There are so many crazy amounts of spoilers in this fic, for all three main games and both Suikogaiden games and then some, that if you want a shred of your Suikoden-related innocence intact, you had best not venture below that there line. That one. Down there.

Suikoden does not belong to me, nor will it ever; I merely own a minimal amount of merchandise, and am getting an All Series Guide for Christmas. Try not to sue me. Absolutely no one contained within this fic belongs to me, and none of the plot belongs to me, and probably all of the wonderfulness is also a direct result of Konami and Konami's doing and has very little to do with me, if anything.

I WARN you. NO reading unless you've played SUIKODEN 3. It won't even make SENSE unless you've played Suikoden 3.

Oh, and Keepers of Flame = Fire Bringer, if you're limited to the English version.


FRAGMENTS OF ENLIGHTENMENT
by Kay Willow

MEETING

He had measured human nature, mapped mortal emotion, and established a set of theories on the responses he'd gathered. These algorithms had served him very well indeed in the previous incidents, and gotten him his current position in the hierarchy of Crystal Valley in Holy Harmonia. He had intentionally manipulated those equations to win him this particular position, for he imagined that it would be more familiar than any other -- perhaps, even, more entertaining.

"I don't like you."

Albert Silverberg looked up into the hostile, flat green eyes of his new superior, and wondered for a very brief moment if perhaps his calculations had been incorrect. That blatant statement of animosity seemed impolitic, crude, and very much unlike the pattern of behavior that he had expected from Sasarai.

Then logic reasserted itself. Of course Sasarai didn't like him. He had been an enemy, had aided the traitor Luc, and -- most hideous crime of all -- knew what Sasarai really was. And, knowing that Albert was intelligent enough to decipher any subtle insinuation of dislike, he chose to state it outright and thus make it more emphatic.

"I understand," Albert responded coolly. "But is that really relevant?"

"I think it is." The bishop deliberately turned his back and took another step up the tiered pedestal that led to the unoccupied throne where once Hikusaak had reigned from, uncontested. Also deliberately, he did not make the gesture for his servant to stand, leaving Albert kneeling on the lowest rung.

His previous acquaintance with Sasarai had been brief and influenced by his knowledge of the other man's place in Luc's plan; having no intention of ever dealing with the bishop personally, as the wizard had vowed that he would handle all matters involving his "brother" himself, Albert had been satisfied with the most rudimentary facts and busied himself with more important matters.

He saw more, now. Sasarai was both a priest and a general -- he bore himself with the eloquence of one who knows that he has the will of God behind him, and yet regarded others with the same cold eye as one accustomed to evaluating and ruthlessly exploiting those who could be of use to him. Even if one assumed that Hikusaak did not dictate the way that he would act, there was something both benevolent and manipulative about him, and something that demanded to be in the center of everything.

It pleased Albert. With a lesser bishop, he ran the risk of growing bored.

HARMONIA

There were several things that Albert didn't quite understand about his superior yet, although he had educated guesses. He wouldn't be much of a strategist if he chose to operate with flawed knowledge instead of pursuing the facts. So he waited for a politic time, and then struck out of the clear blue.

"What are you doing all this for?" he asked, waving at the desk and the papers littered across it.

Sasarai glanced up from the report they had been discussing. Although surely he was irritated at this sudden new tangent, his expression was composed and serene. "It is part of my job. Why would you ask such a thing?"

"Surely you have some motivation," he clarified. "You don't need to keep this job -- is it for the power? The authority? And even so, why do you do all this unnecessary work? You could entrust it to a thousand subordinates, who would do it just as well. There are surely more important things for you to do."

For a moment, Sasarai didn't respond, and then he frowned. "I don't believe in shirking responsibility."

"Do you believe in delegation of authority?" Albert countered smoothly.

"Of course. I simply prefer to do all the work I can, rather than entrust it to others. I have quite enough free time as it is; I'm not worried about overworking myself."

Albert, personally, didn't believe there was any such thing as free time. Every moment of his existence was spent in some kind of contemplation on the furthering of his ambitions. He doubted that Sasarai would be able to sympathize with that at all. What did Sasarai have to strive towards? The only power that existed beyond his own was that of the legendary Hikusaak, and he was gone, some even claimed dead.

Albert knew better.

"So why this position, then? Someone of your power and influence could rule all of Harmonia. Why settle for merely being a bishop? Make Harmonia yours." That would amuse Albert terribly, for a long while. Almost reflexively, he began envisioning the plans now -- it wouldn't be much of a revolution. Elevating Sasarai to the ultimate ruler of the most prominent nation in the world (with Albert, naturally, at his right hand) would be an interesting challenge, more political than military, and one that he was confident he could win.

