Note: This is a partial songfic with guest band Gamma Ray's "Razorblade Sigh." Cause it fits Dilandau so well. This is my personal tribute to the prince and general of fire and chaos.
Chapter 15
Death*
Kiss of Death
~ Cliff der Tod ~
Dilandau stiffened mentally, but kept his expression cold. "Death? You want us to try and kill each other? When I need you for this revenge, dammit? What crap is this? I won't take orders, I kill who I want to." Dilandau spat, turning his nose up at Hiero.
Hiero shrugged, shutting his eyes gently, chuckling wickedly. In a flash, his blade came around and nestled right before Guimel's startled eyes. Just as quickly, he brought he blade back at Dilandau, who had drawn up his sword the moment he saw Hiero go for his Dragon Slayer. "You fight me to the death, Dilandau, or….I'll kill them all." He said, giggling like an insane child, lightening flashing across his now grim features, rain beginning to pour down madly as the sky became alive with turmoil.
Dilandau held his sword tightly in one hand, his crimson garnet eyes flashing in the lightening sky. His hair was soaked, his armor, cold, but this time he didn't care. As much as the rain depressed him, what was happening now depressed him more. He loved killing people, anyone that got in his way deserved to drink their own blood as it erupted from their throats, spilling like endless crimson rivers over their chests.
Hiero was someone he didn't want to kill, Hiero was his equal, his and his mother's savior from slavery, the one who seemed to attract chaos like the tides to a shore. Now they were facing each other, ready for battle, a battle where one would live and the other would die, or else his men would suffer. Dilandau couldn't believe he'd been challenged to a death duel by this young king, being said so bluntly, so much as he would say it, it made Dilandau shiver inwardly.
'But I'll never back down from a fight, death or not, I am not weak. I will not back down, my men are at stake. If this is how you want it, Fanel, so be it. It's your funeral.' Dilandau thought, finally getting in fighting stance, letting a feral smile take over his lips.
Out of the valley of death
The man turns his back
Stares up to the hills, his eyes burning red
He licks his palm, with brown dried blood
Turns, grinning teeth, up to his lord!
"Fine then. You'll regret this, Hiero. No one back stabs me and gets away with it. I have brought countries to their knees, killed women and children as well as men of the honor and of the battle. The beautiful, the weak, the strong, the wise, the foolish, they have all fallen equally to my blade, you're no different. No mercy to you, Hiero." Dilandau growled, his body twitching with hate. He couldn't believe how Hiero had become so horrible so suddenly.
Hiero smiled on, but nodded. "Yes. Just one thing, your men are not to interfere, even if it looks like you will fall. If they interfere, I will kill them all instantly. Order them NOW!" Hiero let out evenly.
Dilandau sneered at him. "Don't think cause I'm doing this I am following your orders. I am only thinking of my Dragon Slayers." Dilandau spat.
Hiero smirked, patted his scar uncaringly. "Less excuses, more orders. I don't have all night, Lord Dilandau." Hiero replied pleasantly.
Dilandau just stared, temporarily stunned that Hiero had used his title for once. "Uh, yes. You heard him, men. Your lives are null and void if you interfere in any way. If he doesn't kill you, I will. This is a match of honor, supposedly, and it is between the two of us, not any of you. Do I make myself perfectly clear?" Dilandau commanded, getting every Dragon Slayer to bow their head.
"Yes, Lord Dilandau." They said together, all but Alessa, who was still struggling, Migel's hand over her mouth.
"Excellent. Now, let's play, Hiero Fanel." Dilandau let out, regaining his haughty smile.
Hiero stopped smiling, his face unreadable. "I thought you'd never ask. This is for your own good! HYAAAA!!" Hiero yelled, charging at Dilandau rapidly. The Fanelian blade came down as a spire of lightening crashed into the sea, the spray exploding with boiled salt water and electricity. Sparks flew across their blades as Dilandau easily blocked the attack.
The darkness of the night,
Turns bright at his cry,
So quiet but deadly….
Hiero went again and again at him, but he blocked each one, finally lashing out with a feral scream to attack himself. He went for Hiero right arm, but the Fanelian king easily twisted to the side and curved his sword over his shoulder to block it backwards, getting nicked slightly in his shoulder blades, but thrust it away. He came back with a vengeance, spinning clockwise swiftly to counter the next attack.
