Crimson Twilight: Dusk

Chapter 37: Memories

Kreizen Xalascent's smithy rang with the sounds of metal striking against metal. He was forging again. He pounded the metal vigorously, as if he were able to keep the gloom of Prontera's mounting problems away from his shop with each ringing strike. He wasn't forging alone this time though. "Are you sure you just want to watch me there, Moonlight?" He asked in between each blow.

Kreizen watched Moonlight curiously when she smiled and nodded. He had always known that few non-blacksmiths ever had the patience for forging. The heat was oppressive and the process was both repetitive and time-consuming. Yet this girl insisted on watching him work. He did not mind though having an "audience" though. Some blacksmiths hated onlookers because they couldn't concentrate. He dismissed such reasons as excuses for insecurity and poor performance under pressure. He liked to maintain that true craftsmen could forge their specialties anywhere and anytime if they were provided with the proper materials.

"Do you mind, Mister Kreizen?" Moonlight asked.

Kreizen smiled in return and shook his head. "Not at all! I'm happy to see you're interested in the blacksmith's craft!"

Kreizen smiled again as he saw the girl blush and take as seat near him. He had always thought that young girls looked cute when they blushed. Not that he was used it. Seihanine wasn't they type to let anything show on her face even when they were still kids. 'Not that it's Sei's fault.' He thought. He began to hammer at the long, oridecon shaft. Unlike swords, lances were somewhat simpler to make. With the right wielder and the proper circumstances, a lance dealt more devastating blows than a sword. It took a bit longer to make them, however, as they were larger and heavier than swords and they required more material. His smile lessened as Moonlight's presence reminded him of when he was younger.

"Are you taking any longer, Reiz?" Seihanine asked as she sat impatiently on a box of steel bars while her brother hammered at a piece of oridecon.

Kreizen shook his head disapprovingly at his younger sister. At the age of seventeen, Sei lacked the patience for any exacting job. "You're being too impatient, Sei." He told her. "If I rush my work than I'll leave flaws on this dagger."

Seihanine looked at the pile of cracked daggers beside her brother. "You're still leaving them even if you go slowly, Reiz."

Kreizen shrugged his shoulders sheepishly. "Hey, that's why I'm practicing, right?"

Seihanine let out an impatient sigh, much to her brother's amusement. Kreizen inspected the dagger he was forging. No cracks this time. "Why don't you go see that friend of yours, Sei?" He asked. "Kherlen, right?"

Seihanine twirled a lock of her light blue hair on her fingers. "Kherlen's an idiot, Reiz." She answered. "Just yesterday, we were hunting savages when he started blathering about my hair or something."

Kreizen laughed. He had noticed Kherlen's infatuation from afar. It was a pity that Seihanine was both uninterested and blunt about such matters. "Did you listen?" He asked. "He may be trying to express something!"

Seihanine frowned at her brother's hinting. "I told him to shut up before some savage spotted us." She replied. "He looked shocked at me right before a savage mauled him from behind."

Kreizen raised an eyebrow. "How bad was it?" He asked.

It was Seihanine's turn to shrug her shoulders. "He's badly bound up. It'll take him a week to recover."

Kreizen laughed again. That was probably the third archer his sister had led to some mishap. "Well they'll all probably make good bards or something!" He kept on laughing until he felt the dagger shatter under his hammer.

"Damn!"

Kreizen suddenly laughed at the memory, much to Moonlight's surprise. "Mister Kreizen?" She asked.

Kreizen grinned at the girl as he plunged the oridecon shaft into the fire. He was surprised that even the smallest actions he took had an effect on her. "It's nothing, Moonlight!" He told her. "Just a funny memory."

Moonlight smiled again and leaned on her chair to watch the forging better. Kreizen waited until the shaft started glowing. "You know, Moonlight, you remind me of Sei when she was younger." He said.

Moonlight tilted her head slightly. "You mean Miss Seihanine?" She asked. "I don't think she likes me."

Kreizen shook his head. "It just takes time for Sei to warm up to anyone, that's all." He assured her. "You have to have a blacksmith's patience for these things." He chuckled slightly as he withdrew the lance from the blaze. "Or a wizard's." He added.

