# 18 Midnight Shade
Part 2 The dance that could not be declined
Once the sky lit up with bright colorful hues of sunset, and the Windpipe's sixth tune hummed comfortingly, the Grand Hall was opened for the ball. The music started after the resonating hum died down in the city's air. Guests of Honors started to enter the ball room, each accompanied by a counselor who'd introduce them with a loud formal voice when they enter. The counselors lined up along the walls after they saw their guests to the hall.
Bland tied the silver-lace embroidered scarf around his Master's neck so very carefully, a down air surrounding his figure in his black robe. Zechs stared his covered face with a soft smile, trying his servant's patience for telling him what had made him down, but his submissiveness was taking control of his action now, that he didn't even let his Master see his eyes.
"What…?" finally Zechs couldn't stand this patience-game and tried to brush the covering black hood from his servant's face. But Bland flicked his head gently away from his big opened hand, and gave a deep bow as a sign that he'd finished helping his Master to be presentable.
A Palace Counselor at the doors reported that it was time to enter the Grand Hall, right when Zechs stood up to persuade his servant or intimidate him with his height. But sensing the strong resentment coming from the counselor, knowing what he was going to put forth before his formal duties, Zechs nodded and followed the counselor quietly, leaving his black robed servant still bowing to his departure.
A childish mind spoke in his head, saying that they're somehow acted like he was going somewhere unreachable, thinking that Bland somehow did look like he was bestowing him to someone far greater then his existence. 'What ? am I a sacrifice on the altar or something…?' his mind mocked.
Suddenly, right after he finished that thought to himself, the counselor in front of him turned sharply, landed on his knees with his head flat to the rugged floor of the corridor. Zechs blinked, his eyes glanced around fast and realizing that that corridor was empty aside for himself and the prostrating counselor. Did he dare to ask after what his thought mocked him ?
"Sire…" the counselor began in a deep voice, "…you may take our lives after this.."
Oops.., that doesn't sound good to begin with, he thought.
"But you are the rightful Lord. We had to secure your safety..!"
'What ? Are you people raising up a forbidden ward somewhere..?' his childish mind smiled sympathetically.
"…that's why we didn't rescue you from your exile..!"
'Oh..!' his smile gone. 'This matter…' he complained flatly.
"So what's so big a matter about it now..?" he sighed.
"Sire, please use your honorary name-…!"
"Does it really matter what name I use to call myself..!"
"You are a Peacecraft-..!"
"And..?" he cut again.
"You are the scryed leader who will protect this Land in its hardest warfare-..!"
'Oh, Good Lord..!' Zechs blew his breath, 'Like we could win this war just by stating my name like a magicspell…!'. Then squatted down, poking the counselor's head with his index finger. "See here…" he paused searching for the right words that hopefully wouldn't make his lining counselors to commit suicide for loyalty sakes, "…while I'm walking around in this red royal garb.."
"…and pondering what name I want to be called with…, not that I'm discarding or even committing a blasphemy to my great ancestors for inheriting their name to me…"
"…you are wearing these indistinguishable white robes and loosing your personalities just to show your loyalty for your whole lives..!"
"Do I even want to punish you for not coming to my rescue when I didn't order you to do it, in the first place..!"
The counselor's head snapped up, but Zechs' index finger giving him a sign to shut up beat him to it.
"What's done is done..! I don't want to have a headache trying to change the past, unless you have anything you'd reported to me that is currently in the present, or effecting the future..!" he creased his brows.
The counselor blinked at him. That was the first time Zechs saw his face revealed from under his white hood. He actually had a fatherly face, smile wrinkles rooted at the ends of his eyes. Zechs thought of what kind of life he actually had when he didn't have to wear the slack mask of a Palace Counselor. Virion was too sterile a place to have a personality when you're not a monarch.
"I know my duty, I never forget it even when I'm in a secluded place out of harm's reach…!" Zechs tried to smoothen the fact of the exile matter. "That's one reason I'm still keeping my life. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you and this country from its circumstances in the past…!"
