o-O-O-o means you're reading a section set in the past. x-X-X-x means you're reading a section set in the present.

"DANA!" he screamed, running as fast as he could after the monster. "DANAAA!"

"ALEEEEX!" his sister cried back. "ALEX HELP MEEEE!"

He was coming, he was trying his best, he was running faster than he ever had in his life. But the monster was faster, even with Dana clutched in its grasp. The monster bound and leapt away across rooftops, and soon enough, it disappeared from Alex's sight. But still Alex ran, and ran, and ran until his legs finally gave out from under him. He collapsed to the ground, chest heaving, and tears streaming down from his face.

"Dana," he croaked. "Dana I'm coming...I'm coming…"

All around him, monsters swarmed the city streets as people ran from them. The screams of the dying, the hunters and hunted echoing through the night. No one paid him any notice as he lied in the street, catching his breath as he waited for his calves stopped burning so he could continue his search. He wouldn't rest until he found Dana.

x-X-X-x

It couldn't be true. He didn't want it to be true, but William knew better. The King stormed through the halls to the northwestern wing. He was terrified of what he'd find, if Altair's report had any truth. His foolish son, he never should have taught him the ways of Eden…

Without much grace, William threw open the doors to the prince's room and bellowed out, "DESMOND!"

He heard his son squawk in surprise, and there was an audible shuffle from the second tier. William stormed up the stairs. He found Desmond lounging amongst his "bed", a pile of pillows and blankets draped around him. A blanket was wrapped up around the right side of his body as he lounged about, and what looked like pillows were hidden underneath the rest of it.

"Father!" Desmond smiled up at him. "What an unexpected surprise!"

"Where are they?" William growled. "What did you do to them?"

"Them?" Desmond echoed innocently.

"The girls. What did you do to them? Don't act stupid with me."

The color in Desmond's face drained only slightly as he replied, "I don't know what you mean. What girls, there were no girls here…"

"DESMOND!" William roared. "TELL ME WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!"

"I-I haven't- Who said- No, Father!"

William marched over, grabbed hold of the blankets, and ripped them away. They dropped him his hands moments later from what he saw, and William felt his blood run cold. Desmond's right arm was destroyed, blackened, burnt beyond all saving. But the ice blue eyes glaring up at him really caught his attention.

He felt like he had gone back in time, back to when those same eyes had looked up at him in a determined desperation. The dark, curly hair was practically the same, but he had grown in body. He wasn't the same little boy he anymore, but a man.

At least, he would be if the Mother hadn't taken him as her own.

More curiously, there were chains around his neck, hands, and feet. Bound back to the mortal realm, but bound to…

William glanced between his son and the demon, and he groaned loudly.

"Father, I can explain-" Desmond started.

William silenced him with a fierce glare, then he looked back down at the demon, the Child.

"What has he done, beast?" William asked him. "I command you to answer me."

"What does it look like?" the Child grumbled at him. "The fool has summoned me and bound me to him. Sacrificed pilgrims and women. Intends to marry me. Need I say more?"

Desmond lost all color to his face as he paled more and more with every word spoken. He gave the Child a rather scandalized look, but it turned to terror as he looked back up at his father.

"I can't believe this," William shook his head. "I can't believe YOU. I told you it was dangerous to play with the Pieces of Eden, I TOLD you only to use them in dire need. They are not toys, Desmond!"

"I know, but Father, please understand, I-I know what I'm doing!" Desmond pleaded. "You'll see, it'll be great!"

"The only thing I want to see is that," William jabbed a finger at the Child. "Sent back to his Mother, immediately. Before she notices his disappearance and comes looking for him."

"And she will look, so I have to agree with him," the Child said.

"...No," Desmond said. "No, it's fine. Let her come then! I'll just send her back! With the power of the Apple, she won't stand a cha-aaah!"

He was cut off when William stormed over to him and lifted him off the ground by his tunic.

"ARE YOU MAD?!" William screamed at him. "ARE YOU THIS DAFT? DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND? YOU ARE INVITING DEATH TO THIS KINGDOM! YOU ARE ASKING FOR THE DEATH OF THOUSANDS, AND THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ENTIRE CITY! DOES THIS NOT FAZE YOU AT ALL?"

Desmond only stared back at him, nothing to say, just a wild look in his eyes. William got a good look at him then, and for a second, he almost didn't recognize him. The dark circles under his son's eyes, the thinning of his face, the uneven growth of whiskers along his chin. He looked as mad as he sounded. What had happened to him?

"Send him back," William ordered one last time.

"I can't," Desmond whispered. "I can't...I won't...I've come too far…"

"Then I will make you," William declared. He let go of him, dropped Desmond back into his bed. "You stay here, and do not leave, do you understand me? I will have Altair stand here with you to make sure of it. When I return, you better be here, or so help me, Desmond…"

William turned away, throwing the Child one last glance before he stormed back out of the room.

o-O-O-o

The King was young to say the least, far too young to be a king, but since his father's death in the monster attacks, it was a role for him to inherit alone. He stood tall, dark hair smoothed back, beard perfectly trimmed. Despite it, he looked tired, exhausted as he had been spending the last few days dealing with the monsters of the Mother. Alex understood him all too well.

