All righty here's part two by popular demand!

My Pride on the Line

Chapter 2

The World, a place where a person could be whatever they wanted to be; with the exception of themselves . . . There were things that were accepted and things that were not. Just like there were things . . . people that others were meant to love and people that were not. Even an 'open' place like The World did not fully approve of a relationship between two people of the same gender. Some people of course hid this by hiding their gender such as a male having a female character to be with his boyfriend online or a female playing a male in order to be with her girlfriend somewhere. However, there are others who opted to find other ways.

Endrance, the most tempting blade brandisher in all The World was one such person. He held together both of his short tempered secret lovers; the silver adept rogue Haseo and the unusual AI Azure Kite. His heart stopped every time he got even the barest glimpse of Haseo, but he was unsure of how Azure Kite felt about him.

After being with the AI for six months he wondered if Azure Kite was only tolerating him, something he found both strong and strange.

Today, he saw him at the Alchemy District of Mac Anu, he sat on the edge of the fountain fiddling with two envelopes in his hand and twitching his feet. The AI caught sight of him. With the barest of movements he indicated that one of them was for Endrance. The AI placed it down slowly and left as though he were made out of smoke. Haseo appeared shortly afterwards, regardless of what was written he was a brave soul for reading it out in the open. As much as Endrance wanted to something for once held him back.

All he could do was exit into his own private spot and open the blue envelope.

To Endrance:

Don't mind this too much it's just the ramblings of an insane little AI with way too much time on his hands and mind, and the heart he thinks he has.

I've always thought that it was weird for me to have feelings, after all what use do they have for I needed to do? Why would I need emotions like anger, fear, confusion, sympathy . . . love . . . What would I need something like that for? I thought I was a tool, not that it was a bad thing; I just thought that that was all I needed to be. My thoughts changed after there was nothing left to fight. Those periods of rest were brief, but not brief enough to erase the rising feeling of confusion inside of me. When I first saw you it was only a glimpse and not a very good one either, but when I met you for real (as in I at least knew your name) I envied you a little more than I ought to have; after all why should I envy someone I first met? Of course this too was a part of my growing emotions; my growing need to combust inside my mind.

It was you who helped me out of that spinning world. In truth you were the first person to actually understand the utter chaos inside of my mind and how to get out of it. It was you who told me that en or 

otherwise is first and foremost meant to extenuate your existence and open it up to that many more people which are why even when brief ones end there is an empty space. How the empty space will be filled or not depends on the person and when they feel the place is ready to be filled. Another factor is who they choose to fill the space with.

I chose Haseo to fill that space, but you had chose him long before the thought even crossed my mind. And you were so candid in your own way; somehow your uniquely (I can't believe I'm saying this) Divine way of speaking was taken in even in a closed convoluted world such as this one. I have to admit when I found this out I had no idea of what to do; I already felt envy because you knew so much about me without having to know me at all and now I have to compete with you?! I had no idea how to react so I just kind of kept it in as best I could and just . . . walked . . . it wasn't the smartest option, but it was a halfway sane one.

I think Haseo posed that the three of us go out together, I distinctly remember wanting to pull my hair out. I could tell by the look on your face that you weren't too thrilled about it either even more so than me because you've known Haseo longer if not anything else. But we still went along with it, it wasn't like we had much of a choice really, besides at least he was honest about wanting both of us; anyone else would have lied and tried to float between us. That would have been disastrous.

Well, it started out as a disaster anyway. I have no idea why you keep making me out to be the one with jealous streak, you may be better at hiding it but you still have an awful one. Anyway, as a result of not wanting to share we just did subtle things here and there from the two of us to say 'I don't like you go away.' They were stupid things like when you pushed me over the Mac Anu Bridge, or that time I stopped Haseo from getting one of your e-mails. The fighting had to be the worse, Haseo to this freaking day has no idea of how many times we've fought behind his back, he caught us one out of . . . IDK how many times . . . I stopped counting after one fight went on for four hours.

It was after that one in particular that you said we maybe overdoing things; putting our energy into something pointless. I didn't want to admit it at the time but I agreed with you completely; aside from that I was too wiped out to argue, heh. But how exactly do two people go from being obsessively competitive towards each other to somewhat complacent if not at least civil? Beats me.

Although I have to admit it's nice to know when someone else knows how to solve a problem, y'know they start you off, but you're the one who ends up not shutting up. Like the first time we actually talked. You told me your (I prefer the word 'jealous', but if there's another word by all means . . . fill in the blank) streak came from the fact that very few people stayed by your side. Do you realize how crazy that sounded to me? The most sought after man in the World talking about being lonely, honestly . . . but I knew what you meant most of those people would run in fright if they knew half of your personality. I'm not just talking about our relationship either . . . you're evil and scary when you feel like it . . . and vain at times . . . Anyway you talked of how you lost those closest to you and a part of you would always beat yourself up about it because you thought you were weak. Then when you found something to protect, it turned out you were being used. Haseo played a major role in sorting your mind out and now all you want to do is stay by his side as long as time allows, and y'know what Haseo wouldn't have things any other way. He hasn't said it but we both know by now that he's just a big softie on the inside . . . I suppose I am too . . . (Hint: I'm in for that long eternity too).



I told you that I actually have very little confidence; what is seen as clear conviction is nothing more than me running in the opposite direction because if I stop to think about it I truly will go the wrong way. Because of that I end up disoriented if something suddenly comes up or when the pace slows for even a second. I think I also said that the main reason I even fought you at all was because I felt overshadowed by you. You literally had everything I did not and I'd be somewhere behind not just you but Haseo as well. You told me point-blank that was not possible because Haseo did not 'settle' for me he 'wanted' me and that I ought to be more confident if not for that.

That bit of time changed my outlook on you a lot. I hope the same thing happened on your end, En. Honestly, though, I've never completely thought ill of you, like I said the most negative I've thought was envy, and that was out of feeling a little hopeless, anyhow, enough of the theatrics! The bottom line is that it may not seem like it all the time, but I do care about you a lot (sometimes more than Haseo) and you've helped me in ways I could never fully return mentally or physically. I wish I could do better than this letter, but I'm trying GIVE A GUY CREDIT FOR THAT AT LEAST!

. . . I'm sure you know what ILY means . . . that's how I feel about you okay?

Kite of the Azure Flame

Two days later Endrance saw Azure Kite at the fountain, the AI appeared drained as he dipped his hand in the water and moved it around a bit. Even now, his words floored Endrance, mostly because he covered everything the blade brandisher was thinking about. Not only that, but he bared all of his thoughts, something that had to been a challenge. He knew the latter was not paying any attention to his surroundings (one look at his eyes told that) so as quietly as possible he settled next to him and placed his hand over the hand not in the water. He had not noticed Haseo from a distance, but now that both he and Azure Kite were in view, he took both of their hands.

Very few people noticed them, and at that moment it would not have mattered, especially after Haseo whispered four simple words:

"You are not alone."

A/N: Whew! I'm done! This chapter was waaay longer than I first thought, but it's mostly because I have a hard time writing Azure Kite and Endrance not acting as rivals. I hope I did a good job, and I may do one more letter (and possibly finish some of these other stories).