"I don't want to," Sasarai said simply. "If power, or influence, or authority was all that I was interested in, I would not be so devoted to my position. I am a patriot."

That answer didn't quite fit into Albert's preconception of him. He said, "That's even better. You want the best for Harmonia. Who better to lead it--"

"The current leaders." Sasarai shook his head. "I have known countless patriots in my time. Men whose names you would recognize. Teo and Tir McDohl of Toran; Riou of Kyaro, President Teresa Wisemail of Greenhill, Sirs Miklotov and Camus of Matilda, Commanders Culgan and Seed of Highland; more recently, Sir Chris Lightfellow of Zexen and Hugo of the Karaya, Yun of the Alma Kinan, Franz of Le Buque -- all patriots."

"And?"

"And none of them ever sought personal power." Green eyes, dark with thought, bored holes in the impassive instigator of this little speech. "You, Albert Silverberg of nowhere, are not a patriot."

Albert wondered, the idea coming to him as the priest returned to his work, if the reason Sasarai did not enjoy leisure time was because he had no friends.

SPY

"Is there anything else?"

"No, nothing. You have served me very well indeed." Sasarai removed his hand from wavy golden hair to sketch a holy symbol in the air before him. "Go with my blessings, and return to me again when you have more news."

The man called Nash Clovis observed religious ritual with an odd formality: he stood only slightly after his dismissal, backing away for exactly the appropriate distance before straightening from his bow. He turned on his heel and marched from the One Temple without looking back.

As a matter of fact, he had only twice looked anywhere other than where ritual dictated: once at Sasarai, as if to ascertain that he was well, and once at Albert, to glare with unmistakable promise. The man called Nash Clovis made Albert think of a viper.

"Why do you keep him around?" he asked with distaste, stepping forth from the corner where he had been told to wait.

"He is useful," Sasarai temporized, but it was not the answer to his question, and Albert could tell.

"There is something wrong about him," Albert mused aloud.

"Yes," the priest said absently, still turning over the things that his spy had told him.

"Something about the way that he moves."

"Perhaps."

"Has he trained under the Howling Voice Guild, perhaps?"

"He did, for a time," Sasarai confirmed.

Albert's eyes narrowed. "Then he's insane," he pointed out.

"Yes," Sasarai repeated, agreeably. "He hears inanimate objects speaking to him, and suffers from delusions. He is a compulsive liar and has been marked as a serial killer in the past. He has suffered many tragedies and traumas in his life, both before and after the Guild as well as during." He recited these facts off as though they were unimportant, insignificant.

Curious, Albert turned that over in his mind. His research had turned up only a very few bizarre and disconnected facts: there was a record of a Nash Latjke who had survived the Guild's assassination of the Latjke family and then apparently vanished off the face of the earth; records of a suspicious first-class Harmonian citizen appearing all over Highland and Jowston during the Dunan Unification Wars; and then the sudden appearance and insinuation of this Nash Clovis into the mess in Grassland, claiming many things that weren't true, like being married. No Clovis had ever been married in the grace of the One Temple -- Clovis wasn't even a Harmonian name.

He was clever, whoever he was.

"Why does he obey your commands so readily? A Latjke would have no love for the clergy," Albert asked, not bothering to hide his knowledge.

Sasarai shrugged. "He owed me a debt after the Dunan Unification War. I had him repay it by spying for me. My information network was severely lacking in a few places, and Nash proved gifted at filling in the blanks. He may be insane, but he is quite gifted at hiding it, and fully capable of functioning in normal society."

All very, very interesting. "A debt from sixteen years ago? Surely it's been paid off by now."

"It was, long ago." The look Sasarai gave him as he walked past was inscrutable -- cool and disinterested. He was reminded for some reason of what Luc had told him, about the attendant who had been present when he had stolen the True Earth Rune, who had thrown himself at the sorcerer in a futile attempt to protect his master. "But above all else, Nash is loyal. And he has come to be loyal to me."

Ah, Albert thought. Loyalty. He watched Sasarai leave, moving grandly, as always. Loyalty would appear to be the one thing that always thwarted him.

RUNE

"You still dislike me, don't you?" Albert asked one evening. It had been a long time since he had truly lost his equilibrium, but he was almost amused by Sasarai's lingering aversion to him.

The priest's lips thinned in reaction, but he didn't respond. Apparently, he still felt that way, even after almost a month of their acquaintance. He wouldn't have been here at all if it hadn't been, he'd said, for the fact that he had specifically decided to put all his effort into discussing this particular treatise before making a decision either way.

"Why such vehement offense? I don't believe I've done anything this despicable," the redhead pressed. If Sasarai truly despised him... Having one of Harmonia's highest officials decide to hold back his career would be contrary to everything Albert worked for. No matter how amusing it was, he would have to work on getting transferred to a different superior if Sasarai would stand as an obstacle in his path.

