Anyway... this is the prologue to the final couple chapters. The big finale! Have it all planned out. Hoping to make it really emotional and everything'll be explained! Yay for explanations. And there'll be plenty of Ruwalk/Alfeegi and a new pairing. Try to guess who.
Anway... hope you like; here you go.
Possessed by a Memory: Chapter 15: Prologue to Finale-
Two full days had passed, and it was almost impossible to keep a strict watch on Kaistern. Rune was easy, as he still hadn't woken up from his last strange excursion. Kaistern on the other hand, had caught on quickly that there was always someone tagging along behind him. He wasn't sure why, but in response, he was going deeper into the castle, farther into the grounds, and keeping in his room more often. It was only a matter of time before he finally questioned something.
Probably the only thing that was keeping him from that was that Alfeegi was assigned to watch him most of the time and Kaistern didn't mind that at all. Ruwalk did, though.
"So you actually like filing all this junk?" Kaistern mused, flinging one of the papers in Alfeegi's direction, where he was filing away despondently.
"It's my job," Alfeegi blinked, temporarily broken from his sullenness.
"But do you like it?" the bleach blond officer pressed.
"Heck no..." Alfeegi snorted dully.
"Then why do you do it?"
"Like I said, it's my job," the smaller secretary said, exasperated. Kaistern was getting on his nerves with all his talking. He was not in a mood to talk. He would much rather be with Ruwalk, although he could just as much of a pain.
Silence followed for a couple minutes, neither of them wanting to speak. The first one to break it of course, was Kaistern.
"Why is everyone pretty much stalking me?"
Alfeegi did not like bluntness, he decided. But if Kaistern had to be blunt, then he might as well be too.
"Because we're worries Nadil's army is plotting something and you and Rune are our biggest targets," Being blunt didn't mean being completely truthful however.
"And what are they gonna do? Come into the castle and whisk me away?" Kaistern scoffed, clearly mad.
Alfeegi decided not to tell him that that was physically impossible what with the Lord's barrier and all, "Possibly. You never know."
"And you failed to tell me that I was in danger why?" the blue officer glared at Alfeegi.
He in turn, was beginning to regret the whole conversation. And he wasn't in a mood to humor anything. He wished he could tell Kaistern the truth, but that just wasn't possible. A cloud passed over his troubled face. These past week he'd been worried. About everything. He knew the others had noticed it, and it had shown itself the worst that morning at breakfast when he'd yelled out his cruel remark. Ruwalk had tried to comfort him, and for his sake, he'd pretended it'd worked. It hadn't. In fact, it'd only made things worse to see how Ruwalk was trying to tell him it was alright, when he knew it was a lie.
Rune was dying, and they had no idea why. He still couldn't get the imagine of his face when he'd found him in the basement below in front of Nadil's head's room. There was just something so odd about it, the memory made chills run down Alfeegi's back. Kaistern hadn't recovered his memory, and they all yearned for the old Kaistern back. They were in danger of being possessed, and all the others could do was watch, since they couldn't voluntarily fight Rune or Kaistern. And if they really were possessed, could Rune and Kaistern kill them all? Was Nadil's head in danger of being retrieved to revive the fallen demon Lord? Alfeegi had tried researching ways to break possession, but as they had no idea how it was being employed, then they had to way to figure a counter spell. Rath wasn't acting his usual self either, Ruwalk was getting ticked at Kaistern, who despite knowing Alfeegi and Ruwalk were together, insisted on flirting with him. The secretary bit his lip. Everything was going askew.
What if they all died, Nadil was revived and then he took over Dusis? Yeah, that was the worst case scenario.
"Well? You didn't think to explain to me that I was in danger?" Kaistern all but spit out. Had it been anyone but Alfeegi he would had been holding a fist over their heads.
"Stop! I can't tell you!" the white officer all but screamed, despair flitting restlessly, chokingly, in his distressed face. Alfeegi sank to the ground, hugging his knees closer and lowering his head on them.
"F-Find Ruwalk and- and tell him I need him," he whispered, his voice quavering.
OoO
"Finish your breakfast," Cesia instructed, pushing the half-eaten sandwich back into Rath's hand.
The red-haired knight sighed and settled himself deeper in her hold. She wrapped her slender arms around his body from behind and leaned her head forward to rest on his shoulder. He in turn, leaned back and took a bite out of his sandwich.
