"…What happened out there?" Gatti's curiosity angered me.

"Quiet." I stood in confusion for a moment, feeling an unfamiliar sense of concern. I ran down the fortress steps and into the heart of the city. Like the sheep he was, Gatti followed.

Approaching two guards who seemed to be speaking to each other of what had happened, I quickly interrupted their conversation.

"What happened in the forest area? Was there an attack?" I had little experience with talking to outsiders, but I needed to know…partly because the forest was so close to my home, and partly because it excited me. My heart was racing to learn what had happened.

"There was a large fire in the area early this morning. We don't know what started it or whether or not it was an enemy, but our men were finally able to contain it. Pity too…with all that's happened under Dornkirk's rule, Zaibach has so few forest areas now. Practically the whole area was burnt to the ground. I bet it was Asturia…those treacherous-" Though he continued on with his ramblings of paranoia, I walked away from him. I had the information I needed.

"An enemy attack on a Zaibach forest…?" Gatti seemed to enjoy analyzing the situation.

"It wasn't an attack. It was me."

Gatti paused as his eyes widened. I continued walking.

"You? But, Lord Dilandau-"

"I lit a fire last night..." I smiled as the reality of the situation sunk deep into my mind.

"…And I let it burn. I left it to burn through the night."

Gatti fell silently concerned. I imagine he didn't know what to think of me in that moment. Perhaps his perception of me had been warped, I couldn't know. However, I could feel uncertain his eyes on me.

I quickened my pace and ran to the area that was once the place where I trained every night. As I grew closer, the air became heavier with the thick, gray smoke. Gatti was struggling to catch up with me, but became lost in the dark clouds as he coughed violently.

I ran to the center of the once burning forest. The trees were charred and the shrubbery had burnt to nothing. I kneeled on the ground and dug my pale fingers into the black ground, inhaling deeply. Tightening my grip, I tore two handfuls of the mixed dirt and soft ash from the ground. It was still warm.

The black smoke above the dead trees bled into the dark clouds in the sky. In an instant, rain fell heavily, as if the sky mourned the loss of the once green forest. I closed my eyes and inhaled the death once more. It was that moment that Gatti had finally caught up with me.

"Lord Dilandau…"

I began trembling, but the shakes quickly grew into an uncontrollable laughter that echoed through the baron forest. It was a beautiful sight. I was in the middle of a masterpiece…the true essence of its power. A simple cooking fire took control of an entire forest and bent it to its will, a determination to destroy. How cruel for the fire to taunt me in such a way without ever sharing its gift. I envied that power…I wanted to become a fire. I wanted its gift for my own.

My laughter soon faded into the sound of the rain hitting and soaking into the ground. It was from this moment on that Gatti would always treat me differently. Of course, he would always respect me, but there would always be the weight of worry in his thoughts, an unwanted concern for my mind and actions. It was Gatti's weakness.

There was silence.

The men who'd slain the fire had left long before; all that lingered now was the dying smoke drifting in the wet air.

Gatti remained speechless as he kept his distance from me.

Yet, still, he stayed with me.

I could swear it was midday, but several layers of dark gray concealed the sun, blackening our home into a strange dark void. There was no sense of time passage.

The rain continued falling, stealing the warmth of the ground. A disturbing chill ran through my body. As loving as the fires warmth was, it was always fleeting, as most good things in the world are.

I lifted my body from the ground, soaking wet from the polluted rain. Gatti tried to speak but seemed overwhelmed; I doubt he could form any words. What was there to say?

I walked past him silently, slowly, heading back home.

He followed.

By the time we had reached the fortress, the rain had stopped.

I sat on the stone fortress steps, not quite ready to return to my chamber. I was tired.

The steps were covered in puddles from the brief, heavy rainfall. My mind had wandered off as I dipped my feet into the puddle in front of me, staring at the small ripples they created.

Gatti sat near me on the steps. It was a bold move, considering how…unstable I was feeling. My face was buried in my hands as he looked up in awe of the glowing orb of blue, which somehow shone through the smoky sky.

"They say it's cursed…that there's some kind of mysterious force that binds it to Gaea. What do you think the Mystic Moon really is, Lord Dilandau?"

My words were muddled as I spoke into my hands.

"I don't know, and I don't care." I stood up and ran my fingers through my wet hair.

"What'll we do for food now?" Gatti had quickly become dependent on me.

"It doesn't matter." I turned from him and walked back into the fortress, leaving him alone on the steps.

I crept back into my chamber, unseen. I hadn't mentioned it to Gatti, but the only real threat in the fortress was the small chance of the cloaked men catching us wandering. It wasn't that they would punish us, but we could be seen as convenient subjects on hand for any test they might perform. Staying hidden from their sight was the best way to keep out of their twisted minds. The only lingering soldiers in the large fortress clearly had little control of me, and though the cloaked men would rarely leave their sadistic rooms of science…I still feared them. I couldn't tell this to Gatti yet…knowing that he would ask questions about them; questions that I wouldn't be prepared to answer.

I sat in my chamber, knowing that sunset was passing me by…it was never something I enjoyed. Seeing a glorious globe of fire sink below my sight to let the dark plague the sky, I found it sickening. Sunrise always seemed more intriguing, but I would always return to my chamber before night's end. I never felt worthy of looking upon it, really.

Shaking from the cold, I tried to close my eyes. It was rare that I'd welcome sleep, but the day had drained me of all resistance. At first, I had to force myself to tightly shut my eyes while pleading with my body to stop shaking.

Visions of the flames swam through my mind. I remembered the soft ash I held in my hands that day, the smell of the charred wood, and the lingering warmth that the fire had left behind. My body slowly stopped shaking as I fell deeply into a very much-needed sleep.