Icily, Sasarai reminded him, "You were responsible, in part, for the theft of my True Earth Rune."

He had almost forgotten that. "Yes, but it's been returned to you." There was no reason to get excited over a wrong that had been righted. Albert didn't believe in holding grudges. It was so much more useful to disregard the past and focus on taking advantage of the present situation.

The narrowing of Sasarai's eyes warned Albert that they did not agree on this matter. "I don't think you understand," he said, sounding distinctly unfriendly.

"Understand what?"

"You don't understand the True Rune."

Albert frowned. His knowledge was being challenged. He had rarely been accused of being ignorant, and even then not since before his graduation from Soledt Academy. It was somewhat insulting.

"A True Rune, one of the twenty-seven relics left of the Sword and Shield after the battle that began the world. They hold within them all the power of the force they represent, and choose their own bearer, who is then rendered unaging. A Rune can be controlled, but the deepest powers can only be tapped with extensive training--"

"Quite," Sasarai interrupted, spreading his hands across the document of the treatise, obscuring the text. "See, you don't understand."

"What?" Now he was starting to get angry. Extremely unprofessional, and he could tell that Sasarai was enjoying his discomfiture.

"A True Rune is a statistical anomaly to you," the priest announced, spreading his arms grandly. "Let me think. True Rune plus courageous youth equals instant motivation for an army of up to fifteen thousand. True Rune plus Tenkai Star equals revolution of the Stars of Destiny. True Rune squared equals total annihilation of a continent, possibly the world as we know it. It doesn't make sense, and it isn't logical, but that's the way it is -- am I right?"

It was galling to be so easy to read. Albert reigned in his emotions with brutal firmness, quelled his rising anger and held himself aloof until he felt capable of speaking again without giving himself away. "Very astute. Well guessed."

"Guessed? You mistake me. I guess nothing." Sasarai smiled, but it was not in pleasure. It was bitter. "I will tell you what a True Rune is. It is a collective sentience of the essence of that which it represents. It speaks to and shares with its bearer, and it burns and sings in the blood. The magic of it could inspire any man that it touched; I have heard rocks hum with pleasure as True Earth brushes them. It is the ideal of all things. It is..."

He cut himself off, and his clear face contorted into a scowl.

It is life, Albert could hear him not saying. And he could also see how much it worried him to have intended to say that.

"Le Buque is requesting second-class citizenship," he reminded, feeling almost smug. Although Sasarai had verbally trumped him, Albert felt that he had been the one victorious.

"Not today," Sasarai said shortly, and stalked away.

BROTHERS

"It was Caesar, wasn't it," he said flatly.

Sasarai turned around. He looked politely confused. The hallway wasn't exactly the ideal place for this conversation, but the realization had suddenly struck Albert and needed to be discussed. The faint traces of anger that he had felt that night, two days ago when they had discussed the True Rune, returned suddenly in a powerful rush.

"What was Caesar?"

"Who gave you insight on how we perceive the True Runes."

A slight smile almost crossed Sasarai's lips for a fleeting moment. "Yes. You forgot, perhaps, that I spent almost a week in Caesar's company. He and I had several interesting conversations during that time."

"I don't recommend that you take too many of the things that Caesar told you to heart," Albert said icily.

"Why? He was raised on your father's teachings, even as you were. What objection could you possibly have to what he might tell me -- unless you are afraid that I won't need you around any longer?"

The outrage was powerful, but fleeting. Emotions had never stayed with Albert for very long. With a mental agility that had astounded his teachers and peers, Albert quickly analyzed and dissected the situation; it was with total self-assurance that he answered, "Caesar is just that: raised on our father's teachings. But he is young, and the books are all he knows. He doesn't truly understand what he's read, although he's certainly arrogant enough to believe that he does. But he never brought them into practical use, internalized them. All Caesar does is parrot the things that Father wrote. What you told me the other day was a paraphrased version of a page from his Observations on the Influence of Runes in the Wars of the Fifth Century In Solis."

"And you are different, then?" Sasarai inquired, curiously.

"Without doubt." Alfred smiled. He would show no mercy after this insult. "Younger brothers are such a trial. They always assume they know so much, and only wind up making trouble for their elder siblings." Sasarai's expression slipped from seeming innocence into a lethal glare. Albert continued pointedly, "Yet sometimes, that uninfluenced perspective can recognize things that their more complacent and accepting siblings... can not."

There was definitely something pleasing about watching that assumption of cool superiority crumble helplessly. Albert's grin widened as Sasarai turned away, seeking vainly to hide his distress. While he had been with Luc, the mage had once told him that nothing was sweeter than revenge, and Yuber had said much the same thing. Albert had accepted their opinion intellectually but not agreed with it, not until now.