"Why isn't he waking up...?" Rath muttered absently. Cesia felt his grip on her arm tighten and nuzzled his neck in an attempt to comfort him. He stood up abruptly and walked over to where the still unconscious elf slept. He brought his hand up to the silver that lay across the elf's breast-bone. His hand came within an inch of it before it crackled and fizzed, and Rath jerked his hand back, cursing loudly.
"I can't even touch it anymore!" he hissed, "It's this necklace, I'm sure of it. But Rune loves it, and I can't even touch it..." his head hung, "It's my fault. If- If I had finished off that demon as soon as I could, then Rune wouldn't have had to fight the demon, and he wouldn't have gotten the necklace, and he wouldn't have had to watch Tintlet die and then–" a soft sob tore through his throat, "He wouldn't have gotten sick! Now I can't even take it off. Everything's always my fault. If I hadn't been created, if I hadn't destroyed all those people, I wouldn't have killed Rune's family and then he'd still be home, happy, with Tintlet," a small crystalline drop landed softly on the bed.
"Rath!" Cesia shook him harshly and swerved his around, "It's not your fault. Cut the crap, all you said were what if's. What if's aren't reality, there's nothing you can do about it except live with it and just try to go on. Why can't you see that? And what would a necklace have to do with it?"
Rath seemed to snap out of his self centered state, "What do you mean what does the necklace have to do with it? That stupid thing's sending out all this weird energy and vibes. You mean you can't feel it?"
Cesia frowned, and then stepped next to Rath to examine the pendant, "It looks normal to me. I can't feel anything different. And I'm a fortune teller, I should know."
"Then why can't I touch it?" he insisted.
"It could be enchanted so that demons can't – wait I'm a demon... Well I don't know. You've always been weird. But if it was something serious or dangerous, I'd be able to sense it."
"Maybe you're right..." he said after a moment, 'But I don't think so,' he thought sullenly.
Cesia sighed, as if dealing with a small child, and instead turned her attention to Rune, wiping his sweating face and placing a fresh cool cloth of his forehead. The fever was still the same, it hadn't lessened or increased, and the strain of the many fever ridden days was showing of the water knight's flushed, pale face, his body tense. He's stopped thrashing so much a while ago, too weak now to do even that. But the blonde elf's fevered mind still plagued him with haunting nightmares and twisted visions of reality in his dreams, as obvious by his repeated whimpers and cries.
"He's always been the most delicate one of us. I was the most unhealthy, so it's not fair to say that he was weak... maybe in physical strength, but not in character. Thatz and I always worried about him on our missions, though we kept it hidden cause he would have gotten mad at us and tried to prove us wrong... I think...well,that sounds more like myself," the knight sighed, "We always tried to give him his space, since we knew he could take care of himself, but we always worried he'd get hurt. I think he began to notice, because there was a time in which we were fighting a youkai and Thatz stepped in front of Rune and... he just smiled. And then there was the time in which we were trying to rescue you from Nadil, and we had to find the demon Sabel... he really didn't like Thatz's idea to collect dead human bodies. Made him sick to his stomach. I mean..." he struggled to explain what he was trying so hard to voice, "It's not that he was weak, it's that he was delicate. Physically. We knew that mentally or whatever, he was strong. He never talks about his faerie life. I don't know if because it's so painful he just keeps it inside, or if he's really gotten over it, but in any case... he's always so cheerful, and sweet and gentle, even when berating us," he laughed bitterly, "Thatz and I were maybe a little too overprotective, but looks like it didn't help where it really mattered," Rath sighed, running a hand through his hair, "Maybe it's his faerie elf blood that makes him like that. So gentle natured and reluctant to fight. We've pushed his past his natural way of being.
"There was a night... we were on another mission of course, and we'd been sent to hear about some strange things that were happening in the village. As it turned out, thanks to a curse that was set, there were some villagers being turned into youkai. Rune had been all for trying to find a way to save them...
Flashback-
"They're what?" Thatz sputtered, spilling his drink all over his shirt.
"They're being turned into youkai. I don't know how, according to some guy, it's a curse some freak cast, and then random people begin turning into youkai," responded Rath, fiddling with a stick at the edge of the campfire. The warm night didn't decree a fire, but the many bugs buzzing around the glowing campsite did. The three of them were sitting around fire on their sleeping bags. Rath sat on his haunches, throwing twigs and such into the fire and watching them spark and burn. Thatz was laying down, propped up on an elbow, and Rune sat cross-legged in between the two other knights.
"H-how do we turn them back?" Rune asked nervously. Rath shrugged.