"I'll try to make myself a worthy leader of your loyalty.." he smiled a little sadly.
"Sire…"
"Now…!" Zechs stood up, "Accompany me to the Hall, Counselor..!" he said with a lifted spirit. But the prostrating counselor still didn't budge from the floor. '….what else..! You're even more emotionally persistent than Bland…..!'
"Sire, please sever your bond with your beast…!" the counselor's voice said back in a usual flat tone.
The Lord blinked, 'Is this a curse I have to endure ? Having persistently nagging counselors who keep asking me that…!'
The counselor sensed the changing in his Lord's disposition from his common average personality to an authoritarian Lord. "That is none of your concern..!" he said a little frozenly.
"But, Sire, your life is-…!"
"My blood…!" he stared down the counselor a little too frostily, "..is what make me what I am..!"
He didn't say 'who'.
The counselor muted and Zechs left with wide strides, knowing this Palace like his own palm, he thought he didn't really need any counselor to show him the way to the Grand Hall.
All eyes turned to him when the counselor at the doors he entered announced his arrival. He gave bobbing salutations at the guests with a firm smile, hiding his disappointment at not finding the one Beast-escort after he fast surveyed the spacious hall. He then performed his duty as a good host, just for formal sakes, while his mind actually strayed whereelse. The words that ArrenBone said that morning still pestering his thoughts, and that might be what made Bland backed from him a little.
He spotted the said black garbed person behind one of the tall pillars, avoiding the crowd, because the man found it that they're valueless in his own agenda, Zechs thought. At the exact time, the announcement of Deia's entrance took his attention to the doors.
And the chattering crowd held their breaths simultaneously, staring at the smiling fairish girl. Lord Barqiss was in the middle of sipping his glass of wine, and it dribbled to his chin as he gaped at her surreal beauty, as Zechs gazed from the ends of his eyes. A small snicker erupted from his throat, as he already knew that the said man looked at the girl as only a mere pretty-doll regardless her royalty, that was why he'd pressed on her in the meeting this morning. Now may be he'd upgraded his thought to one-of-a-kind-pretty-doll-with-royalty, his mind mocked.
Deia entered the Hall with such an utter innocent-look radiating on her face that she didn't look like a worldly being. Her long wavy hair was loose cascading her back, with the upper parts at the top of her head done in small scorpion-plaits, tied interconnected together with dangling tiny silver chain. Her dress was quite simple, but the sheen of blue shimmering light of the white cloth was nothing like everyone ever saw before, it made her actually shining. She smiled to the whole Hall in general, then gave a slow graceful curtsey. That moved its occupants to breathe again as they startled finding themselves in the realm of the living rather than in a dream.
Deia stepped into the Hall with her guardian-beast following at her shadow, they glided through the gawking crowd smoothly as if almost floating. Maybe since her feet were covered by her long dress, some people really thought that she was really floating rather than walking. Her Beast, on the other hand, seemed like his feet were attached to her shadow, as if finding that he couldn't walk on anything other than the light shade of hers casted on the red carpeted floor. His possessiveness gave Deia a feeling of security somehow, but it baited Zechs more than anything; of that she knew by herself, finding that he had his own master-possessive beast in black robe. The Lord's strange gazes on her Beast confirmed that, even though he might thought that she didn't realize his stares. But she was more paranoid of her Beast's safety rather than anything else.
The surreal girl headed straight to him, Zechs noted, she had a smile more delusive than any sweet-poison ever found on the Sphere by mankind. Kind of like the song of the sirens that lured the sailors onto rocks, or the giggles of the nymphs luring the lost travelers to stray missing in the woods.
He smiled warmly to her smile, bowed formally but didn't kiss her hand like he did to the other ladies, or like in their first meeting. Somehow the smell of a beast's blood surrounding her like a veil kept him at a safe distance, so did the other royal guests unconsciously. They had been giving her tentative smiles and awkward greetings, even though they didn't realize it except the blond Lord and the hunching figure in black behind one of the tall pillar.