When it became apparent that Sasarai would rather ignore the conversation than continue unprovoked, Albert nudged him a bit further. "Your brother, for example. Luc was knowledgeable where you were ignorant."

Sasarai's voice was not shaken in the least when he finally responded, "Luc was insane. The witch who kidnapped him from Holy Hikusaak's care did not know how to treat him. He wanted to kill himself, and take the whole continent with him. Countless millions would have died for his selfishness. Knowledge does not excuse folly."

"What was it," Albert murmured, lowering his voice and stepping closer. Making it personal, intense. "What was it that made the two of you loathe each other so? He said that he hated you more than anything on this earth, even including Hikusaak. What lay between you?"

He was not really surprised when Sasarai shook his head, and repeated, "Knowledge does not excuse folly. You would do well to remember that, Silverberg."

RELIGION

The chanting of three-dozen voices, raised in blissful unison, rang strong inside the high dome and echoed throughout the city.

Albert watched the ceremony from a balcony high up on the southern wall of the One Temple, and marveled at how silent the assembled in the courtyard below had fallen. Before the chanting began, there had been restless chattering from the thousands gathered in the courtyard below, but the moment that those thirty-someodd bishops had begun to speak the words of the prayer, utter quiet had swept those who could hear them.

Really, he thought, the acoustics of this church were wonderful. Hikusaak had certainly known what he was doing when he built it.

Duly reminded of his charge, Albert shifted his gaze to the inside of the temple. The priests within knelt around the circular dais, each of them speaking every syllable with firm clarity. Sasarai was near the northern side, by the great sun carving; he looked overwhelmingly young and slight in his full robes, and there was something about his entire bearing that made him seem almost impossibly innocent. His face glowed as he recited his verse, serene in a way that Albert had not expected from him.

It was like he really believed all this religious nonsense.

Of course, religion didn't mean anything to Albert. He didn't really believe in God, or any sort of higher power. Focused as he was on the present and the secular, the origin of the universe and the many mysteries of life didn't bother him at all. He simply refused to believe in things like destiny because they were counterintuitive: if there was such a thing as destiny, and men were simply fated to do such a thing, then why was there any need for strategists like Albert? Men needed strategists because there was no such thing. The claim of God behind a country had never won any wars for anyone or else Harmonia would own the whole world, but many kingdoms had been saved with the aid of a decent strategist.

Luc had been misguided: Logic, in fact, was the ultimate defiance of God.

Yet there was the clever centuries-old wizard politician Sasarai, praying with every evidence of devotion. And there were hundreds of followers, inside and out, all hanging on each word despite having heard this same canon a thousand times before.

Truly, religion boggled the mind.

Albert thought about it while he waited for the ritual to end. It made a bizarre sort of sense, he reasoned, and explained a great deal, if he assumed that Sasarai believed in the doctrine he had supported. His bizarre naiveté, his long-standing faith in the word of Hikusaak, even his so-called patriotism suddenly made more sense from this angle...

It was nearly an hour later. Albert followed quickly as Sasarai drifted off into the outer edges of the temple, apparently intending to go to his rooms. But before he could catch up with the priest, before he could be noticed and guarded against, he could already tell that his newfound assumption was incorrect. The peacefulness was gone as if it had never been; the youthful face crumpled and despairing. Sasarai had found no answers in the cathedral.

When Sasarai sank to his knees in the aisle and buried his face in the long sleeves of his robes, Albert was gracious: he quietly turned and left.

IDENTITY

Sasarai didn't like talking to him, but Albert had noticed that he sometimes did it anyway. Perhaps he was uncomfortable speaking with Dios, disgusting toady that the man was; perhaps he preferred to speak with someone near his own intelligence; perhaps he simply wanted his secret to remain within the very tight circle it was currently limited to.

"What am I, honestly?"

Albert didn't look up, not until Sasarai's quill snapped between his tense fingers. The strategist continued to say nothing. They both knew the answer to that question, after all -- what Sasarai really wanted to talk about would have to be clarified.

After a long pause, during which Sasarai took several deep breaths, he continued thoughtfully, "It's funny how I never thought of myself as human, not ever, really. I was... born with the Rune. I've always seen the world through the veil of True Earth. Knowing myself to be immortal and different from the very beginning, I never considered myself a child or a man or any sort of human at all."

It was fascinating, Albert mused, how something that was so simple in theory could change someone's entire perspective on life. There were thousands of runes in this world; they were topics of never-ending research and study, with millions of users and devotees. But the True Runes possessed levels upon levels to them that apparently were not identifiable through impartial observation.

