Dark Fascination


by Asurahime



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Chapter Two

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Is it really possible for someone like me to believe in destiny? I was destined to destroy all that is evil. I was destined to bring about a bright new future for an entire world filled with magic. I was destined to bring about a revolution for the side of Light. I was a Phoenix destined to fly into the heart of darkness, bearing light and heat to melt that frozen wasteland.


Was.


Such a romantic dream would be fitting if I believed one word of it.


Evil hides behind the most congenial of masks, not only those twisted with fury and malevolence. A world filled with magic may be the Gate leading to the depths of Hell. A revolution for the side of Light can easily be turned into a holocaust for the Dark. And the phoenix's wings can be easily clipped and its ashes scattered to the four winds. There is no light without darkness; no good without evil; no life without death; no love without hate... only fate can dictate my life. But what if destiny's only purpose is to deceive my heart? I would be unwilling to see the truth, for can't truth be a deception as well?


My question is left unanswered and the future breaks my heart. But I will fall before I would enjoy the sad war. I would cry to heaven before I would rule the darkness.


But now, I wait to waken from this slumber... My half-life.


My cursed life.


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Mercury eyes snapped open in the darkness of the nighttime sky. The figure to whom the eyes belonged to gripped the hilt of his blade tighter in attention and his long, platinum-blonde hair fell into his eyes to hide the suspicion deep within them. A second later, the scowl on his face intensified as the sound of horses emanated through the crystal walls of Chateau Aiguille, the Castle of Needles, in the Mystic Region of Facinaturu.


The castle resembled a gigantic tree, but twisted, menacing, and hostile to all humans who dared to step within its confines. The sun never shone in the region, bathing it in obscurity if not for the glowing green diamonds which gave off an eerie, flickering light. Amazingly, the castle was not without beauty, for legions of roses entwined themselves around the forbidding figure. In truth, it was breath-takingly beautiful.


Lord Draco, the Black Wing, Prince of Darkness and Messenger of Charm Lord Severus, extended raven-colored wings and flew down from the top of a column. His dark blue and silver robes melted into the background of the sky, but his pale complexion, silver hair, and pale eyes had a soft, ethereal glow in the crystal-light. He landed next to a taller man with light viridian hair, blue eyes, and orange Victorian robes. "How are you doing, Draco? Everything is well, I hope."


These words did not sweeten Draco's countenance. If anything, it made him more bitter. He had never liked the eccentric Cedric, who never seemed to be down, and this moment was of no difference. Fortunately, the carriage stopped in front of them before Draco could lash out at his green-haired companion. "Mind your own business, Cedric."


Cedric smiled, keeping his eyes on the parting mists and reached into his robes, pulling out a delicate black rose. One would think that something so fine and innocent such as the flower would be harmless, but Draco knew that if one looked more closely, the bottom of the rose had a poison-tipped blade.


As the carriage rolled in, Blaise jumped out from the driver's bench gracefully, landing in front of the two other men. His crimson eyes stared hatefully into silver and sapphire before he took his place next to Cedric grudgingly. He held out his hand to the side and a black scythe materialized in it.


From within the black buggy, crimson eyes sparkled with amusement and thin lips twisted into a shadow of a smile. All three of the beautiful young men were so different, and their wills often clashed into sparks of battle. If the three of them did not have eternal life, each one of them would have already been dead, cut down by the others' weapon a long time ago. Yet, as long as they serve him faithfully, Charm Lord could care less of what they do.


"How goes the search, My Lord?" asked Cedric, his voice not betraying any emotion aside from thoughtful curiosity.


"It was as fruitless as it has been for years, Black Knight. But it does not matter, for Zero Princess is the least of my concerns today," the voice took on a lilting quality. It was almost as if Charm Lord was looking forward to this day with pleasure for a very long time. He kept on gazing wistfully at a lighted opening in the very center of the towering Castle of Needles. "I can feel the power for fascination and destruction running rampant in another's veins today. I shall be in the Throne Room."


Then, nothing more was in front of the three mystics aside from rose-scented air and green-lighted mists. Blaise, Draco, and Cedric stood in stasis, none of them quite certain of what just happened. But Cedric's calm voice shattered the silence around them by asking: "What does Lord Severus mean?"


