Chapter Two: Empty Grey Eyes

"The lands of the skies were built on the graves of the First Civilizations of Earth by the survivors of the War of the Gods. The several countries in the skies, Sadal Suud, Diadem, Anuenue, Mira and Alfard, each share unique cultures, technologies, and wildlife, among many other things. These islands were once major lands in the old world, and still are today. These lands were placed in the sky for the sole purpose of avoiding the mistakes of the old world. The old world's mistakes and blunders were what led to their demise. The lands of the skies, each balanced in their own way, were made that way so that the Humans and the Gods may exist with each other peacefully—the gods on the Earth, and the people in the Sky.

How humans earned their Wings of Heart is currently unknown. However, there are ancient legends of a group of ancient beings, calling their group the Affiliation, may have had some sort of part in this mystery. The Affiliation has not been seen or heard of in thousands of years, like several other legendary lands, and so the general population, even those of the higher classes, have limited knowledge about these secretive lands. No one quite knows about whether or not these islands exist…except for the inhabitants themselves."-The Start of Wings and the Heir of the Gods

Mizuti walked down the stairs of the literally ice-cold castle of Kaffaljidhma, dressed and as ready for the day as she could manage. Kalas was slouched against the bottom staircase, facing his own reflection in the gaping, hissing maw of a dragon statue, wings flared open, ready to strike. He didn't appear to be looking at it or anything else in particular. His dark blue eyes had an unfocused, distant aspect about them. At his side were the Magnus that Kalas cherished.

Mizuti paused in the doorway to study him, struck as always by just how simple, yet elegant he looked. Next to Kalas, Mizuti always felt clunky and clumsy. Somehow, Kalas had been blessed with a small pack of female fans, as if they were infected with some kind of virus. Symptoms included blushing girls at the mention of his name, the unmistakable desire to protect him and cherish him, and denying any sort of crush against him. Mizuti found it all utterly ridiculous.

"Hullo," Mizuti said, floating next to Kalas.

"Hullo, yourself," Kalas replied, looking up and sweeping up his cards with a deft movement of his hands. As soon as he noticed Mizuti, he grinned. "One of these days, I wish you'd try to take more pride in your appearance. You shouldn't hide that cute face under that thousand-year-old mask of yours."

Mizuti blew out her mouth in an exaggerated sigh at Kalas's expression of amused disapproval. Kalas always had an innate talent of finding the right chinks in her armor to poke a finger through. A pink tinge colored in her cheeks as she glanced away from Kalas's grinning face.

"Ah, but it's true! You just don't give yourself enough credit. Why, you should've seen your face after I tossed in the dud bomb in your room!"

For the second time that morning, Mizuti's face flushed bright red as Kalas's words hit her with shocking realization.

"You set the Great Mizuti up, Kalas? Kalas did that on purpose!"

Her discomfort only seemed to fuel the blatant amusement that encompassed the young adult. Kalas put his hands together and smiled innocently.

"A trap is only good if the prey falls into his grasp."

Mizuti crossed her arms and glared at her roommate from behind her mask.

"The Great Mizuti really not be liking Kalas now," she grumbled.

"But I like you," came the quick reply which immediately knocked down the girl's stern stance, sending her into another frenzy.

"Kalas!"

Kalas laughed, a hand over his stomach as peals of mirth continued its relentless attack.

"Ah, I can never have ripe apples again, for it'd only remind me of my dear Mizuti's rage."

Kalas stood up, pushing himself away from the banister. As he strode past Mizuti, he reached out and took the opportunity to land a swift poke at her unguarded arm.

"The Great Mizuti is going to blast Kalas into Prominence!" retorted the red-faced girl, hands now covering her face in an attempt to protect herself from further humiliation.

"Hmm… never noticed that card…" said Kalas, a hand resting thoughtfully under his chin, "It must have been buried under that pile of letters thanking me for my harassment."

Mizuti could feel her mouth jittering with the need for some sort of smart comeback. Unfortunately, her head refused to function with clarity after the continuous attacks.

A distant, heavy roar of wind was swiftly rising in pitch from outside. Kalas stepped back as a white blur suddenly flew past the castle, blasts of air hissing through the door. The booming roars abruptly cut off as the dragon banked and circled back, coming down for a landing upon a sort of runway that drifted outside the castle. Kalas smiled and turned to Mizuti as the dull thud of talons slamming against packed snow rang out.

"Do you have everything you need? Our ride's just arrived."

The White Dragon dipped her head towards Kalas and Mizuti as they made their way from the castle, Xelha and the others already aboard. The dragon had already settled down and made herself comfortable upon the ice and snow. Dark grey clouds overcast the morning sun, which forecasted another blast of snow.