More memories came to mind.

"That arrogant, spellcasting bastard!" Seihanine fumed. What did he mean by kobold-like?"

Kreizen laughed at his sister as he pounded a chain into shape. "Well, you did compare his hair to a tuft of grass, Sei." He remarked.

Seihanine twirled a lock of her hair on her fingers and stared at it. "It doesn't look like a kobold's, does it?" She asked him.

Kreizen smiled and looked at his sister. "Of course not, it's certainly more beautiful than a kobold's." He assured her. "Besides, Zein was just joking!"

Seihanine nearly allowed herself to smile. "His hair does look like a tuft of grass sometimes, brother." She said. "I don't understand why he can't take the time to groom it."

Kreizen plunged the chain into the fire. Chains were a bit trickier to forge as he had to keep the links flexible and strong at the same time. "Well, you know these mages, Sei." He said. "They have to have their own styles and all."

Seihanine sat on the box of oridecon bars and watched her brother patiently. "He's different from most of the mages we've met, Reiz." She went on. "He's…weird."

Kreizen laughed again. "You mean interesting don't you, Sei?" He teased her.

Seihanine looked away and Kreize laughed louder. It was rare to see his younger sister blush at anything.

"No I don't, Reiz! Stop putting words in my mouth!"

Kreizen pounded the mixture of star crumbs and a mystic frozen into the lance. Things were different now. From an over-serious archer, Seihanine had become a highly-skilled huntress. Trenzein had improved from a brash mage to a powerful wizard. The improvements weren't all good though. He missed his silly "talks" with his sister. Now, every time Seihanine discussed something with him it was always about something grave. Trenzein was hardly any different. Even though he was generally cheerier than the moody huntress, he also seemed to talk about nothing but problems these days.

"More memories, Mister Kreizen?" Moonlight asked him.

Kreizen nodded. "I always think about these things while I'm forging. It actually helps in keeping my focus." He said.

Moonlight's expression saddened. "I think it's great that you have so many memories, Mister Kreizen." She said.

Kreizen looked at Moonlight in concern. "How about you?" He asked. "Anything?"

Moonlight clutched her head as if she was trying to squeeze a memory out by force. "Nothing." She answered glumly.

Kreizen dipped the lance into the barrel of oil to cool. A bitter smell rose followed by the hissing of sizzling oil. "Don't worry so much, Moonlight." He told her. "I'm sure it'll all come back soon."

Moonlight looked up at Kreizen. "Umm…Mister Kreizen?" She asked.

Kreizen raised an eyebrow. "What is it, Moonlight?"

Moonlight shifted nervously. "If I can't…remember anything…can I…stay with you? As in…always?"

Kreizen smiled cheerfully. "Of course you can! I'll be glad to take care of you, Moonlight!"

Moonlight smiled happily and leaped from her sitting position. Before Kreizen could react, she had hugged him tightly. "Thank you so much, Mister Kreizen!" She exclaimed.

Kreizen held the girl's shoulder with one hand and ruffled her hair with the other. This was a trait Moonlight did not share with Seihanine. His sister wasn't what he would call…affectionate. He didn't mind though, she had other ways of showing that she cared. Not that she had much to smile and laugh about for the past five years especially after the incident with their half-sister, Maiha Il-Xalascent.

Kreizen stared at his half sister in horror. "Maiha!" He cried out. "What have you done?"

The assassin stared at the blacksmith before smiling sweetly. The smile made Kreizen sick as he looked at the dead bodies all around them. "They wanted to have fun, Reiz." She answered. "I wanted to have fun too."

Kreizen's face contorted in fury. "Those are our relatives, Maiha!" He shouted. "How could you butcher them in this fashion?"

The assassin licked some of the blood on her lips. "Quite simple really." She answered. "I poisoned their food and then I gutted them while they were writhing in agony."

Quivering with rage; Kreizen raised his two-handed axe. "You heartless devil! Why did you do this?" He asked her.

Maiha twirled her gladius about and began to cut at her own flesh. "Because they deserved it!" She hissed. "Besides, it felt so good that I would have done it for pleasure alone!"