Dilandau ignored everything, the battle was even better than their sparring matches, Hiero blood was dripping, veins pulsing in his beautiful face, growling much like an angered dragon would, baring his perfect white teeth with every thrust of his silvery blade.
Dilandau matched each thrust, parrying and slamming steel against steel with all the anger he had inside his body. He yelled again, catching Hiero slightly off guard, the Fanelian blade touching its owner's neck just barely, but enough to make him bleed. Hiero kicked out suddenly, catching Dilandau in the chest, then another came that cracked against his cheek. 'He's no pushover at least, but he'll pay for that.' Dilandau thought harshly, growling deeply.
Burning deep within, and now he will begin.
He cries out to his lord forevermore!!!!
He stumbled backwards, but didn't show that he felt the pain. He'd never show that, he'd take it like a man, no, as a soldier should and always would. A soldier was a creature. He would be that for all his days, no matter what, he'd outlive all those that opposed him. He was back in his stance and ready to take another slash at Hiero, whose face was a cruel mask.
"Isn't it funny, we have to do this all because you're still afraid of death. Don't you just want to laugh?" Hiero quipped, nearly catching Dilandau in the neck. He backed up again, the cliff's edge licking at his heels. The grassy knoll of the cliff was wet and slippery, which made it difficult to stay standing. Still, he moved forward hard, his boots never sliding once. Just because he didn't care for the rain didn't mean he didn't know how to handle himself.
"I don't find a lie funny. I am not afraid of anything." Dilandau hissed, sparks dancing across their clashing blades once, twice, three times, screaming brightly for blood.
"Who's lying? You hesitated….not just this time, but I saw your expression when I saved you from a cold, watery grave….I couldn't even see your pupils you were so scared. Not only is it evident in your face, but your mind. You still fear it, you've feared it ever since my father damaged your face….so vain, one slight change to it turned you into a weakling, mistakes piling up, you already insane mind going deeper into it with each failure. That's why your men died, because you were afraid you'd die, you'd fail again, and again, and again." Hiero said snidely, doing a sweep with his leg, but Dilandau leapt over it easily, his eyes like boiling blood.
"Shut up! Why are you doing this? I am not afraid!!!" Dilandau screamed, lashing out violently on Hiero's blade so harshly Hiero fell over, propping himself only by his elbow. He was barely blocking Dilandau's rage filled swipes and slashes, his fingers bleeding through the Dragon Slayer gloves from trying to hold on too tightly.
"It's for your own good. You must face death, and fighting to the death is the only way to do it, Dilandau. Why won't you accept some responsibility and admit you have weakness. Only then can you kill it!" Hiero spat, shooting his foot up suddenly into Dilandau's groin. Dilandau's eyes shrunk, quivering with pain. He didn't moan, he just grabbed at himself, giving Hiero the time he'd needed to get up, backing away with his body hunched over.
Dilandau bit back the pain, snarling in frustration. "That….cough…was a dirty trick. Hmmph, if you want to play rough, so be it. Then we'll see who fears death." Dilandau sneered, charging again.
Hiero readied himself for impact, but Dilandau just grinned. It took Hiero too long to notice it to act, slashing forward dumbly as Dilandau leapt over his head and slashed at Hiero back. Hiero gasped, but that was it, turning around effortlessly to face Dilandau, smiling.
"That's better….but I'll never fear death, only those of others." Hiero sighed, using the back of his gloved hand to wipe his blood off his cheeks.
"Oh, of all the arrogant crap…." Dilandau hissed, slashing his blade out repeatedly rough against Hiero, testing it at other time to throw the Fanelian king off guard. Hiero wasn't falling for it, his double colored eyes unblinking, set dead on Dilandau's.
"There's calling the kettle black. You are the king of arrogance, or were. Seems you might have become smarter, might. I so admire your style, but that death thing, you just can't, but you are far too proud to admit your fear in front of people, when its not much of a fear at all. Everyone….more or less, dies." Hiero said knowingly, dodging a near fatal blow to the face.
"It just depends on how we go out, standing proud, or sniveling on your pathetic knees. If my father had truly been like you, he would have cut your head off when you faltered over a scar….but you learned its not the end of the world, not completely. You reacted better to what Garufo did to us. Why can't you learn that you have to kill me!?" Hiero finished out, taking a swipe again.