Blaise tightened his hold on his deadly scythe and spared his two companions a side-glance. "Charm Lord obviously did not care whether we found Zero Princess today or not. About half-way through our search, he stopped giving orders and seemed to be laughing to himself. I think that if an entire human city blew up in front of us, Lord Severus wouldn't have even blinked," he then realized that he was actually talking civilly to the others and snapped back. "I don't even know why I'm talking to the two of you. Perhaps it's just because Charm Lord's strange behavior is getting to me."


Grey eyes glared into vermilion. "You are the one who is running off at the mouth, Blaise."


This was a fine time for Cedric to play mediator. He could still remember when he had to break up a battle with these two and another rash mystic. Unfortunate to say that the ending was not aesthetically pleasing. "Did you hear the Lord say anything else while you were out? Or did something out of the ordinary happen?"


Silence greeted his query, but the anger in Blaise's eyes softened into confusion. "............"


Draco was silent as well as his eyes strayed to the heart of the castle. A cold breeze blew through the courtyard, ruffling their cloaks and making a shiver run through their spines. Suddenly, each of them felt as if someone had just pulled on the strings of their hearts. The power was irresistible to ignore, but deadly to trifle with. It resembled Cedric's rose: lovely, but with piercing thorns that are capable of drawing blood and causing pain.


Cedric then siezed Blaise by the collar and brought him closer. Sapphire eyes flashed wrathfully into glazed red eyes, flat with fear and undeniable fascination. "Listen to me now, Blaise," hissed Cedric in a voice that was more poisonous than any the other two had ever heard from him. It was as if he was possessed or wild with desperation. "What else had Lord Severus said today. The Black Wing and I know as well as you do that something happened today that you are not telling us. Speak, Hunter Knight, or I will not hesitate in cutting out your tongue, Charm Lord be damned."


Draco stepped back from them in shock before he glowered and started fading out of existence. But before he had gone, he heard Blaise's reply.


".... He said, 'The Prince of All Mystics is to be crowned today.' But... that can't be..."


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I'm dying...


Verdant eyes fluttered open to reveal a softly glowing light. Harry smiled without humor, thinking that if death was like this, it wasn't so bad. Then a flash of horse's hooves, savage eyes and feral teeth made Harry sit up in surprise, panting with terror. He then curled himself into a ball, shivering not from the chilly winds fluttering through the windows but from mental and physical exhaustion. "Huff... a dream... but it seemed so real..."


"What is this? My shirt's torn and... is this a blood stain?" Bewildered, Harry tried to rise to his feet only to collapse painfully before he could take more than two steps. "What is wrong with me?"


To his surprise, two gloved hands supported Harry from behind, almost making his jump out of his skin at the suddenness of it. "I see that you are awake. Humans wake up quickly."


The green-eyed boy wrenched himself away from the other's grasp. "Where am I? Is this a hospital?"


Empty laughter greeted those questions, but Harry found himself staring at a young man about his age with white-blonde hair and platinum eyes. "I'm not here to answer your questions but to report when you are awake. Refrain from asking me anything at the moment, for it will be clearer to you later."


"I don't think I'm going to last very much longer like this," came a hushed whisper from dry lips. Harry almost wished that he was back with the Dursleys rather than beneath the ferocious gaze of the strange inhuman being before him. But the gaze softened the tiniest fraction before his companion gave him a crystal vial containing a clear liquid. "Drink this. Don't worry, it's not poison."


Without comment, Harry tipped the vial into his mouth and drank the contents down. As soon as the sweet, cold potion touched his lips, the raven-haired boy felt his strength return to him. "Thank you, but... why am I here?"


"You still don't know what happened, do you? You're in Facinaturu, a region ruled by Severus," snapped the other before he started fading into thin air.


Harry set the glass vial down quickly and tried to grab on to him. Although he did not trust the royal-blue robed figure, it was better than being alone. "Wait... who's Seve--...... Gone..." A chill went up his spine as he tried to process just what happened. "Let me just try to put some sense into this. The last thing I remember was that Aunt Petunia sent me on a errand to Aunt Marge. On the way there, I was run over by a carriage and... wait a minute. What's a carriage doing in this day and age?"


