Seven Years Later

Bahamut smiled as he felt the rush of wind whip by his face. It was wonderful…a joy that only he, Wyvern, and Phoenix could partake of. But he didn't care. He liked it. The sky was his domain now, and he soared through the blue sky and gazed down with a broad smile at the world below. It was a time for joy and peace, where he was one with the air and free as the butterflies and bees below.

Bahamut was fourteen…at least, by his own calculations. He had declared his official birthday to be when he entered Ultima Nexus. It had been fourteen years since then. He had grown incredibly since he was seven, shooting up in leaps and bounds. When he was "born", he was a mere three feet long. Now he was easily fifteen including his tail, and up on his rear legs he could stand twelve feet tall. He had mastered the ability to fly at last in his tenth year, and now was an expert at it. His strength had increased as well, and he was very powerful indeed. He could break rocks with one pounce if he tried. Wrestling matches, typically, had gotten much more violent. Both he and Wyvern could kick up quite a bit of chaos when they got started, especially if they took their fights to the sky. His brother was even bigger than he was, and both of them were astonishingly impressive sights to behold. Yet, of course, they were not the only ones who had changed.

Odin was finally big enough to lift his own sword. While he was still rather weak with it, and had to hold it with both hands at all times, he was getting progressively stronger all the time now. His hard work was definitely paying off. Of course, why he was doing it was beyond him. Crusader was the only one who knew, her and Odin, and neither of them were saying anything. Odin didn't call it a sword anymore. He called it "Zantetsuken"…whatever that meant.

Leviathan and Ogopogo had both progressed into serpentine monsters. Both of them were huge and easily accomodated their space in their lake. They spent a bit more time on land now that they were more mature, but they were both generally quiet. Ogopogo seemed to mimic everything his brother did, and the other talked little.

Phoenix had matured into a brilliant specimen of esper. She was as glorious and radiant as the sun every time she soared out in the sky. She was dazzling to behold and caught the eye of everyone…but especially the young men. They began to feel an attraction to her…an attraction that they had never experienced before. Bahamut himself knew he felt it slightly, but not nearly so strong as all the others. Even Odin couldn't mask his as best as Bahamut, turning red occasionally when he saw himself staring at Phoenix for too long.

Then there was Starlet. Seeing her today, one could hardly guess she used to be the tomboy of her youth. She constantly was trying to flirt with the boys, especially since she had turned fourteen. When she had been a bit younger, the tables had turned and she had started scaring off boys with kisses. She kept doing so now, but always a bit extra friendly to all the guys. In many ways, she looked to take after Crusader, however. She wanted to be as caring as she was, as considerate and compassionate. She was also the only one who really had everyone's ear. As both sexes matured, boys and girls alike were more open to Starlet, and she really wasn't anyone's enemy or rival.

The only one who hadn't changed was Crusader. She remained the same height and appearance all the time. She left more frequently, and each time for longer periods, but when around she was still as friendly as ever. More mature now, Bahamut called her "mother" instead of "mommy", though Starlet had grown informal enough to call her Crusader almost all the time. That seemed only appropriate. She spent a lot of time with her whenever she could, trying to follow in her footsteps. Inside, Bahamut feared the day was coming when she would be gone and Starlet would take her place. But for now, she was here. They were all here. And they were all happy, as always.

Bahamut flapped his wings a few times and continued to fly. He loved flying. There was nothing like it in all of Ultima Nexus. He felt like he could go up forever and kiss the sky. But for now, he was content with just dwarfing all of the world below. He continued to soar, lazily looking about for a few moments. He still brooded now a days. And he meditated a lot too. Always, he felt the distinctive evil from the hole. But he also was able to sense the others simply by how much power they had. To no surprise, Crusader'sown powermade them all still look like infants. But it was handy for everyone else, if he wanted to find out where they were. It took a bit of effort, but it was worth it.

That wasn't all, however. Bahamut realized with great enthusiasm that his years of sharpening his mind were taking him to the next level. He might not have been Crusader, but like her he felt himself growing emphatic. He could sense emotions…feelings…sometimes even states of mind from the others. No matter how hard they tried to mask it on the outside, he could always sense true emotions. That was a shocking development for him. But even better, he knew…he was reaching the point where he could be even more sharply defined. He was gaining the ability to read minds. Soon, he knew he'd be able to read the distinctive thoughts of the people he knew. That exercise, something he didn't even tell Crusader about, fueled all of his passions now.