The White Dragon was Xelha's special partner, her bonded The dragon graciously offered her services of transportation to them several times a week, flying them to any and all places they needed. When the dragon wasn't available for pickup and drop-off, they usually managed to get some sort of ride on a boat of some sort. Unfortunately for Mizuti, Wazn didn't have that sort of service. Right behind her fear of ghosts, she was morbidly terrified of heights.

Nervously, Mizuti edged towards the mighty dragon. She was well aware that the White Dragon would never hurt her, since she was Xelha's bonded, but her wickedly sharp talons never ceased to intimidate the timid girl. Not to mention that the imposing dragon was easily dozens of times her height, and even more her weight.

Impatient, Kalas pulled Mizuti towards the White Dragon and pushed her up on the dragon's back, then mounted himself by Xelha, ignoring Mizuti's small squeak of fright.

"Ready, everyone?" Xelha inquired pleasantly.

"Yes," Mizuti mumbled, a soft whisper among the words of approval. She was in the back, floating between the dragon's wings. She was badly nervous, since it was impossible to get a good grip. It was rather smooth after all, and it was easy for her to imagine herself slipping off that smooth, slick surface…falling, falling, falling forever through the infinite blue-

Suddenly, the world was rudely yanked from out under her feet. Everything disappeared into a howling, shrieking blur of grey, blue, and white.

Mizuti's innards lurched and did a lazy flip as the mighty dragon catapulted herself into the sky, a rapidly shrinking dot in the sea of grey. Inertia slammed Mizuti into the dragon, dragging against the dragon's back.

Mizuti shut her eyes and kept her head firmly down, trying and failing to ignore the wind howling past her ears. No matter how many times she had ridden the vast dragon, it still terrified her every time.

-----

A winged bullet sliced the sky, carving whirling furrows in the clouds and sending them swirling wildly, tumbling, spinning, frothing; waves on a sweaty summer day. The roar of the wind blasted out by the sheer force of the steel, almost sword-like wings was deafening, and sliced through the clouds with ease.

Sunlight gleamed dully off the blades of Mechizedik's wings as she leaned into the wind, folding her razor sharp wings back. The world spun as she plunged towards earth like a stone, hands drawn out to her sides, eyes closed.

With a flourishing crack of her wings, she pulled herself out of its dive and shrieked across the purple-clouded skyline, skimming along dark clouds of taint.

She looked down on the earth below, her eyes finally opening. Duhr, they called it. In legends, it was known as the Land of the Gods, the land where the gods would first set foot in. Looking down on the land, all she could see was dark, barren land, the plantlife greatly contrasting from the rest of the land below. She looked back up as she burst through a bloated, puffy cloud, diving down below.

Mechizedik let her wings spread out in twin swords, drifting lazily above as land below unfolded beneath her wingtips. Far down below, in Gemma, people walked along the pathways. They were tiny multicolored dots that collided and separated and merged and swirled and flowed around each other in the canyons of buildings.

Beyond the edges of civilization, there was only endless barren land. The world was vast and stretching out into what seemed like eternity in all directions. It was plain and featureless, except for two mighty monuments that stood behind her. A long, twisting labyrinth of stones and grey buildings, no life within its walls.

And Zosma—the Tower of the Ancients. A tower built by inhuman hands, the peak of Duhr, far, far away from any village. Whenever she dared to look at it, she immediately turned away—something, carved deep inside her mind, locked away from ancient ages from distant decades told her not to. And she didn't have any business doing so.

Duhr was just Duhr. A tiny blossom of life in a world of death, chaos and destruction.

-----

She awoke, eyes shooting open instantaneously, her heart thumping painfully against her ribs. Mizuti had awoken to a frightening chorus of howls and screams.

"Wuzzat?" she mumbled, her brain not having yet caught up with her body. She looked around the room, bleary-eyed, expecting a long quest to discover her glasses. To her surprise, they were right next to her. She put them on, and was shocked to see what had happened to the room.

It was almost clean. The books were stacked in a row in alphabetic order, the Magnus in a tall pile, and even some furniture dug up from underneath the former piles. The only thing off about the room was the horrendous, continuous howls.

"What's that?" she repeated, more clearly.

Keven peered his head around the corner. "Oh, hey Mizuti. Nice to see you up early for a change. Mechizedik found some cluckers. You can make eggs for breakfast."

Mizuti scooted up, following Keven. He led her to a small flock of grey birds, looking at Mechizedik with indignant obsidian eyes as she scooped up small eggs into a basket. She stood, hands over her ears, until the other girl left the room, the cluckers immediately quieting, but looking at her intimidatingly.