"It never bothered me, either. I knew that I was beyond human, but I also knew that I could help people -- that I could help Harmonia. I wanted to do that. There was a woman, who raised me when I was a child... She loved Harmonia more than anything. No doubt that was why he had assigned her to me: I loved Harmonia for her sake. When she died, they held a state funeral for her because of her loyal service to me, even though she had the corruption of dark hair."

Albert allowed himself to be briefly amused by how easily Sasarai spoke of the "corruption" of dark hair, a corruption that he himself possessed. Yet Sasarai was not merely a first-class citizen -- he was a priest.

Sasarai put down the broken remnants of his quill carefully, as if suspecting that a single unguarded movement of his hand could crush the desk the same way it had crushed the pen. He recalled, "I never felt attached to anything. Only her, and him."

There was no need to ask who "he" was. There was only one "he" that Sasarai could be referring to.

"That detachment was encouraged by True Earth, which holds the memories of all its previous bearers and all the soul of the planet itself. So many stories lie unasked-for in its depths; with that cast and inexhaustible supply of knowledge dwelling within my body, how could I be just another human? The best way to utilize my Rune would be to take a step back and apply what I could from a superior vantage point. Everywhere I turned, I was being taught to consider myself separate from everyone else, and so I've never really felt like I was human."

Albert understood the logic behind his words. There had never yet been a great strategist who sympathized with others or was moved by passionate emotions: those things got in the way of the strategist's job, tripping him up when he should be clear-headed and precise. Sasarai's caretakers were to be commended for their foresight.

"So really... it's silly for me to be so upset now, learning that I'm not human. That I was created expressly for the purpose of bearing True Earth in Hikusaak's name. I've always felt like that was my purpose... Why does it hurt so much to know that it's true?"

If Albert had been another man, he might've given a comforting or honest answer. Because you want to be human. Because you DO have a soul. Because you're only just realizing how innocent you've been all this time.

Albert said only, "Why do you keep asking? The answer doesn't change."

Because you don't want to be just a glorified version of that horror that Luc kept waving in everyone's face to show off how much he hated himself.

FREEDOM

"Those greedy little pests," Dios sneered. "For barely fifty years they've been under our care, and they already think they deserve second-class citizenship? A barbarian will always be a barbarian at heart!"

Albert smiled slightly to himself. Men of little minds...

Surprisingly, Sasarai looked up from the treatise he was outlining. Every other stupid thing his aide had said had simply been ignored. "They have proven their loyalty," the priest reminded, tone mild.

Dios started back, as if slapped. He said defensively, "And their disloyalty! See how quick they were to turn upon the man who rescued them from the rebel, simply because he believed in Holy Harmonia?"

Perhaps he wasn't quite so tactless as Albert entertained himself to believe. Dios made it a policy never to mention Luc by name or by his relation to Sasarai: he insisted on calling him merely 'the rebel'.

Sasarai countered, "Even though they worked with the Flame Keepers, they returned peaceably to our command after the threat was dispensed. It wouldn't have been very difficult for them to have beseeched the Grasslanders to help them win their freedom."

"The Grasslanders never did anything to help them when we annexed them in the first place," Dios protested. "They'd never help--"

"Did you, or did you not, live among the Keepers of Flame for a week?" Sasarai asked him pointedly. "Do you honestly believe that the Grasslanders we met there would have denied the people of Le Buque if their aid was beseeched?"

Even Albert, who had seen the leaders of the Flame Keepers very little during the war, didn't believe that. He had heard of their empathy and kindness, and borne personal witness to the power of those things when brought to contest on the battlefield. Although he didn't particularly want to acquire those things for himself, he could respect them.

Dios did not look convinced, but he seemed less certain of himself as well. He glanced at Albert out of the corner of his eyes and rallied himself once more. "As may be, it doesn't seem like a politically advisable maneuver to simply promote them. They haven't been a part of the Holy Kingdom long enough to integrate among our people seamlessly."

Is he trying to impress me? Albert wondered. Or is he waiting for my vote on the matter? That would be a wait indeed; it was not forthcoming.

Sasarai mused, as if to himself, "Yet their military service certainly has been invaluable. They certainly have chosen their words well -- I can't easily think of a reason to deny them citizenship that hasn't been disputed by this document."

And small wonder, for Albert thought he detected a hint of Caesar's turn of phrase in the treaty. That was why he remained silent: he was awaiting the results. If Caesar could use his words to sway Sasarai to his point of view, then there was absolutely no reason why he could not do the same.

"You're not seriously considering this request, are you?" the noble demanded, slipping once more into outrage. "The typical period of assimilation is a century-- We must not show lenience to these savages! It can only be taken as weakness..."