"You can't. We gotta kill them. They're youkai now."
Rune swallowed, clearly not pleased with the idea. Thatz put his elbow on his shoulder, "Don't worry, like he said, they're youkai now," he turned to Rath, blinking in the light, "Uhuh, so killing the youkai gets rid of them, but not of the curse. How do we do that?"
"Kill the spell-caster," Rath said happily, pleased with the idea of hunting down a large number of demons. Another twig fell into the fire and he shied away from the resulting sparks.
"Alright, yeah yeah, as Kaistern once said, this is sheer ecstasy for you, but for us, I wanna get a good night's sleep before we start tomorrow, so good night."
Without further ado, Thatz dropped off to sleep, turning his back to the campfire in the warm blankets. Thatz got cold easily, so when it was cold, he'd sleep in the middle, between Rath and Rune. When Rath was in a happy mood or, pouting, asked for it, he slept in the middle. But when the area was dangerous, it was Rune who slept in the middle, at the careful manipulation of the other two knights. Tonight, it didn't really matter, since there was no cold or danger, and it ended up being Rune in the middle, Thatz to his left and Rath on the other side.
Rune sighed, settling next to Thatz, pressing against his back. Rath eyed him thoughtfully for a moment. Rune gave a questioning look to his stare and the crimson haired youkai just shook his head and laid next to Rune, wrapping his arms tightly around him. Rune felt himself relax completely at Thatz back next to him and Rath's arms around him.
"G'nite Rune..." Rath mumbled snuggling closer.
"Good night Rath... 'night Thatz," he added, even though he knew the already sleeping knight wouldn't hear him.
"'Nite guys..." Thatz mumbled. Both Rath and Rune raised their eyebrows, surprised. Maybe he didn't fall asleep as easily as they thought...
OoO
"Morning!"
Rune jumped as he opened his sky blue eyes to a lake of red. Rath's eyes in other words.
"What are you doing up so early?" he chided, rubbing his eyes in an attempt to recover wakefulness.
"We get to go demon hunting today! I was sharpening my sword. It was getting dull," he explained.
"That thing's never dull. Not with how often you sharpen it..." Thatz muttered, yawning largely as he struggled up.
"I know!"
Rune shook his head, "Whatever. Let's eat and then we can finish this mission and get back to the castle," he looked to the west, "This place is way to close to home for comfort..." he muttered the last part.
"What was that?" Thatz asked, sipping the cup of milk Rath handed both of them.
"Nothing!" the blonde haired knight held his hands up.
"I got... bacon and eggs!" Rath said happily, handing both of them their plates. The two knights stared first at the food, then at Rath's expectant face.
"Are you sure this is bacon and eggs?" Rune asked.
"Looks like the pig was diseased. And the eggs were scrambled before they were cooked..."
"You don't like it?" Rath pouted, his lips trembling.
"Um..." Rune and Thatz looked at each other, "It's not that we don't like it, it's just that um..."
"You don't love me! Cause if you loved me, then you'd eat it!" Rath wailed.
"No! We love you!" Thatz began.
"We'll eat it!" Rune finished.
Rath smiled so sweetly it was evil, "Aw, I knew you loved me. You better eat it all then!"
Rune and Thatz gulped. Slowly, they dipped their forks into the mass of gray, black and brown that was their food.
OoO
"I don't feel so good..." Thatz muttered. Rune nodded, a hand over his mouth.
"Wow, you guys ate it all..." Rath said wonderingly, blinking his eyes at them.
"And paid a good price too..." Thatz moaned. Rune still hadn't said anything, hand still firmly clamped over his mouth.
"Let's go!" the red-haired knights sprang up, holding his sword above him.
"I think I'm gonna puke..." Rune groaned as he keeled over.
"Aw c'mon, it was just burnt a little bit..." Rath pouted.
"A little bit?" Rune looked up.
"Um, ok, a lot, but still, it was food, so you had no choice but to eat it."
"I just figured out how to kill Nadil if he's ever resurrected: Make Rath his personal chef," Thatz smirked, still slightly green.
"That's mean..."
"Yeah," Rune agreed but the look he gave Thatz said otherwise.
"Anyway, we got demons to kill, c'mon!" said Rath, bounding ahead, Thatz and Rune following at a much slower pace.
OoO
"This place is creepy..." Rune whispered as they walked upon the village.
"No kidding, where's everyone?" Thatz looked around. Indeed, the village lay abandoned, open doors creaking in the wind, clothes left hanging to dry hardening, children's toys laying on the ground.