"Eggs," the robotic girl said simply. Most of her armor had been removed, but the helmet still remained donned. She still looked the same as before, but with stitches in the cloth easily visible, as if the armor fell over the clothing.

"How come we never noticed the cluckers?" questioned Keven.

"They're hard to catch. They're all over the place, but you can't really notice them. Don't worry too much about it."

"What will you make, Mizuti? Real food?"

"If you get me a skillet, I'll try."

"Finally!" Keven exclaimed, licking his lips. "Say, you think you can add any ham to it? I'm suddenly strangely hungry…"

He stopped short when they noticed that there was an intruder inside the room. A person was leaning back in Mizuti's desk, a book open as they read through the pages, as if they didn't have a care in the world. Their body was covered in a dark grey, tattered cloak, a hood draped over their head, hiding any sort of features of their body.

"All right, what are you doing here?" Keven groaned, his request for breakfast interrupted by the sight of the stranger.

The person continued reading, as if they didn't hear Keven. However, eventually, they spoke, in a low, muffled voice.

"Mizuti, Keven, Mechizedik. Greetings," the person said, standing up, leaving the open book on the desk. The person's face was covered with an odd, dark grey apparatus, although most of it was covered in shadow. The most they could see of their eyes were two white slits, any sort of emotion unreadable. Several slits were carved into the face of their mask, most likely used to breathe and talk through. The rest of their face was doused in darkness.

"Hello," Mizuti responded with caution, knowing she would be the only one to do so.

"I was merely reading some ancient stories. Old stories dragged into the depths of the earth, never to be seen by the heavens again…stories of the Soul Scrapers."

Soul Scrapers. The name rang through Mizuti's head with a cold, shivering sensation. She had read stories about them in the same book this person was reading. Several years ago, books were her getaway from her boring duties in the village. Many of her favorite tales were read during the night, when the freezing night air grasped at the skin, chilling down to the very soul of a person. Lit only by the light of the hazy stars, she read the most frightening tales alone, out in these gloomy nights, and she was terrified by them. The stories concerned themselves, for the most part, of dark, sinister ghosts called Soul Scrapers.

They were the ghosts of fallen gods, never completely sealed away. They changed into beautiful, angelic people, lovely beings that seduced their victims with delicate grace, amazing charisma, and a beautiful disposition while scraping and absorbing the souls of their victims, sucking them dry of emotion. What they left behind were empty husks, as so described in the tales. She distantly remembered one Soul Scraper, Ardemicio, reaching into the depths of a person's heart, ripping out their still-beating heart and consuming it, before swallowing their soul, leaving behind a mindless doll.

"Oh, those stupid stories," Keven chuckled. "Those legends of those things that ate kids who didn't learn magic. Well, I didn't learn how to use magic, and look where I am now."

"Soul Scrapers? Can someone explain?" Mechizedik interrupted, placing the basket of eggs on the ground.

"Ghost gods that eat lazy people. They aren't real, of course, because you've got a living example—twenty-nine and still ticking. Anyway, what do you want? Eggs?"

"Discussing a matter over some eggs is a good idea," the person suggested. "Would you like some help?"

"Sure," Mizuti shrugged. She had some friends keeping an eye on this person, and the person was outnumbered, so she wouldn't have much to worry about. Other than burning their precious eggs.

------

"Great Kamroh, I bring you news."

"Ah. You have arrived. What sort of things have occurred in the skies?"

"I'm afraid to say that a lot of things have happened. And I believe there is more to come."

"Oh no…"

"Let's see…our scouts have written out a report of the things that have happened. 'In Anuenue, the Celestial Tree has fallen by unknown reasons. In detail, something like a shudder ran through the Celestial Tree, followed by a vein of fire bursting from the roots, running to the upper reaches of the tree and setting it, and the rest of the forest aflame. We managed to flee, fortunately. The fire of Anuenue burnt endlessly for three days, sending reams of thick black ash out over the entire country. When the rain finally came, we went to see the results, and mind you, they were horrifying.

The Celestial Tree was nothing more than a blackened charred remains of what it once was. The forest area surrounding it was practically all gone, animals and people dead where they stood.' And I'm sorry to say, this is just the beginning. Now, allow me to continue.

'In Diadem, what was once the Cloud passage suddenly became a tornado, pouring thick clouds into Nashira, causing suffocation.

A massive storm built up over Sadal Sudd, where thunder and lightning struck furiously, destroying buildings, burning forests and tearing huge chunks out of the ground.

On Alfard, the ground shook and the Lava Caves exploded, sending rivers of lava spewing out, reducing Azha to ashes in a matter of minutes.

