By Sango-chan
Chapter Two: Escape
"Ugh…" Panting heavily from exertion, Viaresu managed to pull himself up the cliff and flung his body down on the cool, rocky surface. He rested there for a few minutes, chancing a look backwards. The castle from which he had fled was a mere dot on the horizon, but he had even farther to travel. Squinting against the first dim rays of sunlight, Viaresu took a moment to orientate himself and then headed off slightly more to the east. If he remembered right, the Dragon Palace was that way…
The noonday sun was bright and fierce; little shade could be found in the barren, sand swept plains where the Misty Valley and its neighboring forests had once been. Where there had once been an abundance of lush life, Viaresu could now sense nothing of any other living being…or almost nothing. A niggling sensation tugged at the edges of his awareness, and he could tell it was a demon. There was no way to determine anything else about the yôkai that lurked somewhere near, save for the raw, desperate, single-minded hunger that the unknown creature exuded. Viaresu walked cautiously, his eyes darting about the landscape, ever wary of attack. For the thousandth time that day he wished that he still had his staff, but that had been lost, according to Kharl…
"It has been quite a while since you last walked in this world. Three months, to be precise." Kharl inspected Viaresu's magically enhanced right arm carefully, speaking as he worked on it. "It is amazing, actually. All I had to do was use the usual necromancy spells on you…most beings that have lain dead for more than a few days have to be called back in much more forceful ways. You, Viaresu…you must have a very strong hold on life…" The alchemist favored him with a knowing smile.
He remained silent. He wouldn't let the demon goad him into saying anything foolish; the renkin wizard already knew far too much about his motivations for comfort.
"…and so, that makes you the ideal weapon for me to use," Kharl was now saying. "You see, for a while now I have been interested in a new experiment, concerning that Dragon Knight of Fire...Rath Eryuseru."
'What?!' Viaresu listened more intently, but feigned boredom.
"Of course, I need him here for that experiment to take place. And that is why I need you, Viaresu." Kharl had finished his examination now, and he stood straight to stare directly into the other demon's eyes. "You can penetrate the Lord's shield. You can bring Rath to me."
"If you think that I'll carry out your—!"
"I wouldn't try anything, Viaresu. I've just added a few extra poison spores to that arm of yours…just as a safety precaution. I don't think you'll be foolish enough to test them out."
Luckily enough, Kharl hadn't thought to use any magic to keep Viaresu under restraint, only ordering Garfakcy to have him locked up in that room again. Viaresu's mouth twisted into a grim smile. 'A fool? Maybe I am…but not as much of one as you.' It had taken mere minutes to figure out the lock on the door, and a simple spell had silenced the rusty hinges. Viaresu had slipped out of the castle long before dawn, and if his luck held out, Kharl wouldn't notice a thing until he was far gone.
'He won't be able to reach me if he doesn't know where I am. The Dragon Palace will be the last place that alchemist will search.'
Stepping out of the deadly quiet into a small glade, Viaresu breathed a sigh of relief. The demon hadn't attacked him, and most likely wouldn't chance an encounter now. The yôkai quickened his pace, recognizing some of the scenery around him. The Palace was only half a day's walk. It would have been far quicker to use a spell, of course, but he wasn't giving Kharl any leads on his whereabouts.
A nearby bird trilled a note, and Viaresu winced involuntarily. The birdsong was harsh and unfamiliar to his ears, the hues of the foliage over bright and crude. It had been that way for the whole day: a flower, the lively chatter of forest animals…they all made him unnecessarily uneasy. 'What's wrong with me?' he wondered, squinting against the suddenly hot sun. 'Even that…since when have I been so bothered by the sun?'
Seeking respite in the cool, dark recesses of a rocky overhang, he allowed the soothing silence to envelop him. And suddenly, everything became clear. He didn't feel cold, but still shivered. 'I don't belong out there… here…' Viaresu thought blankly as he stared at the bright, friendly forest, quivering with life. 'Not anymore.' A vision appeared in his mind's eye; the black void called, and he knew without a doubt that it would have him back. It was confident, It knew that he would come back to It; he was helpless before Its massive nothingness.