Suddenly, Bahamut snapped out of his thoughts. His mental ability that he was working on so hard was coming now. Automatically, he was beginning to get sensations from it. While he was always pleased with that, he realized that whenever it registered automatically that usually meant danger was coming. He struggled to concentrate on it for a moment as he flew. He began to pick up things instantly.

Merryment… Mischief… Grinning…

…GOT YOU!

A clear thought entered Bahamut's head, and he reacted. But it was too late. Abruptly, another form tackled him with all of its power from a dive bomb. Bahamut cried out in surprise as he felt himself thrown to the earth along with the form that crashed into him. His wings crumpled, and he was in a practical free fall for a few brief moments. He looked out in terror and screamed out into the sky as he went down for a few fateful moments. But then, at last, the ground came, and with a huge collision, both bodies smashed into the ground…but Bahamut first, breaking the fall of the one who attacked him.

Bahamut groaned after landing. That blow was hardly more than enough to stun him, but he shook his head and looked to the source anyway. Immediately, he saw a red, slightly larger, version of him disengage itself from his body, extend over him in a pinning position, and grin down on his own blue body. It took only a moment to know who it was. In reality…Bahamut had known the moment he had been tackled in mid-air and heard that signature mischief mental tone.

"You're still too sloppy, Big B." Wyvern chided playfully. "I thought you were working on sharpening your mind? I spread you like honey on a comb and you never saw it coming."

Bahamut frowned a bit, but not from much anger. "Congratulations. You've proven me still inadequate. Now how about letting me up?"

Wyvern complied, hopping a bit off his brother, then flapping his wings to carry him a short distance away before landing. He shook the ground when he did so. Bahamut rolled over onto his own belly and rose to all fours, flapping his wings and shaking himself off. Once he was right, he turned to Wyvern. He noticed that his brother was still grinning, and hopping up and down slightly on his four legs. Bahamut didn't like the look of that.

"Oh no…you've got that malicious look in your eyes again." Bahamut spoke with a grumble.

"Perhaps." Wyvern replied with a grin.

Bahamut rolled his eyes. "Does this have to do with anymore surprise attacks once I turn my back on you?"

"Nope." Wyvern merrily replied, shaking his head enthusiastically.

Bahamut frowned. "Ok, Wyvern. Enough of the guessing games. What's up?"

Wyvern frowned in reply. "Poo. I though I'd get you to try and read my mind again. You're no fun. But nevermind that for now. Say…do you know what I just heard?"

"No."

"Crusader's leaving again for another few days. This time she said a whole three days."

"Yeah, so?"

"So we're all by ourselves for three whole days."

"I reiterate…so?"

Wyvern grinned and stopped bouncing. "We're free to do some stuff now that she's gone, right?"

Bahamut hesitated a moment. This couldn't be good. Wyvern had mischief on his mind once again, never a good sign no matter what. But nevertheless, he was better off knowing than not knowing. "Like what kind of stuff?"

Wyvern turned his head in mock innocence and scratched his chin. "I was thinking like…over the hills…and the river…" He hesitated, then grinned a bit more. "And the mountains…need I go on?"

Bahamut froze, and stared at him for a moment. Old childhood fears flared up in him again. In retrospect, he had tried to look back at that moment seven years ago with bravery. But each time he failed. He still had nightmares about that day, even though he fantasized constantly about what would have happened if he had gone down the hole…

"…And down the hole?" He asked tentatively.

Wyvern grinned wider. "Maybe you can read minds after all, brother of mine."

Bahamut hesitated a moment, his eyes growing a bit wary and his heart pounding a little. And yet…all his brooding…all of his fantasizing he had done ever since that day…began to grow in him. Still, in the end he shook his head. "No."

Wyvern leaned in closer. "The others don't care about us. They never look for us. Odin's off practicing as always for who knows what… Phoenix is taking a noon-day nap… Starlet's off trying to impress Ogopogo and Leviathan… All by ourselves, Big B…"

"No."