"It's a fruitless search, child. No one has returned from the palace since they were taken there, your sister is most likely dead. I cannot help you," the new King William shook his head.

"Please my Lord, there's still a chance." Alex begged him. "I know she's in there, I know she's still alive. Please sir…"

"I'm sorry my child, but the city's forces are already expended as is, and I can't risk a hopeless rescue mission now. I have other matters to attend to, again, my sincere apologies." King William said, and he started to turn away.

"Then I'll do it myself!" Alex cried. The King paused and looked back at him briefly. Alex fixed him with a determined glare, then he turned on his heel and marched away. If no one would help him save Dana, then very well, he'd do it himself.

x-X-X-x

The last person Dana expected to suddenly see in temple was the King himself. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy seeing him, in fact, it was always a pleasure hosting him. But she could tell that he wasn't here to have tea and catch up, something was terribly wrong.

"High Priestess, if I may, a private audience with you," he requested upon approaching her, and Dana wordlessly led him away to more secluded quarters. As soon as they were out of sight, William grabbed her shoulder and looked her in the eyes.

"My son has done something terrible," William said.

"I had a feeling," Dana replied, her suspicions about the Prince's behavior confirmed. "What did he do exactly?"

"He summoned a demon."

"Well that's not too bad-"

"It's your brother."

Dana froze. Her...her brother...Alex? No...No that was impossible. It had been too long, it had been years. Hundreds of years. How could it be Alex? What did Desmond do? How did he even pull it off? The Mother and her brother had been sealed away the Pieces of Eden. So did that mean Desmond undid the seal? Is that what he had been doing in the archives?

"I don't...I don't understand," Dana said. "Tell me what happened."

"You're not going to like it," William grimaced. "I'm none too pleased myself about it...But before I say any more, I swear it was him, I swear it was your brother. I'd know those eyes anywhere. He's...He's grown, much like you have. But, perhaps not for the better…"

The King told her of what happened earlier that day, what he had discovered, what Alex told her. Dana almost didn't want to believe it, that the Prince had done all this. That Desmond, the boy she had tutored and nurtured and cared for when he was a child. And now he was….summoning demons and sacrificing his people for it? And in the end, it was Alex. Her Alex. Her beloved big brother that she had been centuries for in the vain hope that she'd be able to save him. But it was so risky, it wouldn't be worth it, not without starting the disaster all over again. The disaster that Desmond was unwittingly re-starting if they didn't get Alex back to where he came from.

"I'm sorry, Dana," the King apologized to her. "I'm truly sorry. I know you've wanted this for so long, but there is no saving him without dooming others. I've taken care of you the best I can all this time, and I've always supported you. But now I need your support in return to prevent the kingdom from falling into chaos and death once more.

"My Lord, you've done plenty for me," Dana assured him. "And I am forever grateful to you. I assure you, I know what must be done. I promise my selfishness won't get in the way. As much as I love my brother, I won't risk repeating the past for him. The best we can do is take him back to where Desmond summoned him from, and create a newer, stronger seal."

"And for Desmond...We can't allow him to be free after this. He's already marked, and can't be trusted. Not around the Divines or their gifts, but around anyone else. Knowing what he's already done...I should be giving you my sympathies, my Lord. He would have made a fine successor but it appears that he's a little too much like his father."

William sighed, but he didn't disagree with her.

"I thought I raised him better than this. I felt so confident that maybe if he understood the power of the Apple, he could use it for good, and not...this." William confessed.

"You tried your best, and we can still fix this, before it gets any worse." Dana replied. "We will fix this before...She shows up."

A chilling thought all on its own.

o-O-O-o

The palace looked unrecognizable. It was covered in grotesque flesh looking foliage that pulsated and bulged almost as if it was alive, as if it was breathing. The monsters bounded in and out of the flesh, dragging the still screaming bodies of people in with them. One monster stopped long enough to bite the head off of a wailing man, blood spraying as it did. It swallowed the man's head before bounding along to the rest of the palace.

Alex felt sick watching this. But he couldn't turn back now, he had come too far. He was going in there to save Dana if it was the last thing he'd ever do. Alex took a deep breath, then ran inside the entrance to the courtyard. The flesh was everywhere, on the ground, crawling over the walls, spiking upwards and arching over into a dark cavern. He stuck to the walls, carefully stepping over any bumps and ruffles. The flesh squished disgustingly under his bare feet, but Alex carried on anyway.

It was hard to see, but Alex could still make out the mangled bodies held prisoner in the walls of the foliage. They were all dead, eyes still hanging open lifelessly, hands still stretched out in a silent beg to be saved. The foliage crawled out from their open mouths, some even pushing out from empty eye sockets. Their skin would bulge as well until it burst open and more of the foliage slithered out. He could hear shrieks and screams from farther in the cavern.

But still no Dana. Alex continued on through the near darkness of hell to find her.

See you in the next whenever.