A/N—Ok, ignoring all the reviews that exist or don't, I present to you the second chapter because I've got nothing to do other than to plan. so enjoy y'all. Oh, I also noticed that Siegfried's eyes aren't grey… they're blue… so yeah, the rest of the story will have a blue-eyed Siegfried and not grey. Sorry for the confusion y'all.

Oops… ; forgot to put this on the first chapter…: DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THIS OTHER THAN THE STORY ITSELF! Ok, happy now?

Chapter 2—Village

The trip to the young child's village was a quick one. The knight had no concern for stealth at this moment. The question that loomed over his head at the current moment was how his other half could have survived the shock of the sword being destroyed. Questions ran though his head as he trampled past overgrown paths that had not been used until today by the little boy and himself. The air seemed to have suddenly chilled as the two ran, though it was a humid summer day, the mood brought forth a storm it seemed.

The foliage became hard to get through for Siegfried was at least twice the size of the boy. His requiem was needed to cut through the branches when it became hard for him to move around, stray thorns and what not caught in his hair as he ran. Cursing like a sailor, he swore to cut his hair the moment he got his chance to. His sword sang to the end of many wooden branches as he continued to press forward to the village. If this boy's words were true, if this little boy's words were true, the knight wondered; then what was the destruction of the sword for if his arch nemesis wasn't dead along with it?

He was so sick of being the evil one; he was tired of doing the bad deeds that everyone seemed to loathe. He sighed as he finally came to the end of the forest and the where the village was supposed to be. The sight before him wasn't exactly what he expected of a bandit raid to say the least. The scent of smoke and burning flesh filled his nostrils as he came close enough to see the damage that the fires had done.

Not one home had been spared from the carnage that the bandits had left. Not a living being seemed to be there, animals ran rampant in fear as the flame licked and played at their feet or hooves. The normally neat and tidy dirt paths were now covered in splotches of a sickening red color that was familiar to the knight. The deep crimson color of the life giving blood was upon the ground, showing places where death or near death had occurred. Bodies lay here and there, some dead, many dying. Screams could be heard from the ones that were being hurt at the moment.

This was too much for the knight all at once; it was just too much for him to take it all in. It was like reliving everything that he had just left; only he wasn't enjoying it. It was revolting, the bandits shouted loud and vulgar things at the other villagers that had tried to fight back but were struck down or killed by the above said ruffians.

One of them noticed the iron clad man and the little boy as he ran out of a little shack like house. Upon seeing the two, he let out a loud yell to inform that help had come along. Jeers and laugher came from the others as the scurried away from their barely strategic points of plundering.

"A bit late fer savin' a town ain't cha?" a bandit sneered as he ran off towards the gates of town.

The knight stood there, dumbfounded by the sudden fleeing of the ruffians. A small breeze blew across the small village, fanning the flames so that they danced higher and higher towards the sky. The knight sighed, no sign of the Azure Knight, so the kid was wrong. That was a relief so say at the moment; it at least meant he had achieved his goal in destroying what he had haunted him for the past years. For those long years, he had hidden within his soul, cowering in the corner where he couldn't be found like a little kid while the Evil within the sword took over his body, his mind, everything, until he was nothing but the little child who hid from everything it seemed.

Speaking of children, what happened to that kid who brought him here? The knight looked around as he noticed his temporary charge was missing. "Great," Siegfried thought to himself "You can't even take care of one little kid, let alone yourself." He scolded himself. Walking through the wreckage, he looked for the child. His parents would no doubt be worried about their son being gone.

"Sis!" A young child's voice came out from one dilapidated and fallen house. "Sis?" He shouted again, repeating the phrase for his sister as he wandered through the ashen and burnt village.

It was that boy again; that little scrap of human flesh that had brought the knight to this town. From the looks of it, he was looking for his sister. The child stopped as he spotted the knight once again.

"Mr. Knight!" He exclaimed, his eyes full of unwept tears. "Mr. Knight!" He shouted. "Please help me look for my sister!" He said his voice cracking.

Siegfried Squatted down to the child's level so that he could speak to this little one face to face. "Listen kid." He began. "I don't know how to tell you this, but I have no idea to look, you sister could be anywhere, she could have been taken by those bandits that had just-" He was cut off by the boy's protest.

"She can't be gone! They would never take her!" He shouted, drawing attention to the very few who were left behind. "She can't have been taken!" He said again, tears brimming at his eyes.

"Now what makes you think that?" The knight asked.

"''Cause!" The boy said defiantly. "Because they just can't have taken her, they just can't!"

"Listen to yourself boy." Siegfried said, shaking the youth's shoulders. "Snap out of it, it's possible that your sister isn't here. I'll help you find her, but you should know it's possible that she could be dead; or maybe taken hostage by those bandits." The knight explained.

"But ain'tcha a knight?" The boy asked innocently. "Can'tcha just go off on your white horse and bring her back? Isn't that your job?"

