Late update. I think... oh well. Sry if this is a bit of a filler chapter, but there's plenty of fluff that'll keep some of you entertained. Anyway, someone asked about the necklace. And yes Rath's currently forgotten about it, but it will come into play later. Anyway, I hope you like the chapter!
Chapter 13-
Red eyes fluttered open, taking in their surroundings before attempting to move. Looking to the side, he saw that the figure next to him was still asleep. He fondled her hair, kissing her cheeks lightly. Then Rath stood up, not wanting to wake Cesia, putting his shirt on and moving to unlock the door. Once that was done, he sat next to the bed and pressed his hand to the forehead of the faerie elf in the bed. Hot. Rune's fever had no abated at all, and he didn't look any better. He bit his lips, hoping fervently that everything would turn out alright... he had a strong feeling that he was wrong.
"Rath...?" Cesia sat up from the floor drowsily. Rath turned, smiling at her.
"Yeah?"
"Oh shoot, how long has it been?" she asked looking at the setting sun, she buttoned her dress and fixed her hair. Rath smiled at her response and shrugged in turn to answer her question.
"He's still not better," Rath said, looking at the elven figure in the bed, tossing restlessly, ghostly pale face flushed heavily with the relentless fever. Cesia looked on as well and pursed her lips.
"Well, there's nothing we can do really."
She stuck a fresh cloth into the cold water and placed it on Rune's forehead. The water knight shivered, golden hairs falling into disregard. Rath tucked the blankets firmly around him and bit his lip. "He'll be alright Rath..." she tried vainly to comfort him, but she had her doubts as well. Rath sighed.
"I guess you're right," he said with a smile. But he couldn't help but wonder why he'd been in the protected section of the library...
Cesia blinked, "I am?"
"Aren't you?" he asked, pleading for her to be.
"Uh, of course I am!" she said firmly and pulled him, "Let's eat dinner, I'm sure you're hungry. And then we'll go to sleep early."
"Okay," he said, holding onto her. They walked out to the dining hall, getting some food and eating it quickly.
"Let's go outside," Rath said.
"Okay," she agreed and the crimson haired knight led her out, night fully upon them.
They walked among the plants, and Rath felt his mood lightening simply by being with her, and the memories sleeping in her arms only hours before. Her optimistic attitude and attempts to cheer him up forced him to forget all the problems, entranced by the moonlit figure dancing in front of him, taunting him with her touch and enticing him with her lips. She took off, baiting him to chase her so he did, taking after her. They dodged and chased each other until finally, the fire knight caught his prey, pulling her tightly to him and biting her ear ever so softly.
"Thought you'd last for long?" he tried to catch his breath.
"I did, didn't I?" she responded, catching hers as well. The walked onto a corner of the garden, shielded by a wall, and sat down. Cesia let Rath lay his head on her lap as she leaned against the wall and stroked his hair and face. He held her hand, still out of breath and sighed, content.
"Don't you love the night?" he whispered.
"Yeah... I feel like I'm alone, freed, it's just me, veiled from all other things. It's such a sweet feeling to have the darkness pulling you, no boundaries in its expanse... and then the moon, so big and perfect, shining so brightly and lighting our path. Night really is the best time of day..." she smiled tenderly at him.
He grinned back and let himself fall asleep, comfortable and protected in her arms, feeling soothed by her cool touch on his face and relaxed, all weariness and sickness gone, and for once, he was able to go to sleep peacefully.
OoO
Delte ran frantically, heading towards the Dragon Lord's office, footsteps echoing urgently through the cold stone floor. She turned a corner and ran into something solid. "Ow..." she winced as she fell onto the hard floor. The person she'd run into paused, rubbing his chin sorely where her head had run into it.
"I'm sorry Miss Delte."
Delte looked up, faintly recognizing the voice. But as soon as she looked up, she recognized the face, "Oh Tetheus, I'm so sorry!" she stammered, knowing that he was a rigid form and she'd just embarrassed herself by running into him.
His face softened a bit, "It's no problem, here," he bent down, helping her up gently and courteously. She blushed.
"Ah thank you, I'm so sorry," she said.
"Don't worry, I'm used to having women running into me," he said, a slight smile on his face. Delte was surprised, she'd never seen the man even close to a smile before.
"What does that mean?" she asked smartly.
He shrugged, "Nothing really."
"Um, well, thank you and sorry, but I have to go, I have to talk to the Lord."
He nodded, "As do I. What do you need of His Highness?"