In Mira, the balance between dimensions caved in, and the entire country disappeared, swallowed up by a dark hole. All attempts to contact them have failed.'"

"I can't believe this. It is just like the War of the Gods…except there is no place to retreat to now."

"On a lighter note, we have actually managed to come into contact with them."

"You mean…"

"Yes, we have. They agree to help us, but under one condition. They have written it down right here, and they say the deal should be very agreeable, considering our condition. They have asked only you and your assistant, Lord Krumly, to read it. Here, let me pass it to you…"

"…hm. Pass this on to Lord Krumly. I'll think about this offer and reply later. Thank you very much. You may collect your Magnus outside."

"Yes. The citizens of Wazn thank you. I'll report again next month. Goodbye."

-----

"Aah…that was the best meal I've had in ages," Keven groaned, leaning back in his chair.

"Now that we have eaten," the stranger began, having not yet introduced themselves. "May I get to the purpose of why I was here?"

The other three looked at each other before nodding.

"Mizuti," the stranger said. Mizuti shuddered. How did all these people know who she was? "Have you ever heard of the Affiliation?"

The words echoed in a hollow way, as Mizuti remembered in a surge—

Her father stood by the entrance, peering into the room. Ten-year-old Mizuti Kiruseto, seated on her bed, experimenting with some of her Magnus. He looked at her curiously, before whispering the familiar word—"The Affiliation is interested in you…"

"Only a little," Mizuti said quietly.

"The Affiliation is interested in you. We would enjoy it if you joi—"

"No," Mizuti said simply, attempting to end the conversation right there.

The stranger nodded, sitting back. "I guess that ends that. However, there are several more matters we are in need to discuss."

"Hold it," Keven said. "Why should we listen to you? I don't care about anything you have to say. I don't even know who you are. All I know is that you barged into our room and started messing around with our stuff. So, unless you've got a good reason to say why I should listen to you, then go on. Otherwise, I don't care about what you want to say."

"Well, then," the person said. "I might as well leave. Of course, only if your other friend doesn't want to listen to what I have to say…of course, your friend doesn't seem to be here right now."

"What?"

The two looked beside themselves, only to discover that the robot was missing. The odd mechanical whirring that they heard yesterday suddenly began to fill the air, but in greater amounts than before. They quickly stood up, bolting out of the door, the stranger following them.

"Did you do this?" Mizuti said, a faint amount of suspicion in her voice.

"Of course not," the stranger replied, blank, white triangles staring at Mizuti.

At the outskirts of the village, where only dry sand and dirt blew around in tiny whirlwinds, Mechizedik stood, gritty sand gathering into small crevices in her body. She seemed to ignore this, and looked to the sky intently, one fist clenched, the other already becoming a gun.

"The Androns."

"You never did explain that," Keven said as he approached the robot.

"Well, you won't have to worry," Mechizedik muttered, pointing a finger to the sky. "There they are now."

Krrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...

"I don't see anything."

Krrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...

"You will soon."

KRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR...

Right then, with several loud clangs, three sinisterbeings thudded down to the ground. Three robots. They looked almost like angelic beings, like the lesser servants of Malpercio, but they obviously weren't. In the gaps of their metal skin and armor, large spear-like protrusions poked out. Steel pulleys replaced their joints, and over their hands were titanium claws. The claws gleamed wickedly in the sun, casting dancing lights around the domain of sand. Their eyes were mechanical lenses, which glared at them with a red light. Large steel, skeletal wings were attached to their back, jet packs underneath.

"What's tha-" Mizuti began, catching up to the other three, before sensors screeched and chattered.

"WARNING! WARNING! MOTION DETECTED AT SECTOR DELTA! ELIMINATE ALLTARGETS OBJECTIVE: ACTIVATED!"

One Andron's extensions rotated and slid away, mirroring those of its allies.

"ENGAGING BATTLE MODE! ELIMINATE ALL TARGETS!"

Silver and obsidian plates slid back to reveal assault weaponry, which smoothly slid into place.

"Oh, hell," Keven groaned. "Not another one!"

The enigmatic stranger pulled out an arm from the depths of their cape, and in their hand they held an odd weapon, if it was one. They held a white quill, white ink dabbed on the tip of the pen. They held it up to their chest, as if pondering whether to attack or not.

"What are you going to do with that?" Mizuti asked, a small hand of Magnus clasped in one hand.

"Fight."

In the center of one Andron's chest, where an odd mechanical weapon of sorts gleamed dully in the light, an odd spark began gathering in the back of it.

"Lightning Cannon cartridge: Locked and loaded! Fire at will!"