It's the razorblade sigh,
shooting up to the sky!
Blood on the wings, one of the kings!
There's a burning within,
When the storm closes in!
He is one of a kind, in the hands of time….
Razorblade….
Dilandau blocked, the sparks flitting over his pale skin as he thrust back and cut into Hiero's shoulder, just below the neck. He pulled it away and slashed again, getting the other side. Hiero smiled again, as if the pain was funny.
"RAHHH!! STOP IT! Perhaps death does scare me, but no more than other mere men do. There is nothing mere about me in the least. I am death, I take life when I want and how I want. I can do it any way I please….fear has nothing to do with it. Why should I have to kill you because you want it? That is the most insane thing I have ever heard!" Dilandau let out, bringing his blade around in a powerful arc to catch Hiero's arm.
The young king merely grabbed his own blade with his hands and blocked the attack with the back of his sword, thrusting it away before tackling Dilandau to the ground, his blood streaming down with the cool rain that had soaked them to the skin. Before Dilandau could move his blade again, Hiero's foot stamped down on it, his body hovering above Dilandau's. Hiero looked down at him pleasantly, his blade to Dilandau's pale throat, the cool steel biting at his flesh.
"Then why haven't you killed me. You've had plenty of chances. You could have easily lopped my head off back there. And your flip, you could have run me through then too, I know I could have. What's holding you back, Dilandau? What do I have to do to make you fight me right?" Hiero said quietly, pressing the blade a little closer, drawing a bit of blood.
"I….Grrrr! GET OFF!" Dilandau hissed, reaching for the blade, but stopped when the blade pressed again. Dilandau growled again, his garnet eyes scanning his other options. For someone who wanted him to face death bravely, he wasn't giving him many chances. Any wrong move for that blade would get his throat slit, his sword hand was immobile by Hiero leg, and Hiero was above him, watching intently. Then it dawned on him, making him smirked. Hiero raised an eyebrow to this, curious.
"Well, if you're going to be a pain about this, one good turn deserves another." Dilandau grinned, and rammed his knee upwards into Hiero's groin, the blade jerking away from his throat. Dilandau wasted no time in grabbing Hiero by the jacket and throwing him over his body hard. Dilandau leapt up, shaking his wet head free of the crystalline rain, lightening flashing again just a mile away. Dilandau felt alive with that power, his eyes staring the moaning Hiero down. He'd landed a few feet from the four Dragon Slayers not holding Alessa, who were all grinning their praises to their patron. Alessa looked like she was crying, her muffled sobs trying to escape Migel's hand.
"Excellent," Hiero squeaked, lifting himself up with a stifled grin, getting back in stance, but didn't move. Dilandau approached slowly, grinning from ear to ear with anticipation. Hiero let go of his bruised groin, shaking his wet head slightly and licking his lips as he back up.
"Now who's afraid?" Dilandau cackled, his hands tightening around his blade as he got closer.
His raging fire burns you with desire
As you're taken down into his gravity
He wants you now, into his master plan
And he'll be taking you into his dignity….
Hiero gave off a suggestive smile, regaining his composure. "No, not really….just want to see how fast you are…..before I kill them all!!" Hiero laughed, twisting above, blade raised high in the stormy sky, Gatti and those near him staring at Hiero in horror.
"No….no….NNghhh….NOOOOOO!!!! NOT AGAIN!" Dilandau screamed, leaping forward in a long stride, running right for Hiero and swinging his blade at Hiero's back. Hiero's blade was starting to come down, just as Dilandau's came around and embedded itself in his stomach.
Hiero let out a nauseating grunt, his blade falling from his hands and thocking into the wet ground. He hunched over, but Dilandau kept the blade there, watching the thick crimson spill beneath the young king's feet. Dilandau grit his teeth and yanked the blade across Hiero's stomach.
Tires are burning on the way through hell
Fallen angel set me free!
Wheels are turning, take me far beyond,
Holding out my hands in victory!!
He backed up a moment, the bloodlust not coming, his eyes wide, not dilated, his lips a stunned thin line. He opened it slightly as Hiero turned around, looking up with a weak smile and with one arm across his eviscerated gut. Dilandau thought he could see inside Hiero's body, the pulsing organs trying to beat with the blood, trying to hold themselves together in their quivering, crimson panic. Hiero's arms seemed to be holding them in, the gory slash so deep, thick with fresh blood. Dilandau didn't know what to do, he didn't feel any better, his normal fulfillment of a kill lost to his soul.