"Do you think they moved out of the village?" the elf asked.
"Does it look like they packed up and left?" Thatz scoffed, "It looks like the forgot the packing part then."
"Or maybe they all got turned into youkai," Rath said finally, "It doesn't look like there was a struggle. I mean, there's no bodies, not even any blood. So I don't think the few who were still humans got killed..."
All three knights frowned. There was something odd in the air. The feeling that things weren't quite as they seemed. Rune stiffened.
"No... I can feel death..." he whispered. Rath looked at Rune then closed his eyes for a moment.
"You're right."
"Well, let's look around. Maybe we can find something. I do not want to stand around creepy death town," the earth knight walked forward, whistling merrily.
"Could you stop whistling?" Rune finally asked, shivering slightly though there was no wind.
"Why? I thought it'd cheer you up," nonetheless, he stopped.
Rath suddenly looked up, a serious look in his face, and his stance changed from that of simply looking around to one of a hunter.
"There's something here. I can smell the blood. Behind these trees," he said, motioning them to come on.
"Are you sure?" Rune gulped.
"Duh."
They walked forward into the creeping mass of trees and plants, dodging thorny bushes and great oak trees steadily, their senses warning them of something gruesome waiting for them at the end of the trail. They kneeled before a group of trees, hearing the youkai moving around ahead of them, but not being able to see past the shrubbery.
"Shh..." Rath put his finger up to his lip, silencing them, not that they were talking anyway, "On the count of three, we jump in and just begin killing all these youkai."
"Without even looking around?" Thatz sweatdropped.
"Doesn't make a difference," Rath shrugged.
"Whatever, let's get it over with," Rune clamped their mouths shut.
"Alright, one..." their hands poised, readying for the fight, "Two... with any luck this'll be over quick..." they tensed, "And THREE!"
They ambushed into the youkai's campground and then just stood shocked. The whole campground was loitered by carcasses. Human carcasses, left to rot and infested with flies and maggots. Rath stood, unfazed but slightly grossed out, Thatz averted his eyes from the mess, his face paling.
"I'm gonna be sick," Rune mumbled.
"I already got over Rath's breakfast," Thatz said, trying to lighten the mood.
"No, really," the blonde knight muttered shortly before doubling over and emptying his breakfast on the ground. Rath and Thatz respectfully turned their heads away, Rath already searching for the demons.
"They're up ahead. You feeling up to it, Rune?" he asked, looking as Rune wiped his mouth with a sleeve.
"...Yeah..." he said, his face still green.
"Alright, demon hunting time!"
By now, the youkai had already heard them and were coming over to dispose of the intruders, ambling like zombies on unusable legs. They looked completely humans, except for now their skins were different colors, and their eyes no longer possessed a shred of humanity but a wild urge to kill and destroy. Short horns grew from their heads and many of them had extra limbs and claws as well as fangs. But the resemblance to the humans they had once been was astonishing.
"They- they look human!" Rune cried out, faltering in his charge.
"Human? C'mon, they got claws and fangs and four arms and who knows what else," Rath snorted, slicing through them like wire through clay. Thatz too began to attack, stabbing two of them at once. But Rune stood behind them, trembling slightly as he raised his sword in an attempt to attack, his face frightened. Shaking his head, he lowered his sword.
"I can't do it. I'm not meant to kill. I can do demons easy enough, but I can't kill something that looks so human. I'm not meant to! I'm a faerie, I'm supposed to heal, not kill!"
Thatz and Rath stopped and turned to look at Rune for a moment. Then Thatz smirked and Rath raised his hand.
"Hey, no prob, more demon butt-kicking for me!"
"They're easy, you can sit this one out."
Rune hesitated. He didn't want to be useless and let them have to do all the work, but he knew he wouldn't be able to raise his sword against those youkai.
Fire suddenly shot out from behind the trees, hitting Rath and Thatz, who fell back with a thud. Out of the trees crawled out a beast, salamander like in appearance, grotesque.
"What the hell is that?" Thatz blinked.
"I don't know. Maybe a disgruntled demon?"
"Whatever it is, it's attacking us."
Rune saw his chance, "I'll take care of this one, you guys can keep on with the others."
"Oh, okay."
Rath and Thatz stood, continuing their mission. Rune ran towards the salamander demon, calling Water out. With Water wrapped around his sword, he jumped up, then swerved around in the air, coming down and forcefully stabbing the demon on its back.
