I can help.~
Dolfeen, as she had been called, bowed, a welcoming smile on her face. "Welcome, friend. I have heard much of your great loyalty to our kind, Leviathan of the Old World. Please, come, we have no time to waste."
And then the scene changed, and Folken found his view focused inside the hut. There, laying in a fever and sweat, lay a man, his ruby red hair drenched in cold perspiration, his face pale, his closed eyes surrounded with dark rings. Leviathan, as the creature had been called, forced his head into the small hut opening before throwing his neck back quickly. The entire shelter flew into the air, to the side, revealing the dark sky and diamond stars.
~I've never done this before.~ He muttered with a deep, primal growl.
"We have faith in you." Dolfeen muttered, her pale hand on the creature's scaled neck, though her eyes were frozen on the unconscious form. And Folken saw what she had said earlier was true. She did have a love for this man, a painful love, a love he somehow knew she was forever destined to keep silent.
That's when things seemed to drift in a familiar direction. A faint glow issued from the dragon's armored chest, not quite as brilliant as Folken remembered it doing so above Persephone. As the odd light increased, the man's eyes fluttered open. If the Fanalian Prince had the breath to do so, he would have taken a short gasp. The man's eyes, they were red. The blood red, crimson and flowing. Before he had time for more thoughts, the world exploded, in the same flame that had consumed the moment when Folken had been pinned down below the beast's great foot.
Through the flame, he could see the man, rising, fire wings flowing, erupting from his back. The girl, Dolfeen, cried out, tears of joy, because she knew. Knew that he would be saved.
Rose, rose, flaming, and Folken realized that he wasn't in the vision any longer, realized that the man had been traded for another, had been traded for... "Persephone?" He whispered her name through dry lips. And in those final moments, Leviathan, the great beast, taking his final breaths, looked down at him. The dragon used that link, the link he had established moments before, and spoke.
~Just as I gave my life then, I give my life now. Do not... Do not let her forget me, hm?~ A wry grin cracked the creature's lips before a final white blast shattered Folken's senses, and he was out cold.
************
Van Fanel, the king of a kingdom that was no more, sat, his head hung, his hands desperately trying to rub warmth back into the cold palms within his grasp. They had allowed him to stay, for he would not allow it any other way. So while the others were in hiding from the disease, he refused to turn away from it, refused to leave her. Hitomi took in a shuttering breath before releasing it. This sound was the only twisted comfort he could find, her gasping and sputtering keeping him from losing hope. He kept rhythm with her breath, taking in air only when she would, releasing it, only when she would. In... Out... In... Out... In......... Out.
Van didn't know why he had held his breath before he realized the reason. His eyes widened as he turned his gaze on Hitomi. Her face was pale, unmoving, her chest frozen. "Hi- Hitomi?" The king's voice was quiet as he slowly took her in, her lips fading to a shade of blue. "Hitomi!" It was a cry now, enraged at what had happened. "Don't you even think about it! Hitomi! Hitomi!!" His voice rose and then faded, and then with a final outburst of confusion and loss, he gripped her shirt material and laid his head against her chest, tears of utter rage and misunderstanding welling in his blurred eyes.
And then, without completely understanding why, those tears stopped, and Van raised his head, slowly up to her face. He heard it then, more calm than before, more steady. In. Out. In. Out. Green eyes fluttered open, glowing against her pale face, the fever gone from them. A small smile filtered across her blue lips, which were now shifting to the usual pink. "Hitomi?" He was almost too afraid to speak at all; afraid the sound of his own voice would shatter this dream.
Tears coursed down her face. "The Aeon... I should have known. It spoke of fire and rebirth... The phoenix, the Aeon... Persephone... She's alright..."