It was the smile, Hiero didn't look scared, didn't look angry, he looked….pleased. No one losing their life ever looked pleased, not even the most suicidal or sick people in the world looked like that. There was always fear. 'Why isn't he afraid? Hiero….why did you want this?" Dilandau's mind croaked, his heart twisting in knots as Hiero fell on his rear, then on his back, breathing harshly.
"Hiero…." Was all he could say, watching the young king bleed all over the cliff. His head was so close to the edge, blood leaking across his pure sapphire hair, his eyes dulling slowly. "It….ok. You did it….you….did it. Its not so bad to kill for them, it doesn't cost you anything….cough….cough….Don't give up on life, Dilandau, because it gave up on you. You….you're really….special….to this world. You are….Death's child, its respected…..childdddd….." Hiero breathed out, exhaling softly as his eyes rolled shut, the finally sound he made overtaken by the rumbling in the sky and the loud patter of rain.
It's the razorblade sigh
Shooting up to the sky
Blood on the wings, one of the kings
There's a burning within
When the storm closes in
He is one of a kind, in the hands of time
Razorblade, Razorblade!!!!
"YOU BASTARD!! YOU KILLED HIM!! MURDERER!!" Alessa screamed, blood on her own mouth, some no Migel's hand as he tried to clamp her mouth shut again. Dilandau looked at her hateful ice blue eyes, the pain within them, the pain of loss. He knew that look, he wore it many times, for Gatti, Chesta, Guimel, Viole, Dalet, Migel, and faithful Jajuka, the utter loathing he felt towards for their killer, Van. It was the pain of losing his friends, his only friends. General Adlefos had hated him, he'd called him a monster. He hadn't cared if Dilandau lived or died. Without his friends, without those he loved, he was alone, he was lost. 'Hiero….was….my friend….he….he….was my equal, the tolerant one, my comrade. Now….now he's dead….by my hands.' He thought dully, dropping his blade suddenly, startling everyone. He looked at his hands, the blood lingering there within the swirls of cool water.
"I….killed my comrade, my friend. I killed him." He said blankly, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. He felt so pathetic, so useless, stained. He never felt this way. 'The least I can do is bury his body with honors….he'd appreciate that.' He thought.
He looked at the body, the blood long gone, only the slash reminding him of the cruel and perfect strike he'd laid upon it evident in the cut armor. For a death man, Hiero's complexion hadn't worsened, his lips still their natural color, his face so peaceful and serene. Dilandau let himself smile, looking at his men hard. "I was willing to kill to protect you at the near chance I would die. It is not something I fear, I never will again, but….being a soldier means risks, and risks mean meeting death for all times. I will never shy from it," he said, then met Alessa's tearful eyes," He will be buried like the king and warrior he truly is, with all the honor possible. He will never be forgotten."
Alessa still didn't look so assured, but he didn't care. She'd get it and like it, though he'd probably have to watch her for the rest of her miserable life with Hiero gone. He owed Hiero, the king had died bravely, never begging, never crying, nothing short of true courage. Dilandau only hoped he could stomach it.
He started to turn back towards the body, his eyes catching slightly movement. Before he could fully turn, he saw Hiero's head teeter, the sound f crumbling rock and dirt reaching his keen ears, then Hiero's body went over the edge, falling with the rain.
"HIERO!" he yelled, and without a second thought dove over the edge after the body.
"LORD DILANDAU!! NOOOOOO!!" he heard his Slayers yell, but it was too late for warnings. He'd just done the most insane thing he'd ever done in his life, reaching for a falling dead body of someone he'd killed. 'I don't care, I promised him one hell of fucking funeral, he's not escaping me that easily. Dead or not, I will keep my damn word!' he thought, copying the suicide dive move that Hiero had pulled earlier, to make his body catch up with the corpse. The impact would alone kill him, but Hiero wouldn't be left to rot alone in the raging depths.
Death angel….is coming!!
You see him ride across the land,
Time in his hands!!