Rune sighed and turned around, stepping down from the salamander's back. One of the formerly human youkai charged towards Rune and he dodged, reluctant to use his sword. In one clean swoop, the youkai was dead at a grinning Rath's feet, sword dripping blood.
"Almost done here. Just a couple more. Seems like it was a large village–"
One of the youkai suddenly appeared behind Rath, claws aiming to rip off his head.
"Rath, behind!" Rune yelled, but it was too late to dodge. With a sickening swoop, a head rolled on the floor, eyes open. Rune sank to the ground, staring at the head and the now headless body, sword clattering to the floor, soaked in blood.
"Rath!" Thatz ran over, "Rune, you all right?"
Rune's gaze traveled to the sword in his hands, the one soaked in blood. He looked at Thatz and then at Rath, who stood with his mouth open.
"I- I killed him..." his hands trembled and he let go of the sword as in disgust.
"Yeah, but that thing almost had me! If you hadn't killed it then I would be dead," Rath defended.
Rune nodded, taking Thatz's helping hand as he hoisted him up and picked his sword back up.
OoO
"Sorry I didn't help you guys..." Rune rubbed his arm as he looked down. They were walking back to their campsite, glad to leave the reeking battle site.
"No sweat," Thatz waved it off then paused, "You were right though. We should be sorry for making you fight all the time."
Rath nodded as well. Rune wanted to say it wasn't true, that he didn't mind it at all, but he knew that'd be lying. Though he'd gotten used to fighting and killing demons, it's not like he enjoyed it. It was his duty. He hated doing it.
"It's just that... I simply couldn't kill something that looked so human..." he mumbled.
"We know. It's not your fault, and nobody blames you for it. I guess... it's gotta be hard," Thatz smiled reassuringly at Rune.
"Since you weren't made to kill, unlike me," Rath put in. Rune glanced at him worriedly for a second.
"Well, it's not like we kill humans, so I guess it's ok..." he sighed. Rath and Thatz looked at each other and each put an arm around Rune. He looked up, surprised, then smiled, "Thanks a lot guys."
"Don't mention it."
Cesia listened to Rath's story, sitting next to him and pulling him to her. Ironically, whenever she saw Kitchel and Thatz, it was always Kitchel in Thatz's arms, but with her and Rath, it seemed Rath liked being held by Cesia more than Cesia liked being held by Rath. She found it amusing. Or maybe it was because Rath needed more comfort than her. She sighed lightly.
"Rath, you are so messed up. You're always blaming yourself and going all introspective and weird about things you have no power over anyway. You have to stop thinking so much, I swear," she hugged the unsuspecting knight and kissed him on the forehead, moving down to the tip of his nose, and finally kissed him softly on the lips. He sighed contentedly, holding her face close, licking her lips sensually.
"That was odd, first you scold me, then you kiss me," he smirked as she broke apart, smiling lightly.
"So? Don't tell me you'd rather just get scolded?"
"Hell no."
OoO
"A little to the left... I've almost got it! Just a little higher, Ruwalk!"
"What are you two doing?"
Both Ruwalk and Lykouleon jumped at the sound of Tetheus' bemused voice, making Lykouleon almost fall from his standing position on Ruwalk's shoulders.
"Ah, well, see, we're trying to get this paper that got blown by the wind into this tree..." Ruwalk smiled impudently.
"Ruwalk! I'm gonna fall if you don't stay still!" Lykouleon yelped, hands flailing to grasp the white sheet perched in the green mass of leaves above him.
Tetheus just stared at them, opting to watch the spectacle without further comment.
"Aren't you gonna offer some help?" Ruwalk managed to say, breathless.
"No, I think I'll just watch. You see to have everything under complete control," the black officer smiled wryly.
"Good-for-nothing-secretary-of-'security'..."
Tetheus' smirk grew wider.
"Ruwalk!" Only Tetheus turned his head in acknowledgement to the blue officer running down the courtyard steps.
"Hey, Kaistern," Lykouleon mumbled distractedly, Ruwalk only giving a slight grunt of a greeting, under the excuse of the effort of keeping Lykouleon on his shoulders.
Kaistern sighed harshly, and if grudging to say what he was about to, "Alfeegi needs you."
"Great, tell him I'll be there in a sec."
Kaistern sighed impatiently, "He told me 'Find Ruwalk and tell him I need him.' There's something wrong with him."
"What?" Ruwalk's attention was no longer on the tottering Lord above him.
