Sacrifices Chapter Two
By Symee Sama

Aryan looked at the samples in front of him with disgust. This was the best that Zaibach had to offer him? Some half eaten carcass of a dragon? He turned to the young man beside him. "Surely, there must be something else for me to use."

"I'm afraid not," the man replied, "we've had less time and resources to search for the creatures you need since the collapse of the empire. Our time is mostly used up by scavenging for food now." The soldier shrugged, too inexperienced in the ways of the sorcerors to realise the danger he was in.

"Well now you will detail a squadron of men to find me the creatures I need!" the sorcerer snapped, and pulled the man close to him, a knife appearing in his hand. "This project could be the key to the revival of the empire, and if you fail to bring me the creatures that I need..." He trailed off with a smile and a small gesture towards the dragon carcass. "You will be used in the experiments."

He released the man, watching with no little pleasure as the soldier scrambled towards the door, and then forgot him, pushing the man's bumblings from his mind, and focused on what mattered. The seeress from the Mystic Moon had finally been caught, and she was perfect for what they needed.

"The Kanzaki blood is truly amazing," he muttered to himself, smiling knowingly. The first one they had caught, Dilandau has been a superb test subject, his body adapting easily, if not painlessly, to their additions and improvements.

Aryan shook his head. It was too bad that the boy hadn't been controllable. He had been too wild, too headstrong to be bent to the their will, but his sister... The Seeress...She would be useful.

She was weaker than Dilandau of course, but that could be rectified with a few small improvements, starting with what he extracted from this mess. He grimaced at the dragon's remains, and began sifting through the dead tissue, extracting small pieces and setting them aside.

She was also more vulnerable due to the emotional trauma that had been inflicted on her. The severing of a love bond... Aryan smiled wryly. Who would have thought that the young king of Fanelia would help him in this way? In the state she was in right now, she would be easily bent to his will, and with her Seeress powers, she could be what changed the fortunes of the last war.

Who would be able to stop him, Aryan wondered, when he held the power to see the future in his hand? When he had a warrior who surpassed Dilandau, and would have an unlimited capacity for improvement? Who would be able to stop him from realising his and the late Emperor Dornkirk's dreams?

He bottled the dragon tissue that he had selected, and placed it aside, wondering what else could be taken from the carcass, knowing that when he was finished with the Seeress, not even an Allied Gaea would be able to stand against him

8&8&8&8&8

Van stormed into his wife's room, unbuckling his sword from his belt and tossing it onto the bed. "What's wrong?" Seira asked him, her smile fading slightly when she saw the expression on his face. "What's happened, Van?"

"I can't find her," he said, wishing he had something to take out his temper on. "Three and a half weeks of scouring Gaea and we can't find her. Dryden was the only one who even heard of a pillar of blue light." He sighed, and buried his head in his hands. "And I wish he hadn't heard a thing."

"I thought you wanted to find her." Seira moved to be with him, pulling him close to her, and holding him to her breast. "Please, tell me what's wrong." He shook his head, pressing his lips against hers, trying desperately to drive all thoughts of Hitomi from his mind.

Seira pulled away, and forced him to look her in the eye. "Tell me what's wrong. Running away from the truth won't solve anything." He reached for her again, but she slapped his hand away. "You're not going to distract me this time."

Van stared at her, surprised at her sudden temper. He had never seen her mad before, and it startled him into answering. "Dryden heard rumours about a pillar of light that pierced the sky, and landed in the middle of the territories of the former Zaibach."

"But Zaibach was destroyed." Seira began, slightly bewildered. "You and the seeress destroyed them."

"Most of Zaibach's army disbanded after the death of the Emperor Dornkirk." Van corrected her gently. "The real power of Zaibach remains to this day. The sorcerors are still alive, and there is a core of fighters who guard them."

"And that's where the seeress landed?" Van nodded. "And what are you going to do about it, my Lord?"

"There is to be a meeting of the Kings of Gaea. There it will be decided if we will get Hitomi back. I know what the outcome of that meeting will be, and what my actions will be afterwards." Seira looked at him uncomprehendingly, and he smiled softly at her. "It is nothing for you to worry about, love."

"Van, I want to know what you're going to do." She looked at him, the worry apparent in her eyes. "I will support you in whatever you choose." She leaned into him, her hand moving in soothing circles on his chest. "I love you," she whispered, and Van closed his eyes to hide the pain in them.

He didn't deserve someone like Seira. Not when he had been in love with Hitomi since he was fifteen. Something twisted inside of him when he thought of her in the hands of the sorcerors. He had talked to Selena about what had been done to her.

They had changed her body, and warped her mind in order to create a soldier who surpassed all others in combat. He shuddered at the memory of Dilandau, and the madness in his eyes. They had taken Selena, amplified the small powers that she possessed, and changed her into a monster.