"I won't let you die alone and in shame in the sea. I will not leave you in the afterlife alone….I will see to it myself. Dammit, HIERO!!" he shouted, thrusting his hands out violently as he neared the body, grabbing at one limply outstretched hand. It didn't make him smile, only grit his teeth, pain overwhelming his body as the jagged rocks below finally reached his sights.
The darkness of the night,
Turns bright at his cry
It's burning deep within,
He cries for more!!!!
He felt a jerking motion, pinpricks on his back erupting throughout his skin as he awaited impact. He had kept his eyes open, but his vision was a little dazed from the jerking, the pain that had filled him. The pain was gone, but it was so strange feeling. What was stranger as his vision cleared, Hiero was hanging perilously from Dilandau's grip, both of them seeming to hover a bit spastically over the wave torn rocks below.
Dilandau looked up, his eyes growing soft at the wings upon his back, wings as black as midnight, or a pure onyx gem, flapping a bit jerkily on his back. "My wings….my Draconian wings from my….bastard of a father. I finally….grew my wings….Have I awakened?" he said aloud, then felt something squeeze his hand, a groan sounding from below.
He looked down slowly, his eyes wide and shocked, eyeing Hiero's body. Hiero's head was tilted back, rain dribbling down him perilously, down the armor, to the cut in his stomach. Dilandau's eyes flashed wildly as he looked harder. "The cut….is gone?" he sputtered, his wings tilting them again.
He shrieked loudly when Hiero's double-colored eyes snapped open, looking a little confused at first, then slowly dawned with realization as he stared up at Dilandau. The king didn't smile, only stared, from Dilandau, to his wings and back again.
"Dilandau….thank you." Hiero croaked out, reaching up to his face with his free hand. Dilandau accepted it, shuddering inside with millions of questions, one more powerful than the others slipping from his lips. "You're….alive. You're alive?? How?" Dilandau asked quietly, but Hiero only frowned, deeply saddened by the question.
"We'll talk later. We must….get out of this place. Folken has sent several units after us. I saw it….when I died. Please Dilandau….live!" Hiero rasped out, letting his hand reach past Dilandau's face, up to the wet and storming sky.
Dilandau floundered in mid-air again, but was able to maintain his state in the air, turning his silvery head up to the sky. He blinked back at the rain, and reached up, lightening crashing several feet from them. He took one flap before his wings dipped in, feeling himself fall. "NO! I WON'T DIE LIKE THIS! I WILL NEVER DIE! I WILL LIVE! ARGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Dilandau yelled, the pain in his back coming again, just between his newly sprouted wings, his world becoming engulfed in flames.
As I awake,
At the end of the road there's a rainbow,
Slowly he'll fade, the dawning of time,
On the wings of the razor!!
~
Alessa looked over the edge, screaming for Dilandau and Hiero, but both their bodies were well out of her sights. The Dragon Slayers had let her go the moment Dilandau had jumped after Hiero's corpse, his anguished screams matching her own for Hiero. She hated Dilandau more than ever now, but he had to go and do something stupid like committing suicide. How could she fully hate him when he did something like that?
'Easy, he's a total asshole….ugh, but his Slayers. He killed for them, and is dying for Hiero. How am I supposed to react to that?' she thought vainly, looking back at the utterly stunned and frightened young men. Chesta and Migel had given everyone back their swords, all rushing to where Dilandau and Hiero went over at once, nearly falling themselves. Gatti looked absolutely horrified, Chesta was shivering, his innocent eyes wide with pain and anguish, and Dalet was breathing real hard, completely stunned. Guimel was crying openly, clawing at his own face to do God knows what, Migel was just shaking his head in disbelief, looking away finally from the dark abyss below, and Viole just stood stock still, staring blankly into the darkness.
They looked utterly broken, like boys who'd been abandoned and abused all their lives. "Lord Dilandau." Chesta's soft voice let out, and if he'd been crying, no one would be the wiser. The rain was coming down hard, almost like pins and needles, like how her heart felt. "Oh….Hiero….why did you do all that? Why did you want to die?" she wept, covering her face with her hands.
She yelped when she felt someone lay a hand on her shoulder, getting her to stand and lean against their chest gently. It was Viole, still looking as blank as before, a small smile on his face. "Its ok, cry if you want to. We know….he loved you….he had his reasons, misguided as they were. We will watch over you, Lady Alessa. For both of them."