A smile bloomed to her with a little strange feeling along from the blond girl wearing black dress. Dorothy chatted with her a little about generic subjects, furtively profiling her, Deia realized. The Master Pluie behind her seemed bored to the bones, she almost felt sorry for him, noticing his a little too visible limping walk. The guests who really worth the title of politicians were only her and few others, the rest were just pompous power-bred monarchs who seek protection from bigger and stronger lands. Somehow that standard didn't apply to Lord Barqiss, though; he was the lord of a small citystate that came from a mix of noble and common family, and his territory was in bad shape and even in the verge of battle most of the time. So, where did his cocky attitude came from ? He didn't even do well in governing his area…
"…Milady…!" the said man greeted with almost a croaking voice, a strange gleam burnt in his eyes for a short moment.
"Lord Barqiss..!" Deia curtseyed, "I'm very sorry for acting a little childish this morning…." she gave him a shy smile, despite the confidence sparkling in her eyes.
The strange gleams were back in his eyes, a little sharper at the edges, but she dismissed it with a gentle smile. He left her with polite nod after that.
'….aoow…, can't you feel his edges, really…?' she thought sarcastically with a sweet tone. A soundless snort answered her from behind.
'I know, I know..! Don't make enemies, right..! I get that….!'
Another snort.
'Really, I do…!' she frowned in her mind, somehow even feeling that her other-mind mocked that confession. She tried to shut it up with some cheery thoughts, knowing the other-mind hated her when she did that.
The first dance music sounded after that, as if mocking her forced cheery thoughts, as she realized most of the stares in the Hall was directed at her from the chicken-males, some of them even stared lecherously in the open. Some arteries popped in the back of her mind, she faked that she didn't realize them by smiling warmly and almost shut her laughing eyes completely. A sudden ladies' murmurs erupted, light steps she could perceive closing at her.
"Lady Deia of Archantra…" the smooth polite voice began, "May I ask for a dance…" the voice trailed off.
Deia opened her eyes finding Lord Marquis' face near her eye level with his bow. She saw that he had something changed in his eyes, her other-mind woke to alertness but she quelled it down so as not to show on the outside. But she thought he'd seen it in just a fraction of second as he continued his polite question.
"….with your escort..?" he closed it with a smile.
A humming murmurs heard like an undulating wave, died down almost as fast as it started.
Deia blinked, something that she'd describe as a white noise shrouded her other-mind, not that she wasn't grateful that it didn't induce her mind or anything, but she found it odd, almost felt like facing a bizarre mirror, to feel like she was blanked in the appearance when she thought she actually wanted to laugh madly in the inside (because she thought the closest thing to describe the sudden white-noise was that the other-mind was having a jawdrop when leering –imagine the drool..!).
Another blink. And while she was too careful of trying not to jerk the other-mind to alertness and blow the Hall to any saver hell, she thought in the dumbfoundedness she had given the Lord a nod.
His face lit up with gratefulness, he presented his white gloved hand to the black-armored youth behind her. "May I…?"
Deia could feel her beast's shock, not that it showed on his appearance though, but he was staring dumbfoundedly at his offered hand for a full 5 seconds before she could feel his widened disbelieving stare covered by his armor-head burnt at her head from behind.
The blond Lord waited patiently with a warm smile, noting the beastly gestures he didn't realize he's making because of the shock. 'So, he's new to other's interaction…'
"Please…, I won't bite..!" he whispered very quietly knowing a beast's hearing could still hear his words. Noted with satisfaction as the black-armored head snapped at him for those words. He smiled gently to the beast-of-escort, as if trying to comfort a frightened beast –that in some way it's true.
Yuy stepped forward with a heavy feeling, it showed in his almost slow-motion steps. He instinctively brushed Deia's side when he stepped to confront the Lord's waiting hand. That provoked the Lord's interest even more.
'….sorry…, don't make enemies, right…?' was all she could think to him at the short time.
