Instert standard disclaimer here. Everyone should know that I don't own these characters. Except, of course, the original ones. Also chopped the story up into chapters. Sorry if the transitions are rough. Sometimes that means the chapters are ridiculously short, like this one. If you want to read it without chapters, head over to vejiitasei.com.
Absolution- Part 1, Chapter 18
by the Prime Minister
Well, so much for breakfast, he thought to himself as he materialized on a mountaintop. The cold wind whipped his hair into his face, the snow nearly blinding him. He blinked about, squinting at the arctic peaks that jutted above the clouds all around him. Somewhere in this wasteland were the remnants of his Lord Ruby-Eye, encased until he could be revived. Once he had wanted Lord Ruby-Eyes resurrection very much, but so much had changed since then. He found that he dreaded the Dark Lord's return, for it meant the destruction of his daughter and Lina.
He pushed away his thoughts of Lina and tried to forget that he had been with her just moments before. A shiver ran up his arms and he realized his hands ached. Funny, he hadn't even noticed his fists had been clenched. The discomfort only focused his attention more firmly on Lina, however, and he hung his head in defeat. It wasn't fair that where he had once felt such passion, such burning, he now felt only disgust. Lina had lit up his world, but now, as a creature of destruction, he preferred the dark.
he whispered to himself, summoning his cloak to him and wrapping it around him. He sat down heavily in the snow and drew his knees up to his chest, burying his face in the enclosure made there as he pulled his cloak over him. There, in the heart of Dynast's territory, hundreds of miles from any other being, it was almost possible to forget what was happening. If he closed his eyes and just listened to the settling of snow on his shoulders he could almost feel like a full Monster again. Almost, of course, was the operative word. No matter how he tried to ignore it, the only human emotion left to him was longing. He couldn't love or hate, but he would long to do so. He had no choice but to run from that longing, for as a Monster it would never be fulfilled.
Standing with a sigh, he shook off the snow and peered out at the darkening sky. Lina was probably having a fit. Even as strong as she was she posed no threat to him, but he still didn't fancy going home to her wrath. He knew she wouldn't be happy that he had disappeared on her in the middle of her advances. As if that alone wasn't enough to make her try to kill him, he had also left Lecia in her care. If she was angry about him cutting out on her before, she'd be furious about being left alone with the baby. Xellos closed his eyes and moaned, cursing himself for not snatching up the child before he left. Then again, she really hadn't left him a choice, had she?
Still, something had to be done. Lina had nowhere else to go and neither did he. He could always abandon his odd little family, but he had a feeling that letting Lina and his offspring out of his sight would not please his mistress. If only there was a way for him to become close to Lina again. Since they were stuck together anyway it only made sense to try and make it bearable. If he was human, if he could feel something, anything, there wouldn't be a problem. . .
An idea came to him like a slap in the face, and he knew that he had to be out of it because the thought should have occurred to him before. The rings, he still had the rings. If Lina could be persuaded to wear hers once more he could at least share her emotions. Feeling what she felt might just be enough. It would give him insight into her, at the very least. Lina, however, had thrown her ring away. She didn't want it anymore. Would she really take it back?
He pulled the rings out of his shirt and held them aloft. The metal clanged together in the violent, icy winds, the amurium cold and dull in the wintry light. He really had no choice but to give hers back if he was to keep them both from going mad. How was he supposed to give it back to her? He examined the rings for a few moments more, schemes roiling in his manipulative skull, then he exhaled slowly and shut his eyes. No, the time for games was over. He needed to know what Lina thought and felt, and he needed to learn if she was willing to stick it out with him. A choice, then; he would give her a choice and live with the consequences of her decision. A small smile crossed his face at the thought. Once again, Lina's choices would determine the lives of others. Well, he had lived with it so far, he might as well try his luck again. Clutching the rings in his hand and his resolve hardened, he headed back to his quarters in Xellas' stronghold to put his plan into action.