"I'm not that kind of knight." Siegfried admitted. "In fact… I don't…" The knight was once again cut off by a shout.

"Zet!" A woman shouted. "Zet! Are you alright?" the same woman shouted as

Like the child, she was covered with soot and ashes of the burnt remains of the village. Her chestnut brown hair that was streaked with small strands of grey was tied up in a tight bun. Worry was apparent in her eyes as she ran up to the child.

"Grand mama!" He exclaimed as he ran towards her. "Have you seen Lilac?" He asked. "I can't find her!"

His grandma shook her head. "Zet…" She said softly while combing her hand through his hair. "I think… you should go and see what can be salvaged."

"I don't care!" He said "That isn't my main worry! I want to know where Lilac is!" He was on the brink of tears again.

"Zet…" his grandmother said again. "I don't think you want to know where she is…"

"Yes I do!" He said defiantly, a tear leaking through one of his eyes. "Where is she? I want to know, now!" He demanded.

"You shouldn't demand something like that of your elders." Siegfried said as he walked over to the boy.

"But I want to know where Lilac is!" He said pouting.

Children... such innocence is amazing, didn't this kid get that something's bad has happened?

"Zet…" His grandmother whispered. "You really don't want to know."

"Is it so horrible?" Siegfried asked.

The grandmother nodded and whispered to him what had happened.

"I see…" He said. "He really doesn't need to see that." The knight agreed.

"I do too!" Zet cried out. "I wanna find out!"

"Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you." The grandmother said. "Sir Knight? Could you go with him? I've already seen enough, and there are other things to do than to take care of a stubborn boy like that."

He nodded and agreed to follow the child as he searched for his sister. The confounded kid was already ahead of him by some distance, shouting out the name over and over again as if his life depended on it. Siegfried wondered to himself as he followed, looking over the burned and ruined remains of the village.

If it weren't for the heart wrenching smell of burning flesh and destruction, the little place would have been quite quant and homely. There wouldn't be anything amiss, nothing big came through and news came through gossip at the local tavern. He sighed as he looked at the ashen faces of those who had passed away, blood still slightly warm from the recent deaths and faces of terror or defiance still plastered on those of the dead. The knight closed his eyes and tried to push away those horrendous pictures out of his mind only to open his eyes to something that made the bile in his stomach rise.

There, knelt the young boy before a bruised and battered person. His were coming out long and in shuddering gasps, tears streamed down his face and to the slain person's skirt. The child's eyes were bloodshot as he looked upon the metal clad knight. In a small croak he spoke. "Mr. Knight… She isn't dead is she?"

One look at the little boy's face could have broken the heart of even the most hardened soldiers. The dirty, tear stained face was streaked again with a track of tears, teary and puffy eyes looked back at the warrior as if he held the last small ray of hope. The child had seemed to have lost all hope, he knew that the one before him was dead, but to believe the fact was another matter. "It's best for him to get it straight, there's no way around it…" the knight thought to himself.

"Kid…" He said in the kindest voice that he could muster, "there isn't much that you can do… she's g—"

"NO!" The child cried out clinging onto the metal clad leg of the knight. "She isn't! She can't be!"

"There's nothing you can do… There's nothing I can do…"

"Can't you? Aren't you a knight? Can't you like bring her back with your magic or something?"

"Kid…" the warrior said as he knelt down to the child's level. "There isn't any kind of magic to bring her back… all you really can do is just keep trekking and swallow those tears… ok?"

A fresh wave of tears and sobs came from the boy as he clung onto the silver clad man. As the boy cried on, the man could see the person that the youth had covered with his body. The sight was sickening to say the least. A girl, a youth who couldn't be any older than perhaps sixteen, her clothes had been ripped to shreds, barely covering her body, her thighs were bruised black and blue with a vicious color of purple that dotted the horrible sight before him. White seed from those who had raped her still lingered on her cold body. Slashes covered her neck and arms; blood was still half dried as she laid there; there was a look of utter disgust and terror was written across her face

"L-Li-Lilac…" The child sobbed.

The warrior grimaced at the sight. There was no need for someone this young to see such atrocities of the world. There was no need for this kind of pain to be inflicted to someone so young and innocent. Innocence. The word brought back memories of the man's childhood when evil wasn't all that his mind was concentrated on, when blood had yet to be splattered upon his face. He sighed, such days, were the days that he reminisced now, such days were the kinds of days that he wished he had cherished more.

He wished now, that he had never wanted revenge. Perhaps… perhaps it would have prevented this young one, and many others that he had not counted, the grief that he witnessed now. Perhaps, now was the time for him to make amends to the many wrongs. Yes, now was the time to make what was wronged right again. Now, he knew what his reason for living was now. It was to make amends to what was wrong, make amends to the broken and battered pieces of his soul.

The tale of souls, swords, and battle continues. This is only the beginning.