"Aw…come on."

"No, Wyvern."

"Come on…pretty please…don't make me get my big shimmering eye routine out."

"No, Wyvern!" Bahamut suddenly snapped, his tone raising. Wyvern actually recoiled in a bit of shock at that. "Don't you remember what happened the last time we went down there?"

Wyvern rolled his eyes and sighed. "We were seven, Bahamut…"

"And we're fourteen now. So?"

"So? So we're bigger, stronger, and we can fly."

"What difference does that make? You heard what Crusader said. That place is evil, and it's full of things that…that want to eat us and kill us."

Wyvern sighed. "Man, Bahamut…you sound just like her. That might work on a kid, but we're teenagers now. We can't be scared of little ghost stories like that all our lives."

"We don't know what's down there!" Bahamut insisted.

"I know we don't!" Wyvern instantly responded. "That's why I want to go down there! Come on, Bahamut… This place is nice…but it's kinda boring. We've lived here our whole lives and have never been anywhere else. There has got to be more than this. I wouldn't mind just seeing something new…like what one of these humans looks like."

"No." Bahamut coldly stated.

Wyvern merely frowned and crossed his claws in front of him. "Don't deny it, Bahamut. I know you far too well. I know you better than Crusader, in some ways. All you ever do is think about what's down there. You're always dreaming about it. Until you were eight you did nothing but tell me about the dreams you had at night about what's down there. You want to see it too."

"Most of those dreams were nightmares."

Wyvern shrugged. "What better way to dispel some fears than to face them?"

Bahamut groaned. He turned his back on his brother, refusing to listen to another word. Yet he had spoken the truth. Bahamut had wanted to see what was down there…and deep down inside he wanted to even more than Wyvern. Only his desire to obey Crusader and not do anything foolish prevented him. He didn't say anymore to Wyvern, but kept his back to him.

Wyvern rolled his eyes and stepped forward. "Bahamut…I can't go alone. You know I can't." He hesitated, and then growled. "Alright. If you want me to say it, then fine. I'm a coward. Ok? Satisfied? I've also never done anything without you before. And I don't want to start right now. I will go alone if I have to, but I want you to come with me. I want you to because I trust you more than anyone, and I know that you want this more than I do."

Bahamut kept his back turned.

Wyvern groaned again. "Look… If there's any trouble, we'll fly away. Simple as that. We can overcome that old twister you talked about. It's not a problem. If we see even the single slightest thing out of a nightmare…if the tiniest thing goes wrong…boom, we're gone. But come on, Bahamut…let's do a real adventure for once."

The blue esper kept his back turned for a while. In his mind…all of the old questions came back to light. What was down there? What were the humans really like? What kind of evil did they perform…and what other types of creatures were there that they ate? It might have been a terrible fantasy…but it was a fantasy. And despite his better convictions, the mystery and question drove Bahamut onward. Wyvern was right…this was a chance. And a good one. Despite everything he thought, Bahamut knew inside that he always was waiting for a chance. And until now, he always had the idea that one would be waiting for him some day…if only he would wait. But what if a chance never came again? What if something happened…one in a million things…and he never had the opportunity again? He'd never forgive himself. In the end…he did have to know what was down there…what was so terrible that he had never gone to see it yet…that Crusader warned so much about…

He had to know.

At long last, after an eternity pause…Bahamut slowly began to turn his head back to his brother, who quickly began to smile.

"You're never going to regret this, Big B."

"Remember what you said. One thing. Then we're out of here."

"Sure, sure… Oh man… I've never even seen the hole before!"

"…You'll see it soon enough… It's not the best looking thing in the world…"

Bahamut and Wyvern were in the sky again. This time, they flew side by side, and were making straight for the mountain range at the back of Ultima Nexus. The sky already began to grow dark as the clouds grew. The air was turning cold as they continued. Wyvern kept a lookout below constantly to see if anyone was watching them who'd rat on them later. Bahamut, on his part, swallowed and tried to keep from being too fearful as he flapped onward, toward the mountain range. They were still black and dark…and despite how old and strong he had become he was scared. He hadn't been to this place in so long… He prayed that he could still be strong enough to continue.

