Disclaimer: I do not own Drakengard the original or the sequel. If I did, Nowe would be more Caim-ish.

Summary: AU. Slash. Caim/Nowe. There is always a choice, another path to the one you are already on. Manah had already chosen hers. But Nowe needed a little guidance…Caim was there to give it.

"Talking"

Thinking

"Pact Partners"

"Dragon Speech"

Ok, this chapter, begins in the Shrine of Holy Life.

Isn't He Supposed To Be Dead?

Manah and Urick walked through the giant doors together. There, Caim was waiting. Another person was sitting on the floor next to him. Nowe was alive.

Urick chuckled inwardly. I never thought Nowe would swing that way…let alone both of them would swing together.

Manah…who'd gotten a little attached to Urick refused to allow him to die. So she fought Caim, as Nowe 'recovered' from his hostage situation next to Urick. To put it correctly Urick was talking to Nowe and the boy back. While Urick secretly and silently cheered Manah on, Nowe watched both of them.

Caim was crouched, Manah in front of him both exhausted when Caim shot to his feet unexpectedly, Manah stumbled backwards eventually falling over from the momentum. Caim raised his sword to strike, and Urick intercepted the attack taking the brunt mask flying off until he rolled to a stop in the Holy Flowers.

Caim looked at Manah…revenge renewed itself in the back of his mind pushing forwards to the conscious thoughts. However Nowe ran towards the both of them, and leap-hugged him; burying his face in the older man's chest; well that did manage to stop him.

Urick was staggering up, already resurrecting. Manah however it turned out was homophobic, because she hid behind Urick at the sight of Caim and Nowe.

Caim allowed himself to be led back outside. Angelus was perched on a nearby cliff, talking with a dark blue dragon.

Legna looked up as the famed red dragon-the fool who trusted a human, which led to her broken mind-hovered until she was perched on the large cliff next to him.

"How did you break free? The Nameless while driven by whim…their seals are powerful."

She looked at him, for a moment he feared her mind was broken. But then she looked down at the monsters and Knights milling about beneath them trying to work out where the enemy was.

"I was freed by the New Breed."

"That is impossible! He is dead!"

"My human Caim found him…he is strong…very, very strong." A pack of monsters grew bored and started brawling with each other, a heavily armoured soldier moved in to stop them. "And still he grows more powerful everyday. You are using the priestess in place of him."

"Nowe is under your jurisdiction now, since it is your human he has chosen."

"Hmm…yes…Caim…Caim!"

He supposed her last words of calling out to him were the remnants of her insanity. She was not yet fully healed and still bore the scars of the seals and therefore the burden. That was if she was sane.

She looked at him again. "Perhaps you would like for us to meet again sometime?" Legna spoke up, suddenly feeling sheepish and nervous. "Say perhaps after the Time Seal is destroyed?"

"Perhaps; or maybe if the human guarding it has a grudge against the child…"

"Do you mean a brief encounter?" he answered her looking then away again.

"See you soon…Legna." She burst away from the ledge and hovered at the entrance where the level-two blue dragon could see her human and his adoptive son jump onto her back. Then she was out of sight until the time was right as to reveal her true presence and position as the goddess.

He looked forward to it.

"Caim, I have decided." Angelus spoke up while flying through the peaceful skies, her partner and newest companion on her back. The voiceless man was currently cradling the sleeping form of his younger male…lover? Was that the right term?

"What?"

"You and your…boyfriend," Caim considered kicking his partner, but then thought against it since he's get a repercussion of the damage…and he might drop Nowe, "will help the rebels destroy the Time key."

"But you said that would ultimately destroy your mind."

"That was before the New Breed awoke."

"Awoke?"

"You may not sense it but his power is increasing exponentially every day…soon…very soon, he will ascend beyond even the highest power of mortals…"

"He will become a god?"

"Yes, but even at that stage his power will still grow, perhaps not so rapidly but I doubt he will ever stop evolving. He will become more than an immortal…he will reflect the universe."

"Uni-verse?"

"It is not something that can be measured…it is never-ending. I wouldn't expect you to understand it, just know that you will be the only one able to convince him to stop if he gives in to the emotions that once were all that kept you company."

"Why would that be a bad thing? We can rip apart this 'General Gismor' together."

"Caim, do you remember the power surge that set me free?"

"Yes."

"That affected over half the population of the world through a shockwave. Now imagine if you can, the intense surge over a thousand times stronger, and crushing you with hatred, anger, bloodlust…what image do you have in your head?"

"Something worse than when the Seeds appeared."

She examined the picture in his head. "That is only the tip of the iceberg…because he may be that strong now."

"…That's not possible…it's only been a few days since you were freed."

"I told you, exponential growth." Nowe curled closer to Caim's warm chest. The one-eyed man suddenly felt a little sick…his lover was a threat to the world worse than Manah had been.

Manah and Urick had managed to fight their way through the vast army of Knights, to the plateau where the foundations of the tower were built, killing more of the Knights that blocked their path, they made it into the base of the tower, where they found Nowe, a bored looking Caim, and on a latter note, a lot of bloodshed had greeted them before reaching the tower entrance.