What would they do to someone with the powers of a true seeress?

He realised that Seira had been calling his name, and forced himself away from his dark thoughts. "What was that?"

"I want to know what you're going to do," Seira repeated, already knowing what his answer would be.

"Whatever the council decides," Van tightened his grip on her, and rocked her slowly, the same way he had done to Merle when she had her nightmares. "It doesn't matter. I will get her back. No matter what the cost to me."

Van's eyes widened, his grip tightening so much that Seira winced. "Van," she began gently. "You're hurting me." But he didn't seem to hear her, and when sweat began to bead on her lover's face, Seira started to get nervous. "Are you alright, love?" She asked, shaking him slightly when he didn't respond.

"Van!" She was yelling now, calling for someone, anyone to help as the King of Fanelia's face crumbled, his hands releasing her to clutch his head, and fell to the floor. Van's eyes were wild as he rolled on the floor, muttering nonsense, before he finally gave into the pain and screamed.

8&8&8&8&8

Dilandau paced around his cell, occasionally stopping to lean against the wall and gather his thoughts before he couldn't stay still any longer. They had taken her. They had taken her away, and she hadn't been back for days now. He closed his eyes, and slumped against the wall.

She had been here for nearly a month now, and the scientists had shown little interest in her at first. Hitomi and Dilandau had been to their own devices, and had gotten to know each other better. He had explained how he had come to be here to her, and she in turn, had told him all that had happened in Gaea and on the Earth since his abduction.

She was slowly coming to remember him. The brash older brother whom she'd both idolized, and loved... and forgotten about when he abandoned her.

Dilandau's heart had twisted as he listened to Hitomi's story, and he had asked her to share her memories with him so he could better understand what she had been through. He almost wished that he hadn't afterwards. The intensity of her emotions had threatened to overwhelm him, and it had taken him hours to recover from the ordeal.

It was becoming harder and harder to think of her as the seeress from the Mystic Moon, and was becoming more and more natural to think of her as his little sister. There was so much that he had misised. So much that he should have been there to help her with, but he had been taken away from her, and experimented on.

He grimaced as the unwelcome memories flooded back to him. His screams and the screams of the girl beside him echoing painfully in his ears. They had taken him, and experimented on him, turning him into an incredibly strong force that was capable of overcoming all enemies. There was only problem with their design.

They weren't able to control him.

He had refused to go to war for Zaibach, and when none of the physical punishments that they inflicted on him worked, they locked him away in solitary confinement, and began their newest project; the enhancement of another human being using his DNA.

He shuddered as he thought of the little girl who had been chosen to replace him, but there was nothing he couold do for her now. Nothing he could do from this cell to make amends. Besides, Hitomi had told him that the girl had been reunited with her brother.

He started pacing again as his thoughts were drawn to his little sister. He was in the middle of wondering if maybe something had gone wrong, or if they had decided not to let him see her again when the door of his cell swung open, and Hitomi was thrown into a corner.

He was with her in an instant, brushing her hair from out of her eyes, and cradling her head in gentle hands. "'Tomi?" he whispered, his heart breaking as her eyes fluttered open, and she looked at him. "Please, 'Tomi say something."

"I'm okay," she coughed softly, and closed her eyes again. "I... I just want to rest a bit."

Dilandau felt her breathing slow, and then steady as she fell asleep. Not daring to move, he held her, stroking the side of her face, and whispering stories to her in the darkness of their cell. "Do you remember when we were young?

"I can remember when our mother would dress us up, and take us to visit the temple. You were so excited to be able to wear your fancy clothes, but I hated it. I wanted to grow up so quickly. I didn't like the childish things in my life." He paused when she shivered, and tightened his grip around her.

"I remember yelling at our mother when she called me 'Dilly'. She was sad, but I didn't care. I wanted to grow up. I wanted to grow up and live my own life, away from the stifling influences of our house. You were the same way." His voice broke as he began to rock her back and forth. "Look where it got us, 'Tomi. Look where it got us."

Author's Note: Just a short little chapter... I'm kind of stuck with this story, and although I have a general idea, I don't know exactly what I want to do with it. So any suggestions/comments/complaints are welcome. Thanks a lot to those who reviewed before, and in response to some of the comments...

Dilandau is Hitomi's brother because I think he's awesome, and I want him to have a big part where he's not insane or a bad guy. Just pure Dilandau awesomeness.

And Van is married because it adds more to the story, while I refuse to tell you exactly what happens... I'll give you a couple things. Seira is not going to be put aside for Hitomi at any time in this story. I can't see Van being that cruel, but despite that, this fic will have a 'happy' ending...

I hope