"He's having like an emotional breakdown..." the blue officer said reluctantly.
"I got it!" Lykouleon yelped as Ruwalk dashed out from under him, flying into the castle, unaware of the Lord he'd left unceremoniously dumped on the ground. Kaistern rolled his eyes and went after Ruwalk.
Tetheus bent down to help Lykouleon to his feet.
"Well, at least you got the paper," he offered as consolation of his slightly wounded pride at such a fall.
"Has it just been me, or has Alfeegi been acting strange lately?" Lykouleon frowned, dusting himself off, "Raseleane has too..." he added quietly.
"He's been overly depressed. He's never been good at looking at the bright side when things get bad."
"And working so much gives him too much time to think," the blond haired lord said sadly.
"Ruwalk will cheer him up."
"Let's hope so."
OoO
"What happened?" Ruwalk yelled back to Kaistern as he sped through the slippery stone hallways.
"Well, I friggin' asked why everyone was stalking me," light lemon eyes glared, "and then he got all moody and..." he paused, at a loss for words, "I don't know what's wrong with him."
Ruwalk cursed loudly, flying into the room where Alfeegi still hadn't moved a muscle but burst into tears as soon as he saw the yellow officer rush in. Kaistern stood to one said, watching the scene with jealousy. He wondered how he'd react if he had his memory.
"Feegi, baby, what's wrong?" Ruwalk gathered the small trembling body into his arms, rocking him gently.
"I'm scared..." Alfeegi choked out on his tears, hugging Ruwalk so tightly he had to ease the grip looser to breathe again.
"There's nothing to be scared about. You're overreacting," he whispered softly and firmly into Alfeegi's ears. He hiccupped amidst his sobs, clutching Ruwalk's shoulders tighter as he buried himself deeper into Ruwalk's warm chest. The yellow officer stroked Alfeegi's face with one hand, kneading his back slowly with the other, meanwhile nuzzling his head against the aquamarine hair as he held him close. Alfeegi just sat there crying, and Ruwalk let him until the sobs subsided.
"Alfeegi, look at me," the said secretary reluctantly lifted red-tinged eyes filled with sorrow and insecurity to meet with heart-broken ones at seeing his loved one like this.
"B-But, Rune's dying, and Kaistern can't remember anything and he's different, and you're mad at him, and Rune and Kaistern are both–" his gaze flickered towards where they grudging blue officer stood, showing his emotional distress wasn't interfering with his reason, "are both in danger, and if the youkai attack, we'll all- die!" the last word was a terrified whisper, that of a prayer in the dark when you know your end is near, before the fragile aquamarine-haired secretary burst into tears anew.
"Rune's fine, Kaistern's little amnesia'll go away and he'll be back to normal, and nobody is going to die," Ruwalk said decisively, trying to put as much confidence in his voice as he could. He pressed his forehead to Alfeegi's supporting his light body securely. Though his though his tears trickled down from a river to a few sparing droplets, his body didn't stop shaking.
"Are you better now?" Ruwalk lifted Alfeegi's head by his chin, taking in the red-brimmed eyes, flushed face and tenderly touched the tip of his red nose.
The white officer didn't meet his eyes when he said, "Yeah..."
Ruwalk frowned, "Then why are you still crying?" he caught a stray tear from Alfeegi's face, kissing the spot lightly.
"I'm not..." he muttered. Ruwalk's frown deepened, nonetheless, he let Alfeegi have his way and let him put his head back down on his shoulder. The brunette secretary trying to reassure the hazel-eyed secretary, rocking back and forth, massaging his back and murmuring reassurances until at last he felt Alfeegi's grip relax. Strong hands tilted the sea-framed face towards his and saw that his eyes were closed, his body limp against his own, though cold, and still quivering.
"Well, you worked wonders on him considering the state he was in," Kaistern remarked shortly. Ruwalk nodded and gently lifted the light form into a carrying position, trying to avoid at all costs to wake up the sleeping secretary.
"I'll be going back to my room so you know and don't have to follow me. Don't feel like being stalked. Or watched like a five-year-old," Kaistern said gratingly, turning heel and walking off.
Ruwalk paid him no heed, caressing Alfeegi's face gently, "Lord, Alfeegi, then you say I'm a handful..." he smiled hesitantly.