She smiled a little, but it hurt to do anything but cry, so she did, her cheek against his cold armor. They all looked like drowned rats by now, but it mattered little. The guiding forces in their lives and the only real friend she had when she got here were dead, gone forever. There was nothing left for any of them.
"LOOK! FIRE! I see fire!" Gatti shouted, jabbing his finger at the dark abyss below, a hint of amber flecked in it now, one that was growing dangerously. Alessa and Viole broke free from each other, backing away as the others did, the amber glow becoming mixed with bright golds, reds, and oranges.
A cyclone of flames, as if hell had erupted in their faces, came spirally upwards, nearly burning them despite the fact they'd missed it directly. The flames spun around in a mad dance, more powerful than the once powerful flames of the forest fire, Dilandau and Hiero had created only hours before.
Alessa blinked back against the bright flames, looking up it to see two dark figures nestled inside, wings on their back. As the flames began to thin, resembling flying serpents climbing for the heavens, she could make them out, the white wings first taking her breath away, then the flash of crimson and pitch making her spine tingle.
"LORD DILANDAU! LORD HIERO! You're alive!" Guimel shouted, the other Slayers' eyes wide with shock, their mouth hanging open slack. It was Hiero, and he was alive, not a drop of blood on him, his shock white wings flapping strongly against the stormy air. Dilandau was holding onto both of the so-called dead king's hands, his eyes burning with delight, the crimson almost bleeding out of his face as the remaining fire embers danced about them.
Dilandau had awakened as the Angel of Death, that much as evident from the wings on his back, but his were different. Gatti, Chesta, and Migel all grew one set of wings, close to the color of their eyes or hair, but Dilandau's weren't the same.
He had two sets of black angel wings, one on his upper back and the other a little further down, but between them were what looked like dragon wings, as silver as his hair. They were keeping him up, not as well as Hiero, so that explained why they were holding onto each other. 'Six wings….like the devil….amazing.' she thought.
Hiero then looked at her, still holding Dilandau steady. "I'm sorry for scaring you, we both are, but it had to be done to make him awaken. His Draconian wings….as well as his sacred angel wings. Dilandau is completely the Angel….of Death, with the power of life and death in his hands." Hiero stated, gesturing at Dilandau's face,
Alessa looked at Dilandau, gasping softly when she saw the symbol of half of a silver star and a black circle just peeking out below his gold headband. "The pentagram, the symbol of the devil, of darkness and death. How fitting for him." She said aloud, then she heard Dilandau cackle.
"I am the Angel of Death, so watch your pretty little mouth, woman," Dilandau laughed loudly, smirking triumphantly. Then his gaze hardened, and he jerked his eyes away from her, past where they all were standing," Zaibach is here."
Hiero looked in the same direction, his gaze indifferent, his pendant banging on his chest in the wind. "They aren't even using Stealth Cloaks! Big-headed idiot, my uncle is too sure of himself. We have the powers of death on our side. They are history." Hiero smiled, flying himself and Dilandau over the others," Stay close….there aren't many, but they are still guymelefs. Protect each other!"
"Right." The Dragon Slayers uttered, turning about to face the enemy. Alessa finally turned, her icy blue depths shuddering when she saw a dozen guymelefs similar to Migel's flying straight for them.
"Yes….bring them on. I need to hear those that can die scream for me. SCREAM AND BURN IN HELL!!" Dilandau laughed, and Alessa felt horribly cold. The guymelefs were nearly upon them, she could almost smell the sweat from the pilots, the grease and steam from the terrible death machines. 'Better them attacking us rather than Dilandau.' She thought, getting behind Migel and Viole as the loud roar of the guymelefs reached her ears.
Then the light came, that same light that dragging them to this cursed continent, that took them to Dilandau and the Dragon Slayers, it came again and started picking them up off the ground.
As I awake
At the end of the road there's a rainbow
Slowly he'll fade away the dawning of time
On the wings of the razorblade!!
She heard Dilandau scream, more out of frustration than pain. "NO! I WANT TO KILL! I WANT THEIR BLOOD TO BATHE IN! GO AWAY, YOU STUPID LIGHT! I WANT TO FIIIIIIGGHHHHHTTTTTT!!!!" he screamed, but the light took them all away, the terrible guymelefs crashing through the light like it was nothing, vanishing from her eyes as they all went higher. 'Please let me land away from him….he'll still be in a mood to rip flesh no matter what. Please God, don't make my life anymore miserable.' She thought, then her senses left her.