He was silenced with a single stern look from his superior. Sasarai told him, "You're correct. We do need to protect our interests in Grassland. However, now we have both Le Buque and Safir to look after -- areas in the same border region, once comrades. If they were to collaborate..." He shook his head. "By allowing Le Buque to have second-class citizenship, we give them something to lose if they rebel against us or help the Safir to do so. And at the same time, we make them an example for the Safir, to show them the benefits of obeying their new mother, Harmonia."

The youthful-seeming bishop looked up and directly at Albert. He was suspicious, Albert could tell, of his silence. Very clever, this one, and very stubborn -- but not as independent or forward-thinking as his brother. Albert was confident that Sasarai would not out-think him.

After a long, evaluating moment, Sasarai ducked his head and put his signature on the document. Dios sighed his displeasure, but made no further complaint.

Albert smiled.

SECRETS

He couldn't find Sasarai. It wasn't anything crucial, or even particularly interesting, when taken at face value, but Albert had gone out with the message intending to manipulate Sasarai into doing him a favor.

A strategist, a man by the name of Klaus Windamier -- Albert knew of him: a Highlander who had studied at Harmonia's own Soledt Academy and graduated with high honors, formerly Vice-Captain of the Second Highland Army under General Kiba Windamier, formerly a Star of Destiny and a strategist for the victors of the Dunan Unification War -- had arrived at Crystal Valley. The bishops had unanimously welcomed him with open arms. He was being pampered and flattered and catered to left and right, handed absurd amount of power and given extreme amounts of trust, and even his wife and their children were being lavished with affection.

He was getting in Albert's way, undermining his influence, and Albert wanted him gone.

So he was looking for Sasarai, with his perfectly innocent request from Soledt Academy for their beloved alumni to come and lecture there for a week, and possibly escort a group of upcoming graduates on their rounds of the Dunan region. But Sasarai was not in his rooms, or in his offices, or at the altar, or it seemed anywhere in the One Temple at all.

Dios had been singularly unhelpful, responding regretfully that if Sasarai could not be found and had not chosen to tell Albert of his destination, then it would be impossible to locate him again until he wanted to be found. The disciples of the Temple confirmed this, adding that often their spiritual superior would often vanish, sometimes for a week or more, with his orders arriving by messenger bird.

It was indeed one of those absences; it was three days before Sasarai returned, and with the spy Nash at his left hand. Albert's approach was delayed still further because the priest felt the need to greet his "old friend Klaus" and then closet the pair of them away "to get reacquainted." Nash stood outside the room the whole time and smiled eerily at anyone who approached, forcing away those who persisted in remaining inside listening distance.

By the time Albert got to see Sasarai, he was understandably frustrated. But Sasarai was waiting for him, a secret, knowledgeable smile on his lips that instantly made Albert step away from his anger and think out the situation in tactical terms.

"I wasn't aware that you and Windamier knew each other," he said coolly.

For a brief moment, it looked like Sasarai wasn't going to respond. Then, smooth as silk, he prompted, "During the Dunan Unification War, he and I were in L'Renouille together for a few weeks. He was very curious about me."

Surprise surprise. A "boy" more than two centuries old with near-infinite political power and magic enough to single-handedly overthrow small countries; what reasonably intelligent soul wouldn't be curious?

"And this entitles him to a grand reception, before even visiting your own strategist after an extended leave?"

"Doesn't a foreign official deserve a grand reception?"

"How many can any one man deserve?" Albert countered. "He's already had no fewer than two during your... absence."

Sasarai's smile never wavered. "I wanted to ask after his family. I am acquainted with his wife as well."

"Yes, his wife and their darling twins, treated like royalty and given more respect than I've seen anyone with dark hair treated in my whole stay here." He wasn't quite angry, but he was certainly agitated. He had come to Sasarai expecting to find a situation similar to what he'd found with Luc, and to find Sasarai -- who had, after all, been ignorant of his own origins and so easily broken when faced with them, was still broken in the face of them -- easier to deal with even in their differences.

But Luc would never have shrugged him aside in favor of... of what? Klaus Windamier, with whom he had nearly no practical ties? When Albert was the brains of his operation?

Sasarai said pleasantly, "Strange, isn't it? How his wife and children are treated like royalty. Jacquelyn is a rather majestic young woman, wouldn't you say? She carries herself like royalty, as well."

Albert began another retort, but then several inconsequential facts clicked into place.

Jacquelyn Windamier, come to think of it, was a woman seemingly without a past. There were few records of her existence from the days before her wedding to Klaus -- when Sasarai had declined the offer to serve as administering priest for the honor of escorting her to the altar himself. With her fine, straight black hair and solemn bearing, she could almost be twin to...