But then he sighed heavily. Usually he could cheer up Alfeegi no matter want, but lately... it seemed as if Alfeegi's depression was rendering even Ruwalk useless. Kicking open the door quietly to the study next door, he laid Alfeegi down on the couch. Maybe if he'd kissed him... the tallow officer bent down to kiss the white officer's lips. Alfeegi sighed lightly but turned his head away.
Feeling hurt, then stupid for feeling hurt of a subconscious movement, but still hurt nonetheless, Ruwalk tugged the blanket on the couch over Alfeegi and turned away, taking one last look at the sleeping secretary.
OoO
Kaistern slammed the door to his room after giving a long glare at the guard in the hallway in front of his room. No doubt that was how someone always knew when he left his room.
Plopping down on the bed, he let the last of his anger trickle away to brooding and set his mind of a way to show the off. They were crazy if they thought they could keep an eye on him at all times, his rebellious mind thought. He scanned the room, surely there was a way to get out of here.
He obviously couldn't get out the door, what with the guard there and everything. So that left the window. He dashed to the balcony.
It was at least four stories up from the ground. He swallowed. But leaning over, he noticed that there was another balcony below his, and one below that... the first floor lacked one, so he'd have to jump down from the second story... He measured the distances visually before leaning back and stroking his chin.
He could easily jump the balconies. But he couldn't just throw himself from the second story without expecting some sort of injury... if he had a rope. He looked around his room. Maybe he could make rope. With what though?
Blankets! He thought. Yeah, he could tie a couple of blankets together and attack them to the second floor balcony and then just slide down.
The idea seemed stupidly familiar. Maybe he'd done something like that when he was little and he couldn't remember. Setting to work at making the 12-foot rope he was sure he'd need for the last drop. What was left was a raided room, bed closets and cabinets upturned.
Gathering his bundle of cloths under his arm, he went to the balcony and dropped so that he was hanging off the edge by his fingers a couple feet above the balcony below.
"I cannot believe I'm doing this... lucky I'm covered by all these trees..."
Repeating the tricky maneuver once more, he was now looking down about ten feet down to the ground. He tied the rope securely to the corner of the cement balcony and somehow began to lower himself slowly down the makeshift rope.
Letting go, the blue officer landed with a hard thump on the hard ground.
"Shoot..." he muttered, getting up and rubbing his butt sorely.
"Not doing that again..." he grinned despite himself. He was now free. Well, until they either caught him by either seeing he wasn't in his room or someone saw him walking around.
"I should blow this place and just leave I don't care if I'm an officer and this is my home, but I don't think I'm gonna regain my memory anytime soon and until then, this is not my home. Heck, how can I have a family if I don't remember them? Might as well live somewhere else till that stupid memory decides to show up," he continued his monologue for a while, just weaving between the trees, heading towards the castle gates.
OoO
Lykouleon bit his lip, "You sure it's necessary?"
"No, but it's a wise precaution," Tetheus answered, following his gaze up the dark, gargantuan door that was the first of five door guarding the much coveted head of the fallen demon Lord, Nadil.
"Shouldn't we get the help of the other officers?" Still Lykouleon hesitated.
"Ruwalk is with Alfeegi, and personally, I think Alfeegi needs him more than we do at the moment."
Lykouleon nodded, "Well, I guess."
"Your Highness, with all respect, what are you so afraid of?"
"This spell would kill anyone that tries to enter if they're not strong enough. The reason we never applied it was because we often had to check on the head and it was too much of a hassle to remove and apply. And it was too dangerous..."
"And we're doing it to keep the head safe from either Rune or Kaistern, so if either of them actually try to take it, then they would die."
"You didn't have to actually say it out loud."
"Pardon me."
Lykouleon shook his head, "Let's do it..."
OoO
Tetheus saw Delte and paused, smiling slightly. He and Lykouleon had finished their enhancement of the doors' security.
"Hello, Delte," he called out, startling the sunset haired fortune-teller from gazing out the hallway balconies. She smiled and walked over.
"Hi, Tetheus. How are you?" she asked in her soft-spoken voice.
"You're a fortune-teller, shouldn't you know?" he teased, though from you wouldn't know it from how serious his face was. The only thing that gave it away was the barest hint of a smile on his otherwise stoic face.
"I don't really like fortune-telling, I mean, how many times have I given you a good fortune?" she said, meaning it to be a light joke but the bitterness slipped out nonetheless.
"Better to be forewarned of the bad and surprised of the good than vice-versa," he said gently, squeezing her arm lightly. She blinked.