The two espers closed in on the mountains, and began to slowly fly over them. Wyvern, grinning at seeing no one watch them, turned fully ahead. Bahamut breathed in deeply and slowly exhaled. The wind began to pick up, stirring their thermals and slightly disrupting their flight patterns. But they were both expert flyers now, and compensated quickly. It grew colder, especially with their flying against the wind. Both Wyvern and Bahamut shuddered. Ultima Nexus was not cold in the least. They were unused to such strong feelings. But still, they pressed on, going up, up, and over the mountain range. It continued to grow darker and windier, accenting the looming danger. Inside, Bahamut was glad he could exert such great mental imaging. It would come in handy if they ran into trouble down there. But now…he only wished he could keep himself from sensing the growing evil…

The two flying espers finally crossed the mountains. The sky turned almost completely black, and the air was sharp and cold. Both Wyvern and Bahamut squinted and looked ahead. Just ahead, spiraling in the darkness of this area, surrounded by great black mountains, was the hole…the portal into the dark world below. The tornado still blew over it, cycloning down into its depths. Below, the cyclone became made of clouds, and extended down in a great tunnel into the darkness and eventually oblivion underneath. This was it. This was their exit. This was their gateway into the next world. To Bahamut…it was just as menacing and dark as before. Nothing from it had changed. But he had changed. He was stronger now…able to restrain his fear…able to stare into the abyss…and muster the courage to enter it.

Both he and Wyvern looked to each other as they soared toward it. This was their last chance to break. This was the big one. Both would be embarking on something that had never dared in their entire lives. They were actually going to leave their home…and descend into the world they were always forbidden from entering. They were no longer boys, but men now. They had their last chance to break off, and neither of them took it. They both nodded to each other once. Then, both espers turned their full attention to the hole, the portal, and the vortex over it. Both beasts swept into the air, spiraled around, and dropped themselves into a nose dive as they rounded the tremendous cyclone. Tucking their wings in for a dive, both Wyvern and Bahamut entered the cyclone and descended into the hole as one, until their world became a swirl of white clouds…and then oblivion.

Bahamut didn't know how long they fell. To him…no matter how much time passed later…no matter how much he looked back…he thought he had spent no less than a thousand years there. A thousand years of endlessly falling into blackness. A thousand years of cold wind whipping against his face. A thousand years of falling down, down, down into the nothingness…wondering if there was anything awaiting them on the other side at all…or just this darkness forever and ever and ever… Every dream and fantasy seemed to come to life in that darkness, if only for a moment, before vanishing again… That moment seemed to be the longest in his life so far, and even far outstripped the length of his life. He felt he had never truly lived until that time…and then had spent an eternity there in the blackness…

But however long it took…it did end eventually. While hurling downward through the void, a dim light finally came in a small dot. It started off minor, but as he continued to shoot down it grew larger and larger. It stayed dim, but Bahamut began to detect the color of it. It was blue…but a much dimmer blue than in Ultima Nexus. Bahamut swallowed. This had to be it. This had to be the world of darkness…the unknown land…the land of terrors and fears and where the evil humans resided. He was nearly there…just needing to fall a bit longer… The blue circle grew…and grew…and grew…until, at long last, Bahamut shot out of it.

Instantly, Bahamut found himself back in reality…or at least a version off it. A tremendous open space…miles and miles into the sky, extended all around him, and he was in a free fall down it. Bahamut looked around in amazement and wonder, but for the time being he was so thrilled all he could see was the empty space. But it was huge! Larger than all the space had ever been in Ultima Nexus…stretching for miles forever in all directions… There were no borders here…no borders anywhere… Just space…space stretching out everywhere and in all places. Bahamut couldn't tell how he would ever get anywhere…so much space between him and everything. Wyvern, close to his side, marveled at the same thing…and for a while they could do nothing more than marvel…

But as Bahamut continued to fall, his bearings came back to him. A realization came to him. He wasn't falling into the sky at all. The huge blue space beneath him, extending out in all directions…it was water! An infinite stretch of water, more immense than even the lake had seemed in Ultima Nexus! And he was headed right for it! Bahamut realized his mistake and about the same time Wyvern did. When he did, or rather they both did, they halted immediately, and unfurled their wings to catch themselves. They both caught an updraft, and quickly spiraled back around and shot back into the sky. Once they were high enough, they gently began to flap their wings to maintain altitude, and both of them looked to each other in bewilderment. Already…they had seen things they had never believed or fathomed in their entire lives.