"Ah Nowe, glad to see you're safe." Urick greeted cheerfully. Manah gripped his hand for courage seeing Caim standing quite close to the light brown haired male.

"Sorry if I'm interrupting something." Gismor emerged from the giant doors that opened allowing him and Eris through.

"You…" Urick thought he noticed Caim tense when Nowe hissed angrily in response to Gismor's presence.

"What surprised to see me?"

Nowe almost seemed to be animalistic, his eyes were narrowed, hands clenched into fists, knuckles white where he was gripping the sword, and his teeth were bared in a growl. Urick definitely saw Caim flinch.

Manah tried to reason with Eris much like she had shown Nowe the truth…before he turned out to be…well…interested in Caim.

"…It ends now…" Nowe growled reading his sword, and striking Gismor-hard, the general coughed up what looked like blood his armour shattering falling to the floor revealing his true black wispy shadow-like body.

"I will not be defeated by the likes of you!" that sentence made the blue-eyed teenager angrier, dark blue light seemed to crackle into existence in the air, and Caim flinched again while a few bolts struck the floor and walls around them gouging out deep scratches in the stone. Nowe charged but Gismor pulled Eris to in front of him…

They left Eris behind, and the group of four made their way outside where Legna met up with them and carried them up to a higher level of the tower.

"Nowe. Are you all right?" Manah asked. He poked the Knight's dead body with his sword again before kicking him out of the way and moving onwards. Urick who was behind the younger half of their misfit team with the other older one noticed that his companion, Caim tensed up again.

What was making the ultimate warrior of the world so nervous every time Nowe exerted more volatile emotions and actions? The immortal wondered if it had to do with those blue bolts of energy from earlier…

They got separated from the younger pair and chased after them…finding blood everywhere, eventually they found Manah pinning herself against a wall furthest away from where a Knight frantically struggling to get away from Nowe who was holding him easily in place, by his upper arm.

Urick went to Manah first, because after the incident in Urick's Key, they'd gotten a fair bit closer. Caim moved towards Nowe. The Knight's helm was off, and there was a lot of blood spilt onto the floor from the conflict with his now dead comrades. Nowe pulled the man's arm backwards and the knight collided with the New Breed's front, then something terrible happened. Nowe tilted the knight's head back and bit his neck, the knight screamed but it soon only came out gurgled blood rising up out of his open mouth.

Caim did the only thing he could think of at that moment. You will be the only one able to convince him to stop, he pulled Nowe away from the dying knight and forcefully kissed the younger male.

What's this coppery taste in his mouth? No…he wouldn't…not my gentle Nowe…

"This is what I had warned you about. Only his bloodlust is different to yours."

I prefer my kind of lust.

Caim suddenly noticed he was on the floor…and Nowe was on top of him. "This is not the time to enjoy yourself…you have a Key to destroy." Caim reluctantly pushed the teenager off and led the New Breed up the stairs to the presumable Key Room by the hand. Manah and Urick were ahead of the pair.

Gismor was winning, the former imperial had managed to murder Urick but he'd be back again soon, Manah was bleeding because of a wound to her abdomen she was still standing but weakly. Nowe had been injured by a magical attack, and Caim was fighting the corrupt general.

Manah staggered weakly over to Urick's body, looking back to an insane victorious laugh or cackle depending on opinion from Gismor. Caim had been pushed over the side…to oblivion.

She looked over to Nowe feeling pity for him, expecting the gentle child to be crying or shaking with sorrow. Well he was trembling…but something was wrong, a ghastly looking dark blue aura was emanating from the light brown haired fugitive.

Urick coughed beside her leg, the reaper returning him to life. Gismor was still gloating even as Manah felt a terribly great sense of dread.

"I…hate…you…I hate every last one of you!" Nowe seethed as dark blue wings made of light grew from his back- dragon wings, eyes became slits, hair glowing with energy, he charged forwards at Gismor. But Manah noticed he'd left his sword on the ground from when he'd dropped it after the magic attack.

Nowe's sword arm was surrounded in the same dark blue light just before he hit the general in the area where the left lung would be. The light ripped through Gismor's body, and more of it still linked to Nowe as it tore into the Hourglass key.

Caim noticed he was falling, Angelus shouting at him for being so reckless, when he noticed the sudden silence, and that he was no longer moving. What had happened? Was he dead already?

"…He has reached the Nameless stage already…this is impossible I had never thought-"

He's a god?

Angelus was silent for a minute. Caim heard flapping wings; he looked up to see something that looked a lot like Nowe only bluer…

"Yes, he is."

I've got to plan the rest of this out properly, but I'm not sure if I made the New Breed too high-key. I guess it reflect that I'd choose Nowe over Caim but still…it does seem like he is a fusion of dragons and the Nameless because in the games it seems he was born in there. Eh. My fic, my ideas I suppose.

Response to reviewers, I'm really grateful for your time. To the anoymous person, sorry that Caim's OOC, but we never really saw his emotional side save for the bloodlust in depth. I'd like to think I was 'exploring' the possiblity that the murderous Caim could be clingy. But anyway thanks for the constructive critism, it made me consider how to improve future chapters.