~ Merchant Ship of Dryden Fassa ~
Dryden sat comfortable with his children in his library, smiling lovingly at their sleeping forms on his best couch while he silently read a book on Asgard. They'd been through a lot, and would go through more at their mother's funeral. The poor woman's jewelry had been found when he went there to pick them up, finding them wander through a shallow river of blood that was now Fanelia. They had told him that a Zaibach floating castle came and a woman's singing did the deed.
He had no comment to that, merely collected the terrible corroded skeleton wearing his beloved wife's jewelry and put it in storage, having a casket made on board so she could be buried when they got home. He got his frightened children inside his ship and took off, ready to face the sorrow of being a widow.
That had been the plan until he saw pillars of light erupting near the coast, by the dangerous Devil's Teeth Ravine, then by the time he got there, one erupted on Asgard. He had his ships turn that way, remembering how Hitomi had traveled by that strange pillar of light when she first arrived. He hadn't found Hiero's body, but he hadn't found any actual bodies, only skeletal remains and gooey and partially dried blood rivers snaking through the once golden streets.
According to his daughters, they had known what was happening and Hiero was the reason they were alive and had black eyes. They were grateful to the young king for trying to save them, but stated that he, his Mystic Moon guest, a female, and Val Schezar did not suffer the effects of the death song. When they came to, the three, Allen, Millerna, the head cook Merle and her child Myrna were all gone, not a single trace left of them. Dryden hypothesized the pillar of light had saved them, as he'd even seen it from his forest estate just outside of Freid. It was pretty hard ignore. It was the only reason he left so early. He'd planned to let his daughters remain in Fanelia for the week, as the personal request of Hiero's advisors to sort out which daughter Hiero would become engaged to.
Dryden didn't care much for arranged marriages, it had caused him a lot of heartbreak with Millerna, and he didn't want his daughters marrying a guy they didn't love, and a guy that didn't love them. Hiero liked Ravine and Orla, but didn't love them. Dryden fully understood the kid, and sympathized, but Hiero's advisors had already planned on marrying Hiero and Orla, much to the children's rejection of the idea, and Dryden's. His wife made him say otherwise, since the idea of her daughter becoming a queen was like a beautiful dream. She only wanted the best for her daughters, as did he, but their happiness could be sacrificed even for that.
Now she was dead, Hiero's advisors were dead, Hiero's swordmaster and much of its people were dead, and many royal families were dead, all because of Zaibach, again. That country never seemed to learn, so Dryden decided, after consulting his children of the matter, that they would find Hiero and fight Zaibach, for their mother, for all those that suffered because of those creeps.
"Now if I only knew how we were going to pull it off. I haven't seen a pillar of light in two days, and we've passed that location already. Where are you Hiero? Val?" he wondered aloud, not noticing his Orla stir. He smiled slightly, and went back to his book.
"Heh, now I'm talking to myself, as if it'll help. It's not like a solution to finding them is going to fall right into my lap or nothing." He chuckled.
The room filled with a blinding light a moment later, his girls waking up with tiny screams, thuds and "oof's" echoing about the room, one such thudding parcel falling across him.
As the light faded, Dryden looked down, his small sunglasses slipping down his nose, his eyes wide with surprise. "Hiero….? Well, don't that beat all? Wishes do come true. Heh, heh." He chuckled in good form at the sleeping boy king, a few feathers of black and white stuck in his sapphire locks. Then he looked about himself, his eyes widening a bit more at all the young men and the one oddly dressed young woman lying on his library floor.
"I gotta be more careful next time. Wishes are really damned serious." He snickered, shaking his head slightly, his brown hair swiveling gently about his broad shoulders.
To Be Continued….
*The Death Card represents Dilandau and Hiero concluding unfinished business, namely Dilandau's old fear and Hiero's secret immortality. Also, its putting their pasts behind them to start anew, a sort of climactic rebirth as well as moving from the known to the unknown of life and death.
Teaser: Hiero immortal secrets revealed, the truth behind the favor of Fassa, and Viole will find love, but with who? Will anyone be able to trust Hiero again and who is the next angel to awaken?