Bahamut took a moment to look around. Indeed, this place was pretty dark. The sky was filled with clouds, all seeming to be eminating from one tiny dot. Bahamut recognized that. That was where they came in. Good thing, in his opinion, for now they could find their way back out again. It was very windy here…a big change as their home was never windy. It was never cold either, and already Bahamut began to feel a little too cool for comfort. Wyvern didn't look much better. In the end, Bahamut looked back to Wyvern. The latter grinned.

"We made it!" He called cheerily. "We're really in the other world!"

"Yeah…" Bahamut mused, looking around at the area. "And that's the largest lake I've ever seen in my life. Where's the shore?"

Wyvern shrugged. "Beats me. We'll just have to look for it."

Bahamut exhaled a little, and looked around again. "Man…you can't even see the sun down here."

Wyvern shrugged again. "Well, it is supposed to be a dark world, after all. Nothing else to see around here. Let's go see what else is here, especially if there are any humans."

With that, Wyvern turned and immediately began to fly off. Bahamut hesitated for a moment, looking back up to the spot in the sky. It was a long way away…but nothing that he couldn't get back through. Afterward, he looked back down to the dark world again. Wyvern was already making headway from him. He hesitated for a moment longer, but then exhaled and began to fly after him.

The wonders didn't cease. Bahamut and Wyvern were soon astonished by more. It took some time for them to reach any type of shore. They flew for almost an hour before they began to see it on the horizon. Much to their surprise, the shore was just as large as the lake, extending infinitely in either direction. It was real jagged too, and rather than banks, there was a lot of coarse stuff along the shoreline. Bahamut and Wyvern landed for a moment to feel it, only to have it get stuck between their toes. Not only that, but there were also large rocks jutting out of the water too, unlike either of them had ever seen. Both of them were puzzled by this, but when they flew again, nothing could surprise them more than what they saw next.

There was no mere grass in this world. Rather, every plant seemed to grow at a certain distance from other plants, and it alone would grow huge around, branch out into many different stems, and then shoot high into the sky. Bahamut and Wyvern had never seen such large plants before in their lives. Their entire lives they had been bigger than all plants, but now the plants were bigger than them! And as they moved further away from the shore, they began to notice that there were lots of bits of white powder on the ground here and there. Once again, they landed to investigate. They picked it up with their hand this time, only to discover that it was so cold it burned to the touch. They quickly dropped it again and cursed at it…only to discover that their own breath had become visible. Bahamut was scared, thinking that it might have been their life forces coming out of them. Wyvern told him to stop being a baby…but nevertheless tried to breathe less as they both took off and began to fly through the sky once again. The large plants covered the ground for miles in every direction, and neither of them saw anything new for a long time.

"Wow!" Bahamut abruptly announced eventually. "Look!"

Wyvern looked as well, and was amazed. Bahamut had spotted something in the sky. It was gliding around slowly, looking down at the ground. It appeared to have a body like Phoenix's, only it was much slower and had less extra beautiful feathers. It was a more dull brown color than fire, and it was so small that it was barely the size of Wyvern's and Bahamut's heads. It kept most of its attention centered on the ground. However, as the two espers drew closer, it let out a squeal of some kind, and then turned and began to flap away as fast as it could. Bahamut and Wyvern were stunned, but turned to each other in amazement.

"Wow!" Wyvern exclaimed. "Did you see that?"

"Was that a human?" Bahamut asked in puzzlement. "Or was that an esper like us?"

"I dunno. Could you feel evil from it?"

"No. But no good either. It was only thinking about finding some little brown thing and eating it."

"Maybe it was a human then. They eat other living things."

"Maybe…"

Nevertheless, the wonders that the two were seeing drove them onward. Bahamut's stomach began to grumble after a while, and he started to notice that Wyvern was getting hungry too. In their haste, they had forgotten to bring any food. But they didn't want to turn back now. They were just getting started.