Kreizen froze briefly in shock. It was Maiha…It was Maiha all along... Before he could react, he heard a strangled cry behind him. He whirled to see who it was.

"Maiha!" Seihanine cried out in a rage.

An arrow whizzed past Kreizen and straight into the Maiha's chest. The wound was not lethal though. The arrow had buried itself high on Maiha's chest; near her shoulder. Seihanine fired another arrow furiously.

Maiha laughed and dodged the shot with ease. "I don't know how you can aim past all those pathetic tears you're shedding, baby sister!" She taunted. "Apparently, reaching huntress status was not enough for you to even hope to…pleasure me."

Seihanine fired more arrows only to miss with all of them. "I'll kill you!" She snarled. "I swear I'll kill you somehow, Maiha!"

Kreizen rushed forward and delivered an overhead slash.

Maiha laughed again and leapt out of an open window. "Good luck then, baby sister! I'll be waiting in Glastheim!"

Seihanine fell to her knees and started sobbing. In one terrible attack, Maiha Il-Xalascent had all but wiped out their clan.

Kreizen's expression became grim even as he held Moonlight, who seemed rather…comfortable in their position in just standing there, embracing him. 'It was all downhill after that.' He thought.

The oridecon-tipped arrow flew true.

Maiha stared at the shaft of wood that had plunged into the middle of her chest. For a moment, she watched the fatal wound in fascination. She then switched her focus to the huntress who fired the arrow. "Why, baby sister…you killed me!" She said softly.

Seihanine was silent as she stared hatefully at her half-sister. Kreizen heard the sound of bones crashing to the ground followed by weird, hollow laughter. The wizard, Trenzein Zaisen, had made good of his promise to defeat the wraiths.

Maiha grabbed the arrow and yanked it out. Blood spurted from the open wound. "Delicious…delicious…delicious…" She began to giggle. Maiha started laughing. It was a sick, horrible laughter of madness. She staggered back and plunged into the chasm behind her. Even as she disappeared from their sight, her laughter continued to echo within the halls of Glastheim.

Kreizen shook his head to clear it of such unpleasant memories. Maiha was dead. There was no need to remember her at all besides...

"Well, this is a bit touching." Someone spoke from the shop's entrance.

Kreizen turned to see who was at his door. He let go of Moonlight quickly. He remembered the last time someone had caught him in a…compromising situation with her. To his surprise, he found himself staring at a blond swordsman.

"Moony!" The doppelganger said cheerily. "So this is where you're hiding out! What are you doing hugging men? Is this a new hobby of yours?"

Moonlight backed away from the swordsman in fright. She did not like the presence he exuded.

Kreizen stood protectively before her. "What do you want from her, doppelganger?" He asked cautiously.

The doppelganger scratched his head in annoyance. "I don't know why you people keep calling me "doppelganger"!" He said. "My name's Joe! Joe Buck, damn it!"

Kreizen grasped his two-handed axe tightly. For some strange reason, the doppelganger was interested with Moonlight. Suddenly, a flash of light enveloped the girl. The doppelganger blinked and put a hand up to cover his eyes. Kreizen closed his eyes momentarily. When the light dissipated, Moonlight was gone.

"Damn it!" The doppelganger cursed. "He got away again! Osiris-I mean Seiros is going to be pissed!"

Kreizen drew his weapon from its harness. "What did you do, doppelganger?" He asked. "And what do you mean "he"?" The doppelganger looked incredulously at him in return.

"You don't know? I suppose that's why you were hugging "her"! Go look for your girlfriend if you want to know!"

The doppelganger left the shop; leaving Kreizen to his thoughts.

'Moonlight…why is she involved in this?'

Moonlight Flower stared at his feminine hand. He still couldn't transform! He could cast a teleportation spell and access most of his powers but he couldn't change forms! What was worse was that the doppelganger and Osiris were hunting him! His only option was to stay with the blacksmith. But the longer he stayed with Kreizen Xalascent, the harder it was to take over the fox maiden.

"I think I'm beginning to understand…you never learn do you, fox maiden?"

The cat-being walked the streets of Prontera once more. Now was the time to take precautions…