"Jillia Blight?" he mused aloud.

"I assume that the missive in your hand is for me?" Sasarai inquired, glancing casually out the window at the sun, setting dimly above the glimmering mountains of Crystal Valley. "We'd best hurry and take care of that. I've made an appointment for dinner with the Windamiers."

Somehow, although it was only to be expected that Sasarai knew things that he did not, Albert could not help feeling as he approached to hand over the message that he had been outmaneuvered. Even when Sasarai made not a single protest to the contents of the letter, and agreed to the terms without any fight at all, Albert did not feel as though he'd won. Perhaps it was because of that lingering smug smile...

TRUTH

Albert realized, to his frustration, that he wasn't going anywhere. Worse still -- he didn't mind.

Even after several months in Sasarai's service, he had gained no power or significant goals whatsoever. He had no more authority than he had started with. As far as he could tell, Sasarai was not impeding his progress, but obviously neither was he supporting it.

Yet he didn't mind. He didn't even feel particularly compelled to find a better position with which to gain the leverage he had been seeking. While he lived a comfortable and assured life, he had gained almost no control over the political structure or Sasarai. He still had only the one trump card -- what Sasarai really was -- and it would be as simple as saying "You're fired" and he could be discharged with no noticeable impact on any of Harmonia's internal structure.

That was not where he wanted to be.

And he was beginning to have the sneaking suspicion that he was being played for a fool.

"There's something you've been wanting to ask me," Sasarai said pleasantly one day shortly after that realization had begun to stew in his mind.

"Yes, but I don't see the point in addressing the issue." Albert was not in a mood to be toyed with. They were in formal court besides, the leaders of church and state all sitting around one great table and arguing over some new city ordinance that meant nothing to him. It would be inadvisable for him to finally lose his temper here, of all places. "There aren't any answers forthcoming."

"Are you sure?" the bishop drawled. "I don't think you've ever asked before."

Every long-dead, severed ounce of intuition in Albert's mind screamed for him to jump at the chance. His intellect was not so overeager. "Do you mean to say that you do have answers for me?"

"Quite a few, actually," confirmed Sasarai. His eyes darted around the table, ascertaining that no one watched them. "Why don't you try asking a few? I'll answer the ones that I can."

Albert did not believe in exercising diplomacy where it was not needed. "What game are you playing?" he asked first, lowering his voice and drawing his chair subtly closer. The other officials paid them no attention.

"Which game?" Sasarai asked back, sounding amused. "There are so many."

"The one you play with me. What is my purpose here?"

"You have been chosen to be one of my aides, first tactician for my division of the military, and an advisor in peace." The brunette did not look directly at him, keeping his gaze fixed on the council's current speaker. To all outward appearances, he was just another high-ranking priest sitting in on the debate, consulting with his attendant.

"I was chosen?" That couldn't be right. Albert had planned his path to Sasarai's side himself, worked to secure this position. So someone, without my ever noticing, directed my choices -- no, probably not my choices. If I am at all known to this conspirator, it would only take an educated guess to see that I would choose Sasarai's service above another bishop. Instead, it was the connections that I thought I was manipulating to reach this position that was guided... There was only one person he could imagine doing such a thing with such casual mastery. "Hikusaak?" he murmured.

Very slightly, Sasarai smiled.

Albert couldn't even be too surprised; he'd suspected that worthy's influence from the very start, although he had never believed it could be so strong. "What other decisions has Hikusaak made regarding me?" he asked coolly.

"Quite a few," Sasarai admitted. "When His Worship first learned that you were coming to Harmonia, he made the decision to keep you out of trouble, somewhere you couldn't upset anything, somewhere he could call upon you if he ever needed you -- with me. Since then, most of his decisions have been to keep you in your proper place."

"What does that mean?"

He should've been angry, furious even. But he wasn't.

"It means that quite a number of the things I've done and said have been solely for the purpose of keeping your interest." That slight smile broadened into the smug smile of their most recent clash. "Our confrontations, the affronts to your ability and intriguing facts that I've dropped, even my emotional turmoil -- you didn't think I would be so frantic for help that I'd come to you for resolution? Holy Hikusaak advised all those actions."

"You are remarkably trusting of the man who has deceived you for centuries as to your true nature," Albert answered.

Perhaps there was something, somewhere deep down inside Sasarai, that flinched just a little from that accusation. But on the surface he did not lose his calm superiority, nor did he turn to look at Albert. "I have never wanted for anything in His Worship's service," he said simply. "I have been given everything that I could want: I have only to speak the name of what I desire, and it is given to me, if not by my attendants, then by he himself. Why should I not trust him? One simple lie, withheld for my own good, will not break me."