It was not until now that Harry realized that his surroundings look nothing like any hospital he has ever been to. It was lavish and majestic with roses blooming all over the place. He felt very uncomfortable sleeping on silk sheets with his dirty, bloody clothes. Then as accidentally looked into a mirror, it hit him that there was something missing. He was paler than normal with skin that was almost the color of a full moon. Harry's long hair was now as black as onxy with faint highlights of green. But his eyes were more brilliantly piercing than normal because his glasses were gone. It then occurred to him that he could see clearly without them. "How could this be? I must still be dreaming... Well, I'm not going to get anywhere by staying here. I better find out where I am first."


Finally getting on his feet, Harry managed to take a few steps forward before remembering how to move his feet. He walked out of the room hesitantly and was surprised to find himself in another, larger room. What startled him was the presence of several flower-entwined coffins in the room. Each coffin was circled by a different flower: carnations, gentians, plumerias, and many others, but Harry was not fooled by their lovely appearances.


"This is just too surreal," he said as he shakily stepped up to one of the coffins. After peering at the face of what turned out to be a glass coffin, Harry hurriedly backed away upon seeing the inhabitant. "There are... people sleeping in here!!"


Running towards an exit which showed a starless, moonless night, Harry Potter descended down a short flight of stairs. Desperate to escape, he ran until he came upon a pavilion with a large rose design on the tile floor. "People in this place just love roses, don't they?" The green-eyed boy looked around and his spirits rose when he realized that the gate was only a few yards away. Harry hurried over but the gate refused to open. "I should have known that this was too simple..."


Not believing his ill-luck, Harry pulled away from the gate and looked down at his hands, which were bloody from the thorns of the roses entwined in the gate. It would not have surprised him, except for the fact that the blood was an eerie shade of violet. Looking behind him, Harry saw another ornate gate entwined with roses, but he refused to inspect it further and returned back the way he came. "Is there no end to this place?


Upon further inspection, there turned out to be another flight of winding to right from where Harry first escaped the room filled with coffins. Reaching the top of the steps, he found that he had entered the right tower of the castle which had nothing but a pool of clear water. Harry peered at his reflection in the water and touched the surface, sending ripples throughout the small pool. To his surprise, a stream of strong wind carrying rose petals emanated from the pond and grabbed on to raven-haired boy. Try as he might, Harry could escape from the center the small vortex which held him above the pond. All he knew was that he was quickly fading away.


"If this is a dream, please let me wake up now!!!"



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To be continued...

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Disclaimer:


This is my first slash story ever, so I am sorry if it offends anyone. I decided to cross two things I really love, which are the Harry Potter universe and the Saga Frontier universe into a crossover-AU work of fiction. Thus, I own nothing. I'm not really too certain about writing this piece since this is a whole new frontier for me. Please bear with me and I hope you enjoy reading. I don't really know what the final pairing would be for this, but trust that there would be a lot on the way. Perhaps someone could give me some suggestions?



Notes:


~Mystics are capable of living forever. They do not really have to drink blood and can live without eating or drinking at all. The only ones who drink blood are those who ambitious enough to want more power. The only ways for a mystic to die is if another mystic completely absorbs their power or if they are destroyed to the point where there are nothing left but ashes.


~Chateau Aiguille really means "Castle of Needles" in French. It is called this name because of the many towers with tips which are formed in the shape of spires or needles.


~Yes, Draco Malfoy is an actual "Prince of Darkness" in this fic and yes, he has black wings. Each of the male characters I have mentioned so far (except for Dudley) have a special title or purpose in the story. Blaise Zabini is the Hunter Knight and Charm Lord's First General. He will also have another title later on that I can't say right now. I promise that it will cause some people to snicker if they haven't played SaGa Frontier. Cedric Diggory is the Black Knight and Charm Lord's right hand man. He is quite a bit eccentric in this story and I apologize if people are severely out of character. And last but not the least, Severus Snape is the illustrious Charm Lord himself. He has a great many other titles and you will find that out in the next chapter... And there is one other...


~You also have yet to know what on earth this Zero Princess deal is all about and why Charm Lord desperately wants to find her.


~Please tell me if you're not enjoying (or understanding) this at all so that I can remedy the situation. As I writer, I am big on description (as we can see) and falling in love with the words I write (a flaw of mine when it comes to writing serious essays). Moreover, I said before that this is my first slash story. I know that there isn't much slash now, but there will be (Lord of All Mystics, there will be).


~Sorry if there are any grammar errors and for all the run-on sentences. I don't really have the time to make too many corrections on my fics and I'm in somewhat of a hurry to write them... that is... if you guys still want me to.