Her face clouded and she looked down, "Well, I have felt a strong...energy inside the castle. And I'm afraid it may have something to do with the debilitation of the faerie elf Prince."
Tetheus was confused for a moment as to who she was talking about until he recalled that Rune was supposedly elven royalty. But then he snapped back onto the real importance of her words, "You've felt the dark energy?"
She nodded, her hands wringing.
"I have to, and actually, I was on my way to discuss this with Lord Lykouleon. I would greatly appreciate it if you would come along with me."
"Um, of course. Thank you once again," she stammered. He gave the barest nod of acknowledgement and led her down the halls to the Lord's office.
Knocking and receiving permission to enter, he strode to the Lord, beckoning the faerie fortune teller inside before crossing them in the most business like manner.
"Hello Tetheus, Delte," Lykouleon smiled warmly, as he always did, and folded his hands, patiently waiting for them to begin, "So what is this about?"
"Your Highness, we have come to warn you of a demonic energy inside the castle," the black officer said calmly, not wasting a second on roundabouts and simply getting straight to the point. Somehow, Delte did not find this surprising.
"You have both felt a... demonic energy?" Lykouleon stared at his desk, a frown touching his face. He glanced at the fortune-teller as if for confirmation.
"Yes, my Lord. In fact, I tried to do a reading... and all my cards burnt to the ground, save one," she drew out the card with the angel on it, "This was the one that survived. But when I drew it, my hand covered its left wing... the one-winged angel."
"Who is that?" Lykouleon had not never known the crisis of the 'one winged angel'.
"Kharl the Alchemist. The one who all but decimated our kind..." Delte said grimly.
Tetheus frowned, "So you believe he is behind this all?"
"Yes..."
"But what can we do?" Lykouleon mused, lifting his eyes to the ceiling, deep in thought.
"Loathe as I am to suggest this, considering the water knight's strange wanderings, and the possibility that Kharl could be behind them, maybe..." he hesitated, "Maybe we should keep a closer eye on the... elven prince."
Lykouleon nodded reluctantly, "But that will not be conducted by guards. We'll simply make sure that there's someone with him at all times. And now there's Kaistern. We have no idea what his memory has to do with this all... but it very well could."
"There's the possibility that Nadil's army caused it."
"Most likely," Lykouleon agreed.
"Because I highly doubt that Nadil's army, finding an unconscious officer without any memories would not take advantage of it and try to poison him against us. And then there's the fact that he was completely unharmed, except for his arm, which we have the excuse that it was caused by a fall."
"There's something missing... it's like we don't have all the pieces..." the faerie muttered then looked up, "My Lord, it's simply too easy. They gave up the blue officer so easily... I think it was some sort of trap."
"I'm afraid so... We'll have to have Kaistern under surveillance as well..."
"Lykouleon..." Tetheus now spoke to the Lord as a friend, discarding all other protocols, "It must be done. For their safety as well as ours. And like you said, they'll be watched by us," he tried to sound as reassuring as his persona granted him, then reverted back, "Meanwhile, I will continue trying to find a root to the problem and will post up security measures outside the castle. I will also send a scout to try to pry information out of Nadil's army."
"Thank you," Lykouleon smiled. The black officer nodded.
"Um, well, good day my Lord," Delte bowed, following the head of security out the door.
"You say your cards your cards burnt?" Tetheus asked as they walked.
"Yes."
"So you have no way of fortune telling now."
"No, I'll have to create new cards..."
"Create?"
"Yes, I can get simple playing cards then go through a certain ritual to turn them into fortune telling cards. Why?"
"I was simply curious. The life of a fortune teller is quite interesting."
"It's not all that good," she said sadly.
"I can imagine," though his face was impassive as usual, the look in his eyes was compassionate and understanding.
"Thank you..." Delte smiled. They walked a comfortable silence for a couple minutes, neither being talkative people normally, simply walking, until Tetheus excused himself to go do his daily rounds around the castle.
OoO
"Hey 'Feegi," Ruwalk raised his hand in greeting to the white officer, who barely spared him a glance before turning back to frowning at the desk.
"What's wrong?" Ruwalk asked, leaning against the chair.
Alfeegi sighed, "Ruwalk... I'm starting to get worried. I'm afraid that Rune... I think that Rune's being controlled by a demon."
"What?" Ruwalk stared at Alfeegi's grim face, "Are you serious?"
"When am I not?" the secretary asked bitterly.
"Good point, but what makes you say that?"
"Rune, who can't even get out of bed alone, much less walk around the castle, nonetheless appears in the chambers below and then in the library, and doesn't have any recollections of how he got there and what he was doing. And Kaistern's memory loss simply seems to convenient, doesn't it?"