'No…' Viaresu thought as he rose from the no longer welcoming overhang. 'Not yet. First I will deal with Cesia…and Kharl.' He grew cold inside, a cold to match that of the void. 'Kharl…I will make sure you suffer slowly…'
A warm smile. Laughing eyes, the impudent voice. A sense of wholeness that came with her presence.
'No,' he repeated to himself. 'Cesia first.' He knew what his priority was: to obtain Cesia, to keep her from what might happen if she remained around Rath…his fists clenched as he remembered the reason for making that staff, shaping it himself, creating a weapon that he could depend on, a painful lesson learned from his first encounter with Rath. 'He won't be able to hurt Cesia like he hurt me…I won't let him.'
Viaresu walked on towards the heart of Dusis, and an ironic smile tugged at his mouth. 'Well, Kharl, it looks like I'll be doing the task you handed me after all. You want me to retrieve Rath for you…I just might be doing more than that to him. And then…when Cesia is safe…' He rubbed his right arm, '…Then I will deal with that alchemist…that meddling, double-dealing…'
*****
"Kharl!" His thudding footsteps echoing through the silence of the empty corridors, Garfakcy glanced quickly into each room he passed as he searched through the castle. "Kharl-sama!"
Skidding to a halt at the entrance to the gardens, Garfakcy stared at his master with a look of disbelief on his face. "Kharl-sama…what are you doing?!"
Seated in the midst of a jumble of tiny scraps of wood, Kharl absentmindedly pushed back a stray lock of hair as he stared at the mess in front of him with brows furrowed in concentration. "Not now, Garfakcy. I'm looking for the left top corner of the puzzle…"
"The…puzzle?" Moving closer, Garfakcy could see that the scraps of wood were in fact tiny puzzle pieces. "But Kha—"
"Yes, yes," the alchemist answered impatiently, still searching through the pile of unused pieces. "Now if I could just find that…aha!" Triumphantly grasping a piece, Kharl fitted it neatly into his partly-finished jigsaw. "There! Now only one more corner to find…"
"KHARL-SAMA!"
"Yes, yes…eh?" Pasting a nervous smile on his face, the yôkai finally looked up at his servant. "Er…what is it, Garfakcy?"
"Kharl-sama! How can you be doing…that…" Garfakcy indicated the half-done puzzle with an angry jab of his finger, "…At a time like this?!"
" 'A time like this?' " Kharl echoed, his expression confused. What do you mean?"
"Viaresu is gone!"
"Oh, is that it?" Losing interest, the alchemist returned to fitting pieces of his puzzle together, mumbling to himself as he did so. "Hrm…let's see…this goes here…oh, drat, no it doesn't! Wait…aha! Got you, you little…"
"Is…that…it?" A look of bemused disbelief on his face, Garfakcy slumped down as if he hadn't the strength to stand any more. "…Kharl-sama…but…but…Viaresu has escaped! Used some magic to pick the lock! Don't you care where he went? I thought you were going to use him for your new experiment!"
"I still am."
"B-but—!" Stammering frustratedly, the human once again questioned his wisdom in staying with Kharl.
"Oh, don't worry, Garfakcy. This fits right into my plan," Kharl reassured him, turning his attention away from the jigsaw puzzle. "You see, I have a very good idea of where our friend has gone…right to the Dragon Palace."
Sighing, Garfakcy leaned against a tree in the mellow sunshine of the garden as he watched his master working intently on his puzzle. There were times when he doubted Kharl's sanity, but the alchemist always had a good reason for doing what he did (most of the time). He'd just have to trust him on this one.
****
"Ah—ah—achoo!" Stopping to grope in her pocket for a handkerchief, Cesia bumped right into Rath.