***********
Folken woke, his eyes fluttering open. He was pinned down, pinned down by... Ivory? Bones? The memories hit him with a sudden rush and he pushed the large object off of him before stumbling to his knees. His eyes widened as he saw the mass skeleton of a reptile, a dragon... Leviathan, the beast, nothing left but white bones which seemed to be covered in stardust, glowing in the moonlight. And there, at the center of the tangled jungle of ivory, was a jewel. A dragenergist, Folken realized with a few slow blinks. He stepped over the huge animal's breastbone, Leviathan's ribcage jutting up into the sky, longer and taller than him.
With a slow, deliberate move, he reached out and took the jewel. It throbbed and glowed to life at his touch. The energist was breathtaking, in constant motion, of red and black and orange and yellow and, deep inside, a blue wisp. Like a fire raged within the heated stone. It was hot to Folken's touch, almost too hot when held long, and he let out a shuttering breath.
He was stepping over the ancient bones, out of the center of its ribcage, when his foot caught and he stumbled forward, being thrown to the ground. He groaned as he felt something hard shoved into his gut, as if he had been kicked... No, it felt more like someone's knee... "Persephone..." his voice was a whisper as he opened his eyes slowly, almost too afraid to breath.
And there she lay below him, her eyes closed, but instead of the deathly paleness, her cheeks were flushed, as if she had taken a long run. Her chest rose steadily, and she stirred in her sleep. Folken was frozen, for a split second, before he pushed her shirt up, looking for the wound that he thought had killed her. A large scar was in its place, pink and tender as if it had just completed healing. He touched it with his one good hand, but drew back his hand quickly at the heat that met his fingers. It was an almost unbearable heat, like a strange fire. He felt it radiating off of her now, noticed it as it surrounded him as if there were embers smoldering beneath him. "Persephone... Wake up." He muttered, not noticing the tears that fell down his face, mixing with the suite there and turning black. One fell from his face, and then another. The first hit the ground, but the second fell onto her upturned face. A flicker of instinctive agitation crossed her face, as it might when a fly lands on someone's nose in their sleep.
She let out a small groan before opening her clear, blue eyes. She was met by a pair of grey ones and a sigh escaped her mouth. "Folken, I had the worst dream... Dillandau was laughing at me, but he was crying... I was afraid I had hurt him somehow, and I felt as if my entire body were in flames and I cried..." She closed her eyes and laughed in dreamy remembrance, unaware of the increased flow of tears on Folken's face. "I dreamed I was dead and that I'd never see you again." Her eyes fluttered open and her face contorted into a concerned frown as she saw the look on his face. "Folken, it was a dream... Wasn't it?" Her eyes brimmed with tears and she sat up quickly, looking around her. The ground was blackened with the previous fire and the air still smelled of sulfur. And there lay the mass skeleton. Her eyes widened. "Leviathan."
She turned towards him. His head was still bowed, his form still in the same position, and his shoulders shook slightly from held back sobs. The tears increased on Persephone's face, her eyes squinted, her mouth pulled down as she tried to fight the tears. "Folken... Oh, God, Folken, what happened? What happened to me?" She leant into his form and was welcomed with open arms as he pulled her to him violently. She couldn't move to comfort him, besides the tightly pressed hug they were in now, so she merely moved her head, kissing his shoulder blade, his neck, with light brushes. And they stayed that way for a long while, the two moons shining high above, one a beautiful blue and green, the other a snow white.
Author's Note: yes, yes, I couldn't let her die. Not just yet... I have plans for her yet. No, I'm not done, and PLEASE don't tell me it's cliché and corny that I brought her back, cause I know that already. * sigh * So, I have a little bit more. Actually, only about three or four more. I know that for sure. The next one is going to be a lemon (hopefully, depends on how my mind goes through), but for those of you who don't like that stuff, I'll make it to where you can skip it and still know what's going on. Anywho, please read and review! My comp crashed, so I'm writing all of this on a laptop and a different program, so it's kinda weird for me. Oh, by the way, if you were wondering what the vision Folken had was, it was when the Fourth Guardian was poisoned, kind of. Leviathan mentioned it earlier. That was his "son", as he put it. Sorry that had to go with an explanation. Hehe. * sweat drops *