The air was suddenly filled with the deep-throated, thunderous explosionsof gunfire and the crackling white-hot roar of a Lightning Cannon's projectiles.

"Be careful with those guns and claws of theirs!" Mechizedik warned as a deadly sphere of blue electricity roared past her head as she fired back at the mechanical monstrosities.

A roaring flare of lightning snaked through the air from an Andron's arm, slicing around at the air in a jagged streak of blue and white. However, before it hit anyone, a large spear of light punched through its arm, cutting off the attack. The cloaked stranger had stabbed their quill through the arm of the Andron, a smoking hole hissing through. They spun around, another pen in hand, as they struck again.

Keven's knives silently streaked through the air, stabbing into the robot enemy, its arm full of holes. One of its fellow robots, which he failed to notice, loomed behind him, and stabbed him in the side. Keven swiftly turned away, arm at his side. Scarlet blood trickled out between his fingers, seeping onto the dirt. With his other hand, he weakly grabbed another dagger, gritting his teeth at this odd menace. He lashed out, swiping at the robot, the enemy flying back before he could get inany sort of hit. The enemy fired back rapidly, swinging its weapons back and forth, strafing the area with whirling projectiles. The human wildly zigzagged back and forth, leaping aside, ducking, and jumping over the spinning bullets in a desperate gamble to dodge the attacks. He couldn't help but notice Mizuti helping Mechizedik with her robot, before he noticed the third robot about to join in the fray. Keven, not wanting his allies, except for that odd being who had joined their numbers in the last second, to get injured like he did.

"Look out!"

Mizuti averted her gaze to the looming robot, slipping out a card from her deck. She held the card between her hands, and whispered under her breath, "Arcanum..."

She became an explosion of flames, roaring proudly like a lion, as she charged into the enemy with a "Prominence!"

A deafening explosion sounded as the fury of fire, with a flaming mane and a fiery muzzle with golden, glaring eyes smashed into the robotic fury. A shriek punctured into the howls of fire on metal, as the robot exploded in a storm of furious sparks and a shower of oil, clattering to the ground in a thunderous boom in a final rain of twisted, charred metal, and a chestnut-haired girl, who landed on the ground with a soft thud.

Then, a large quill sliced through a robot's arm, and it screamed. It was a howling wail, like that of a wounded beast. "MY ARM! MY ARM!" the robot screeched as it dipped through the air furiously. "PAIN! PAIN!"

Copper-colored blood dripped out of its mechanical socket, the bullet-filled arm clattering to the ground. The sounding echo of an assault rifle thundered through the air as black holes hissed through the robot's chest, lightning cracking off of it. It thudded to the ground, several black holes in its chest, eyes flickering out into a dull grey.

There was a hollow scream, a dull thud, and then the smell of molten steel wafting through the air.

"System...mal...function...dead..."

Then there was...silence.

A silence far more ghastly than the lingering sound of ascream in thesmoke-tinged haze.Oil dripped out of its wounds in blots of black.

"Units Two and Three...disabled."

Keven suddenly flew through the air along with a boom, as he was thrown off his feet and sprawledonto the ground. Even more blood flowed from a raw gash in his forehead.

With a groan, he lifted himself up with his elbows. "Anyone got something to heal me with?"

The robot charged then, blades drawn ahead of it, a spiraling spear of fury. Electricity gathered around it, humming for a final blow.

"Stop this!" the stranger yelled suddenly.

With a precise burst of light and darkness, the cannons on the robot suddenly exploded in a cloud of sparks and metal. The robot jerked slightly and skittered in a spasm, burrowing into the ground. With a sick crunch, it bounced off the ground, body shattered apart. It looked up, flickering red eyes emotionless, turning slightly back toits four targets.

"Weapons...disabled...maneuvering systems...disabled...objective:eliminate alltargets...failed..."

Sullen eyes looked up at the dull skies, darkmulti-colored clouds smoking around in circles, its glass eyes reflecting the several colors of the sky.

"Don't...want...to..."

The glow of the Andron's eyes faded and went dark.

"We must head back," the stranger said suddenly. "This is more important than I thought."

"And I hurt," Keven complained. "All over."

As the group trudged back, supporting the injured man, Mizuti glanced back with wondering grey eyes at the motionless body of the Andron, silent and lifeless like a grave. Its dark grey eyes seemed to reflect pure darkness, emotionless forever. It seemed to glance back at her with its haunting, empty eyes.

She glanced away from it, a soft shudder rushing through her body.

-----

And schmo, chapter two ends. It's shorter than I would have liked it to be, but bah, it's a chapter. I don't own Baten Kaitos, but I own this fanfic.