"Do you have a cold?" the Dragon Knight asked eagerly. "Maybe I should make you some of my special rice porridge—you know, the one I fed you before at Mount Empha—"
"N-no!" Cesia hurriedly butted in. "I'm not sick! Really!"
"Alright…" Rath replied, looking a little let down. "Well then…let's go." He headed off again.
'That was close.' Breathing a deep sigh of relief, Cesia found the handkerchief and blew her nose on it, shuddering at the memory of Rath's "porridge". 'Thank God…I don't think I could live through another bowl of that.' She hurriedly trotted off after Rath.
"Thanks for waiting," she said sarcastically as she caught up. "You shouldn't leave—" The fortuneteller broke off as she looked around her slowly. "Hey…this isn't the way to the Palace…RATH!"
The Dragon Knight jumped guiltily. "It isn't?" he asked in a falsely innocent tone.
"You're just trying to find more demons to fight, aren't you!" Cesia accused. Honou, riding on Rath's shoulder, held up a sign for her. 'Bingo!' "Shut up," Rath snarled, shoving his dragon's sign out of the way.
"I should've known you would do this! Why can't you just do what the Lord says for once and actually get back when he tells you to? All you ever think of is killing demons and more demons until you do something stupid and end up getting yourself killed…"
'Does she ever shut up? ' Rath wondered idly as he tuned out his companion's ranting and stared at the sky. 'Hey…that cloud looks kinda like a demon…wonder if there are any so close to the Palace. Maybe Cesia's shouting will attract a demon's attention! Then I could…wait, she stopped?! It hasn't even been five minutes!'
Cesia had in fact stopped, for she was once again overcome by a fit of sneezing. "Achoo! Achoo! Ah-achooooo!"
"You are sick, aren't you?" Giving her a suspicious look, Rath added, "You know, last time when I made that porridge for you, you got better fast, so—"
"I'm NOT sick!" she snapped back, her patience wearing thin. "Make that porridge for me again and I'll stuff it down your throat."
"Fine, fine…" he mumbled, backing down at that threat. "I was just trying to help…"
Steering the Dragon Knight back on course, Cesia saw the Palace looming up ahead and smiled. "Hey, look, we're here already!" She sneezed again.
"If you're not sick, then why are you sneezing so much?" Rath questioned, not daring to mention the porridge this time.
"I don't know." They walked into the Dragon Palace, where a horde of maids hurried to them and led them to rooms to be bathed, dressed, and fed.
'If I didn't know better I'd say someone was thinking about me…'
End Chapter Two
Awww…Viaresu-kun sounds so saaaaaaaad! T_T Poor Viaresu…*huggles*
Viaresu: *Tied up in his customary chair in the corner* I hate you, do you know that?!
But…but…why? *Mumbles to self* It can't be the fact that I stole his Cesia plushie…or that I kept him tied up in that chair for two weeks…or that I got him drunk and made him sign…
Viaresu: … -_-;
Btw, didja know Kharl-sama's name is spelled along the lines of Karulu? ^^ Funky, ne? Don't worry, though, I won't change everyone's names to original…that would bee a little too confusing to everyone! …Or maybe I will, and just give you a little chart of who's who…*mumbles*
Currently (in this fic), Rath, Honou (Fire), and Cesia have just returned from Mount Emphaza. So right now Rath and Cesia care for each other but it's not THAT deeply rooted yet. Rune and Thats are back, too, Nohiro and Kaistern are journeying alone, and the Lord and Alfeegi are still gone. Also, Kharl hasn't yet used his disguise of "Avis Rara" (which comes later in the DK series, not yet translated) to get into the Dragon Palace, and so he would need Viaresu. About the porridge…well, in manga volume 8 (not yet translated), Cesia gets a cold and Rath makes her this porridge that almost kills her. He feeds it to Kaistern, too, and…well, I feel sorry for everyone who was forced to try it! ^^ Later, Cesia force-feeds Rath his own hideous cooking. XP Poor Rath!
Last thought: I think Viaresu's weapon (the bladed staff) is called a glaive. Anyone wanna check that out?