"I never thought of it that way... thanks!" she smiled broadly, and Tetheus felt somewhat breathless, a mixed result of gladness at being able to ease her bitterness and the beauty of her smile.
"You should smile more often," he told her and was rewarded again with a blush.
"Um, thank you... do you mid if I walk with you?"
"Of course not."
It was silent for a while, but soon they started to talk, just light conversation. Walking past Rune's room, she sighed.
"Did you know that Tintlet, the princess, was one of my best friends?" she asked suddenly.
"No, I didn't," he said.
"I'm surprised that Rune doesn't remember me. I remember him... you'd think we'd talk more often considering we're one of the very few elves left."
"What was... Tintlet's relationship with Rune?" the black officer asked confusedly.
"Oh, she was his girlfriend."
Tetheus raised an eyebrow, surprised, "Well, that's good news for Alfeegi. If Rune can get a girlfriend, I'm sure he can too."
"What's that mean?" Delte's cocked head and blinking almost made Tetheus smile again.
"Well, I've heard some of the officers... and knights, used to refer to Rune as a little Alfeegi clone. I think they still do..."
Delte giggled, "That's funny. He used to be much gentler, I'd never heard him raise his voice so loudly until I came here. I mean, he's always been a bit intolerant of misbehaving..."
"I think Rath and Thatz go much past the limits of misbehaving. It's all their fault," Tetheus said.
"I think the reason Rune and I don't really talk that much is because both of us don't want to remember our old life. It was wonderful, but then we have to remember losing it as well, and that's something the both of us aren't ready for."
"Someday you'll be ready," he told her.
She looked at him for a moment before smiling softly, "You're really great to talk to..."
He just smiled in reply.
OoO
"Hi Cesia, hi Rath," they both looked up at the raven-haired little boy at the doorway.
"Hi Zoma," Cesia greeted him warmly. Rath high-fived him and then bumped fists.
"Hey squirt," he grinned. Zoma stuck out his tongue.
"Not a squirt," he pouted.
"Ok... kid."
"Not kid either."
"Yeah? How about ticklish?" Rath swiped Zoma off the floor and began relentlessly tickling him. Cesia smiled tenderly at the scene, Rath's eyes glinting, all worries forgotten amidst Zoma's screeched and pleas for mercy.
Finally, Rath let go of Zoma, both breathless.
"So what did you need?" Cesia asked.
"Nothing really," he shrugged, "Just wanted to say hello."
"And get tickled to death. I know I'm superior," Rath bragged. Cesia and Zoma rolled their eyes and Rath put on a hurt expression.
"I'm going now," Zoma waved off and left. A couple seconds later , they heard a crash and a squeal.
"Zoma!" Cesia cried immediately, standing up and flying out the door, Rath at her heels.
"I'm all right..." they heard a small voice and rounded the corner to find a table on the ground, along with the small youkai boy, "I accidentally crashed against the table..."
"Are you okay?" Cesia bent down, Rath watching above her head.
"Yeah," he tried to stand up, then fell back, cringing, "I think I hurt my leg."
Rath bent down, "Well, it's not broken, but it might be slightly sprained," he swooped down and threw him on his back, "I'll take you to your room."
"I'll look at your leg. You'll probably need to put some ice on it. Is it your ankle?"
"Uh-uh, it's my knee," Zoma whimpered lightly, rubbing his knee.
"Don't worry, you'll be okay," he grinned at Zoma.
OoO
Down the hall, back in the room the couple had just left, dark blue eyes opened. And outside, just before the castle gates, an officer suddenly turned around and headed back where he'd come from.
did ya like? Are ya interested? Am i hyper? Why yes I am. I went to Six Flags today with my friend Anna. Yes, the strange one. I got stuck on one of the rides cause they were closing the bar, and we'd taken too long to get to the cart thing, and so they had to pause it (this was as we were loading into the seats people,) and Anna and me were stuck outside the little doors that they close to keep a separation between the line and the actual ride, and so they had to open the little doors so her and me could step back into the line, and then the lady called us silly. And then I dropped my coke bottle on the floor of the roller coaster, and it rolled to the front seat, and so I had to ask the guy to give it back... the coke bottle was empty. I still have it. Anyway...It's inspired me to write a DNAngel story based on them going to the amusement park. Fluff with Satoshi and Dai-chan, and comedy with Dark and Krad (they're gonna fall OFF the roller coaster) No stealing ideas plz. Ah whoops, this is Dragon Knights...
Anyway, hoep ya liked, blahblah blah. Byebye. Hate school.