Author's Note-After my computer troubles, its really hard to get everything back together. I'm trying, but its gonna be slow going.

Brilliance, A Legend of Mana Story
Chapter 18 -Rainbow Tears-

Snowfields
"Gah...colder then I remember." Sierra shivered, wrapping her arms around herself tightly. Elazul said nothing, pushing forward through the snow.

"No comments about my fur?" Vadise's guardian chuckled, amusing herself.

"You know," Elazul grumbled, "the only thing worse then the weather is your jokes."

Sierra shrugged, and trudged on ahead of him. "I met up with Elleira -sometime after the incident with the Crimson Dragon- and the entire length of our journey, I couldn't get her to shut up. But afterwards, after returning to the White Forest...I missed her."

The wind whistled shrilly, grabbing hold of Elazul's mantle and snapping it roughly. The two warriors dropped lower to the ground and continued forward. "Was that it?" Elazul asked after a moment.

"Well...yeah."

Rolling his eyes, Elazul pushed forwards. They'd been traveling hip-deep in snow for the entire length of the snowfields, trying to wok their way to the field of Icicle Flowers.(Something is wrong in this place,) Elazul thought furioously. (I have to figure out what, or we're going to freeze to death before we even get there.)

"Is it getting darker?" Sierra asked, and Elazul's head snapped upwards. It was. The sun was far lower then it should have been. (...Surely it hasn't been that long?)

He was so wrapped up in thought that he stopped too late. He smacked right into a large block of ice. Swearing loudly, he staggered back and fell beneath the snow. He came back up sputtering and spitting in intervals.

"Elazul, the path -uh, such as it is- its ice." Sierra gestured ahead of them; everything that was visible ahead of them was ice. And from the bruise down the length of Elazul's leg, it could be gathered that the ice went deeper even then the snow..perhaps all the way to the earth underneath. Without a word, the two warriors climbed onto the sheet of ice and continued onwards, drawing their weapons.

Directly ahead of them was the Field of Icicle Flowers.

Khoval stood over his daughter's body, watching her impassionately as she lay writhing in the snow. Yet again had she risen against him...yet again he had been forced to put her in her place. How long must a god put up with such insolence from his own flesh?

He turned his back on her, shedding his robe. The young boy who had spoken for him for ages was gone...his face obliterated by Sable's arrows. How she had fashioned enough power to steal the Shadoles -not to mention use them as living weapons- from Olbohn he had no idea.

Khoval was -for the first time- without a vassal. Behind him stood the mighty Mana Crystal which contained the energies of the collected Wisdoms and Dragons. When it was finished draining them, it would change colors from red to blue.

Red and blue crystals; the red and blue eyes of Agony and Ecstasy. Was there a connection in the colors? Or perhaps in the objects themselves? The girls were mysterious creatures. Khoval shook his head. No matter.

He let the robe fall to the snow, and stood nude against the chill wind. His body was without mark; no lines on his hands, no veins to be seen through his arms, or anywhere on his body. Khoval had no outward sign of mortality...the mortality given him when Godhand had killed his son.

His son had gone mad, grown drunk on his own power. It was common among half-breeds. Sable was even now showing the signs of losing her mind. Khoval had tried to aid them both, to bring them back to themselves...but to no avail. His son was lost to him forever, because he had taken Godhand's wife.

Sable was lost to him forever, because he did not have the strength to save her.

Soon enough the heroes would arrive, and he would slay them and return to Godhand with the crystal. He would leave Fa'diel, as the Moon Gods and the Flammies had before him. And he would die there.

Sable...his daughter...would never leave this field again.

It took him a moment to recall the name of the Jumi who crested the hill, though they had not met long ago. The warrior arrived with sword drawn, and Khoval raised his hands, not giving him a moment to react. The earth beneath them shattered the ice, rising up, taking the shape of a giant hand.

The knight slipped through the grasp, dodging to the side, and Khoval lost sight of him in the snow. There was no time to look for him, as another fighter appeared beside him blurring with preternatural speed. The female guardian of Vadise, the white dragon.

She attacked, and he seized one of her hands, slapping her roughly across the face, propelling her across the field. She glanced off the icy ground, before slamming into one of the frozen trees.

Elazul -yes, that was the name- called out his attack, and energy rays began raining down on him. Khoval flung one hand up desperately, and the earth formed a dome around him, shielding him.

But only barely. The attack beat down on his shield of rock and dirt, and when it failed the Jumi landed atop the dome, slashing and hacking violently, never letting up for a moment. Silently, Khoval cursed his daughter for coming to this place. He had only just managed to defeat her. The earth was too far below the ice, too difficult to summon up and fight with. She had known that, and used it to her advantage, just as these warriors were doing now.

Only they had not known the earth would not respond to him here. Nor could they have guessed that he would still be weakened from fighting his own child. Sable was further back in the field, obscured by the crystal. If he did not win this battle, she might survive. She had the strength to-

Something thudded painfully in his chest, and he looked down. The head of a black arrow writhed about, half-embedded in him. He looked back and saw where the arrow had pierced his dome, which was already crumbling around him. The Jumi slipped, falling from the top of the shield, and the dragon's protector caught him, pulling him back. Khoval turned a scowl on them before falling to one knee.

He was dying quickly, and yet he still felt no pain. The god sat down hard in the snow, turning his head to see where his daughter was. She was lying, motionless, the color of her skin in stark contrast with the icy landscape surrounding her. She looked so beautiful there...something twinged in Khoval's chest, and he reached up, plucking the Shadole from his wound and flinging it aside, ignoring its cackle.

Sable could cause so much pain with her arrows. It was only a matter of will. And when she used a demonic creature as a weapon -such as the Shadoles- the pain was multiplied a hundred-fold, because it was not just flesh the arrow pierced, but the victim's soul as well. Was it compassion she showed him in her final moments?

She was so beautiful. Just like her mother. They had both died in the snow...they had both died because he hadn't the strength to save them from themselves...or from himself. He turned his rainbow eyes on Elazul, wondering if he could possibly understand. Did mortals love? Surely not...or else they would not be so good at killing.

He did not know when he fell backwards, but suddenly he was staring at the sky. He blinked, and Elazul stood over him. Blinked again, and the warrior laid a mantle of sand across his face. Khoval sighed, letting out his last breath. He wanted to thank the Jumi...but did not have the strength. He closed his eyes, and did not open them again.

"You okay Sierra?" Elazul asked her, standing.

"My jaw hurts a bit..." she said rubbing the side of her face. "But I'll live. What did we step into here? What was up with his eyes?"

Elazul glanced down at the dead 'god'. Then across the field at the fallen archer. He shrugged helplessly. "...Let's find what we came for."