A bit ahead, there was finally a river more accustomed to the espers' tastes. But it didn't look like just a regular river either. It was smaller, and had a lot of rocks in it. Bahamut and Wyvern went down and tasted the water, but found it was ice cold as well and spat it out. As they did so, Wyvern caught a small brown thing in his eye, and turned to it. It was standing up on its legs, gazing at them. Bahamut turned to it as well.

"Hey…is that a human? Or is that what humans eat?"

"I think it's what they eat." Bahamut answered. He turned over to the tiny thing, that would easily fit in his own mouth. "Hey! Come over here, human food!"

However, the moment that the huge beast began to bellow at the small little animal, the thing nearly had a heart attack, and turned and bolted away faster than it knew it could run. Bahamut blinked in confusion, and turned back to Wyvern with a shrug. "They both seem to like to run from us."

"I guess they like to run races." Wyvern answered. "Next time we see something, let's chase it down and catch it, then talk to it."

Bahamut frowned a bit, and rubbed his stomach. "I hope we find something soon. Any longer and I'm going to starve trying to catch it…"

The two took to the sky once more, and were soon flapping over all of the large plants. Both Bahamut and Wyvern continued to get more hungry, but were also determined to find either a human or its food. They scanned the sky for any more of the flying creatures and the ground for any smaller ones. However, as they continued to move onward, they at last came to a break in the large plants. There, at last, was grass, all growing in the large open area. But that wasn't all. Lots of big fat creatures with tiny post legs and horns coming from out of their heads were there. They were all eating the grass that was there, and Bahamut and Wyvern noticed this.

"This must be human food. They don't eat other people." Bahamut explained.

"But could one of those tiny humans really eat one of these?" Wyvern asked, rather confused.

"I dunno. Let's ask them."

However, as Bahamut and Wyvern swooped down to try and confront them, like so many times before they turned and bolted for it as fast as they could, rushing headlong back into the huge planets, where they had more cover. Bahamut and Wyvern both lowered and noticed this, but remembered what they had said before. They turned to each other and nodded, then looked back to the crowd of creatures. They flapped their wings as hard as they could, and soon were taking off full speed after them. These new ones were fast, but the two espers were still faster than them. As quick as they went, they couldn't stay far enough ahead of them.

The animals did make it to the trees, but it was of to no avail. Bahamut and Wyvern merely rose and continued to pursue them from overhead. The panicked creatures ran faster and faster, trying to avoid these new arrivals. But Bahamut and Wyvern never lost an inch on them. Rather, they focused in hard on the creatures, and prepared to seize them. Wyvern was the first to zero in on one. He grinned, and opened his lower claws to prepare to dive. However…Wyvern didn't realize that he came from a family of much stronger people who could take a strong tackle with much less force. Nor did he realize that these creatures below him were much weaker than other things were that he had known. Neither of these important bits of information figured in as the esper dove and wrapped one claw foot around the creature's neck and one around its body.

"I got one, I got one!"

Bahamut immediately gave up the pursuit. Wyvern quickly did as well, and the rest of the creatures ran off. The two espers rejoined and then flew to the nearest small clearing that they could find, one large enough for the three of them. Once they were there, Wyvern released the creature and then flapped into a landing near it. Bahamut came in on the other side.

"Ok, human food." Wyvern spoke to the motionless creature, lying on the ground limply. "Do humans really eat you? If so, how do they do it?"

The creature made no response. It didn't even move.

"Hello? Ultima Nexus to human food, do you hear me?" Wyvern prodded.

The creature once again didn't respond. Frowning, Wyvern shifted the thing slightly with his claw. The creature shifted but didn't move under its own power. Wyvern sighed and shook his head. "I don't know what's wrong with it. A fine time to go to sleep." The esper looked up to his brother. "What is it thinking?"

Bahamut looked at the thing, and concentrated for a moment. But concentrate as he might, he couldn't think of anything. The mind was blank, like it wasn't even there. Bahamut blinked a moment, then leaned forward and touched the creature. He couldn't feel anything moving inside, like he could whenever he felt any of the other espers. At that…Bahamut began to turn a shade white. He swallowed, and then slowly looked up to Wyvern. Feebly, he croaked three small words.

"…You killed him."