Ruwalk glared at the ground, "I hate it when you're right, but what are we supposed to do about it?"
"I don't know... keep a closer eye on Rune?" Alfeegi put his head on his arms, "I don't want anything bad to happen..."
"None of us do," Ruwalk assured him, leaning onto Alfeegi and pressing himself closer.
"But what is something does happen?" Alfeegi whispered.
"Nothing will."
Alfeegi looked dubious and for some reason, Ruwalk felt alarmed that he was so depressed over it.
"It'll be alright," Ruwalk said firmly, but for once, Alfeegi's expression did not lighten and the doubt in his eyes only seemed to increase.
OoO
Kaistern walked around aimlessly throughout the halls. He'd been doing that a lot lately, mostly as an attempt to jolt back his memories, and not at all to see if he could run inadvertently into Alfeegi.
Walking into the moonlit gardens, he trekked through the bushes of geraniums, lost in the multitude and finally emerged from the bushes, stumbling onto a hidden corner. He saw two figures on the ground, one sitting up against the wall, then other laying on the ground, head pillowed on the first figure's lap.
"Hey Kaistern..." Cesia said, smiling as she looked up from the sleeping knight on her lap. Rath stirred slightly, squeezing Cesia's hand. Kaistern reeled for a moment, feeling the situation was so familiar...
His head throbbed, but suddenly he remembered. It was he in Cesia's place, fire knight slumbering peacefully on his lap. And it had been Rune who'd stumbled upon them. He remembered part of the conversation... Rune, was he the elf? Yes, the one who was sick at the moment. He'd asked if Rath told him everything, on the grounds that they were best friends. And Kaistern had responded that they weren't best friends. That Rath in truth didn't hold the same affections that everyone in the Dragon Tribe held for him. That the only reason the proud, stubborn knight even acted like he liked him was because of a promise. The only reason.
Kaistern's eyes glazed as he was swept into thought. So he and Rath... acted like best friends. Although, Kaistern knew that that memory had been from a long time ago. Because it seemed to him that the fire knight did care for him, or at least wasn't pretending with the best friend ideals. His face had been truly hurt when he'd told him that he didn't recognize him, when he'd first woken up. But what promise had they made? And did Rath really tell him everything?
The blue officer shook his head. Well, he'd gotten part of his wish, he was beginning to regain his memories.
"Is something wrong?" Cesia inquired, sounding a bit miffed, which gave Kaistern the idea that she'd asked more than once.
"No. I just remembered something."
"You mean as in got back your memory?" she asked curiously.
"No, just one scene, nothing else," he tried to steer the subject, not sure if he wanted to tell her, "How's he doing. I think the... earth knight told me he'd been acting odd."
Cesia looked at Rath's tranquil face tenderly, "Yes well, he's been a bit sickly for the last couple weeks or so. But this is the first night he's fallen asleep first. And so peacefully. I've been to his room in the middle of the night, and he's always tossing and turning, and has a fever, but tonight it's much better."
Kaistern smiled, "You two are really in love. That's all I can say, since I don't... remember you, and so I don't know you," he stood up, "Well, I'm going to bed, I don't feel like staying up any longer. Do you need help...?"
Cesia blushed, "I guess I didn't think about that. I'd appreciate it if you helped me get him to his room."
"No problem," the blue officer knelt and picked up the light figure of the fire knight, hoisting him up, "Let's go."
"You know, I really hope you get back your memories. I think it was big shock to him... you were his teacher and best friend. He misses you a lot. I think that' s part of his problems lately. He always gets a bit... edgy when you're gone for too long. And now you're here but it's worse than when you're not."
Kaistern didn't know how to respond. How was he supposed to respond?
They finally reached Rath's room, and Kaistern dropped him into his bed, watching as Cesia pulled back the covers and lovingly tucked him in, kissing his forehead. As she turned to walk out she looked at him.
"What are you doing here still?" she blushed.
He shrugged, "Keeping myself amused. I'm bored out of my mind in this castle."
"You sound like Lord Lykouleon."
"Really?" he stroked his chin, "Maybe I should get together and we should blow this joint."
"He already does that. And if you do, Alfeegi'll kill you," she pointed out.
"He's that much of a brownnoser?"
"Yup."
-
Okay yeah, there's the end of this chapter. The next chapter won't be a filler, so you'll get real action in the next one. Anyway, i hope you like! Bye, cya next update. Okay that soudned SO lame. On and HAPPY FATHERS DAY!