But it had come very close to doing exactly that, and Albert knew that the real lie was Sasarai's.

"Holy Hikusaak has always regarded me favorably, and if he does not think of my best interests before all else, then they are at least high in his priorities. I am his contact with the outside world -- I know all that he does, and he acts through me." For the first time, Sasarai turned to Albert, sober now. "He holds you in the palm of his hand. All that you have done so far has been predicted by His Worship. He will continue to manipulate you, and you will allow him, because he knows what you are."

Albert leaned back and watched the dance of politics unfolding before him and thought to himself. He should've been surprised, should've been angry or furious, but he wasn't. He wasn't even thinking about escaping.

Hikusaak had planned well indeed. The greatest secrets of the modern age were before Albert's very eyes, and he had learned just enough of them to fascinate him and capture his attention. Now that he knew that what he had learned was deliberate deception, he could not allow himself to rest until he had learned the truth.

How could he do anything but admire such a brilliant mind?

Sasarai added cheerfully, "I really don't like you. If we had been given our choice of Silverbergs, I would have preferred your brother."

"What?" Albert demanded, drawn immediately back into the conversation.

"Because in spite of his inexperience and his simplicity..." His lips quirked. "Caesar believed."

"Believed? In what?"

"In people, perhaps. Or in himself," Sasarai mused, turning back to the table. "It's a very mysterious thing, belief. Caesar was almost idealistic, and I admire that in those I serve."

A rare inspiration seized him, the inspiration to prove himself, to Sasarai and his master, to prove how very wrong they were in their illogical opinions. In the doing, he would gain everything that he had lost throughout this game -- the power he sought, the respect he deserved, and the satisfaction of knowing, without doubt, that he was the best. "You never know," he said coolly. "Ours is a world in which anything can happen."

Sasarai closed his eyes. "Oh, I know," he murmured, and clasped his hands tightly together. "Better than anyone."

The following are Absent-Minded Author Notes.

Things That Are True:

1) Nash's insanity, and more or less everything else said about him save one teensy little fact. According to suikosource, it's very likely that Nash is totally flipping insane. Almost all of the symptoms Sasarai rattled off are canonically true, and all of the facts Albert recalled in his background trace as well.

2) The names of the heroes. According to the novelizations, Master McDohl really is named "Tir", and the hero of the second game really is named Riou. Seeing as how the novelizations are... well, canon...

3) Harmonia's political system. The clergy and the Howling Voice Guild are outside of class rankings -- everybody else is grouped as follows: first class citizens (who almost invariably have blond hair and probably blue eyes -- please note how rare blonds are in the majority of the Suikoden world; they are people who have had pure Harmonian lineage for a very long time), second class citizens (who are more recently-assimilated cultures, people who fit into Harmonian society but haven't been there for very long), third class citizens (the subjugated races and cultures, the newly-conquered and still-rebellious), and then non-humans at the very bottom of the line. If Sasarai weren't a bishop, nobody would look at him twice because of his HAIR color. The woman who raised him, a first class citizen with dark hair, would probably have been dreadfully prejudiced against her whole life.

4) Klaus being a Soledt graduate. This is perfectly true -- Harmonia's Soledt Academy of Military Science is the foremost institution for tactical learning in the Suikoden world. Apple also graduated from there.

Things That I Made Up:

1) Albert went to work for Sasarai. While I find this a very possible result, it isn't necessarily true.

2) Nash's not actually being married. For all I know, he might BE married, although I can't imagine to who. (Unless it's Sierra, and that would just be weird.)

3) The woman who raised Sasarai. She doesn't exist. Note that I didn't even give her a name, because she just matters that little. As a matter of fact, considering what Sasarai revealed at the end of the fic, one might even suspect that HE made her up to string Albert along...

4) Jillia's marriage to Klaus. I figure that (no matter how much they may or may not love each other) Jowy would choose to "free" her rather than keep her chained to his side for the rest of her life while he remains young and healthy with Riou and Nanami; after they separated, she would be able to do whatever she wanted. Here, I had her continue living in Harmonia, in Sasarai's protection, and eventually marry one of the very few people who had recognized her as who she truly was. She's probably about 32 now, and she and Klaus have twins.

5) Hikusaak being alive. It's true -- he MIGHT be dead. But I don't think it's very likely.

Things I Feel Are Worth Nothing:

I really, really, really like Nash -- even more so because of how insane he is in a very people-friendly way.

I do think that Sasarai and Caesar would've gotten along splendidly. I don't really know why. I don't think Sasarai will ever really be able to forgive Albert for the totally irrational grudges he'd hold because of Albert's role in the war and the fact that he KNOWS. As shown in the fic, this will not stop them from working together.

And on a final note -- Fubar eats you.