Wyvern froze for a moment, but then rapidly began to turn the same white color. Both Bahamut and Wyvern looked down at the creature, then back to each other, then back to the creature again. They hesitated a moment longer, silent, not knowing what to do… Then, at once, both of them began to sniffle and cry. Neither of them had ever killed anyone before in their life, and they hadn't even been in the dark world one day and they had already killed someone. It broke their hearts. Both of them lay down in the clearing and their eyes filled with tears. They sobbed over the ground and whined and moped aloud.

"I didn't mean too!"

"You're always too rough!"

"He was alive when I picked him up!"

"Poor little furry thing…"

Both of them spent an hour in mourning over the dead creature. However, after an hour had passed, both of them began to grow uneasy. They had killed something. Killing was not good. Crusader had taught them that. Therefore…what was going to happen to them? What kind of retribution would they incur? What was going to transpire? Maybe they'd be banished to the world as well. Maybe they too would have to live as humans and never be able to return to Ultima Nexus. The fears became very, very real as Bahamut thought on that they might not really ever be able to get back home again. Bahamut began to regret ever coming, regret ever trying to find out who humans were and what was human food…

But then, while Bahamut sank into deeper despair, Wyvern began to sniff the dead creature. As he did, Bahamut began to recognize the hungry look in his eyes, and his mouth began to water. The blue esper looked to him in the midst of his own despair, looked to the body, and then looked back to Wyvern.

"You can't be serious."

Wyvern trembled a bit, and then shrugged. "Well…it is human food, isn't it?"

Bahamut was outraged. "You can't eat that thing! You killed it!"

"It was an accident!"

"You'll act just like a human!"

"They kill them on purpose! It'll just go to waste!"

Bahamut rolled his eyes and refused to look at this. He couldn't believe his stupid brother. Wyvern himself hesitated for a short while, but gradually inched closer to the body. Trying to look as innocent as possible, not wanting any more guilt on his head, he leaned over to the side of the creature…sniffed it…and at last tentatively set his teeth onto it. Bahamut turned white and covered his eyes. Wyvern fought a battle of will and hunger for a moment…but at last did it. He chomped down, and tore a piece of the flesh off the creature, skin and all. He began to chew it in his mouth for a short time, looking uneasy the whole way, especially when blood began to drip from his mouth. But at last, he swallowed it, and slowly ran his tongue over his lips.

"…He's good."

Bahamut fumed. "You're a cannibal!" He exclaimed out loud…even as the smell of the meat now began to penetrate his own nostrils…and began to make his own mouth water. Wyvern himself hesitated a moment, but then suddenly spasmed. He turned his head to the side and coughed a terrible hack. Immediately, a ball of hair mixed with bile and phlegm splattered onto the ground. Bahamut was shocked again, and Wyvern wiped his lips.

"Eh…get a hairball when you eat their fur…" He muttered. "I'll…uh…peel off the next bite…"

Bahamut kept frowning. "Oh yeah." He snorted…as he inched closer to the carcass. "It's not good enough to just eat him. You have to make him easier to eat. You make me sick."

Wyvern whimpered, looking low again, as he turned his talons onto the creature and peeled off part of its hide using his sharp claws. After doing so, he dipped in, and much more quickly took a much larger bite out of the creature. He also chewed it quicker and swallowed it quicker as well. Bahamut stared at him, the hungry look going into his own eyes. Yet a frown was still on his face as he licked his lips. As Wyvern went down for another bite, Bahamut rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Fine…I guess I'll just have to clean up after you to make sure you don't leave his bones looking like a gnawed on skeleton." And with that he readily dived into the meat as well.

Wyvern, flying again, was silent and looking rather disappointed with himself. He shook his head, and belched as he did so. "I'm…I'm a cannibal."

Bahamut looked rather upset as well with himself. "We both are… I hope we're allowed to go home."

"Good idea though…to take his hide and fur with us." Wyvern slowly murmured. "We can at least have a memorial service later…maybe thank his spirit for feeding us and apologize for killing him."

Bahamut continued to mope, but nodded. "Yeah…"

Wyvern hesitated a moment, then finally turned slightly back to Bahamut. "By the way…need me to carry some of those other hides of human food?"

"Nah, we're only up to ten so far."

To be continued...