…aa…. was his short mind-answer, then it blanked. Deia almost jerked when their link suddenly off as her Beast was taken to a distance in the Lord's personal space, it managed to wake her other-mind, though. –Whaaaaaa'r'youdoinggg…!- it reeled. Deia almost sweatdropped at the sound of the other-mind in her head. She'd roll on the floor laughing if it wasn't in such a situation.
'…what should I do.., decline his first offer of dance in his Hall in the middle of a latent warfare…!'
-You're giving him away to a beast-..!-
That made her sweatdropped. 'Which one's which…?'
-…-a beast-tamer, you IDIOT..!-
Deia snapped her eyes to them, '…he's not that vulnerable….!', although she couldn't feel the confidence of her own thought, not in this land.
-D'you know that..! Do you really now it like that in the outside ! Why d'you think he was with a pack of wolves and not with some humans back then…!-
Deia gulped a little. 'he's….', a firm stare 'I'm here ! It should be alright..!'
An exasperated growl in her mind, -Don't say I didn't warn you, you BAKA..!-
'It's alright….' she repeated to herself, felt the other-mind's snort in her head.
As expected, the Lord Marquis took him to the center of the spacious Hall, with EVERYBODY watching. He felt a very unsafe feeling being in a close distance with the human Lord, and halfconsciously flicked his head a little to his Human at some distance behind, noting with almost a lurching feeling that she was watching him being herded to the center of the attention-field with a smile on her face. He tried to swallow his nervousness. Not that he was frightened by this human's presence, no….but there was something with him that made him feel like he was oppressed furtively.
He almost turned in a snap as he felt the Lord's hand on the back of his waist. The human Lord faced him levelly with a smile. "If I could ask you to take off your armor-head, first….?", he began.
"Not that I don't find it mesmerizing, it just doesn't feel polite when everybody shows their faces…"
The Beast froze for a few heartbeats. A counselor with a tray approached them in his bowing gesture. Zechs could feel his swallowing and that intrigued him more, knowing himself that he's doing this just for fun more than anything else. "Just for polite's sakes..!" he comforted with a deeper smile.
The blond Lord felt it when Yuy conceded to his reasoning as his stiff shoulders sagged a little in front of him. The armored face was downcast a little, just enough so that his eyes didn't meet the human Lord's eyes when the armor-head liquefied back to his craft-plate. There were gasps and murmurs like "…It's magic-craft..!" erupted, he'd expected that much from the others around them. Seeing that the escort didn't need the tray to put his armor-head, the counselor left after bowing for permission to his Lord.
"Thank you..!" the said Lord smiled appreciatively, even though the half-face armor beneath the now gone armor-head baited him more. "Now, if you could remove this….-", he was going to touch the black-covered chin but it moved up just a slight as if dodging his fingers, and his words died in his throat as he saw the sharp prussian orbs countering his eyes with a straight impassive stare. The black mask slid to the sides from the centerline of his face, then the thin cover of black like another skin on his half face vanished like a layer of shadow absorbed by his skin. Zechs stared speechless as the perfect face exposed to his sight up close; the black armor was made from apparently something that absorbed light, made it like a lush velvet from the outside, and that in itself made an illusion that the wearer's skin was glowing softly with an aura from the inside.
"…he's so beautiful..!"
"Who said he's a hideous-looking beast..!"
Mumbles and murmurs of surprised appreciations heard from here and there. True, that was the face that would even make a straight well-cultured man to consider collecting just for the sake of monopolizing it in his possession. That face in the sight related to his mind-eyes this morning was blocked by the draping curtains of her window, so he didn't expect….he didn't know what to expect at that time.
And those deep impassive eyes…
The Lord jerked himself to reality visibly, not that most of the human beings were aware of it as themselves were gaping with flushed faces as well. "Ah,…shall we start now..?" he encircled his right hand to the slender waist, amazed at the warmth of the seemed cold black armor was actually felt like a living being's pelted skin. The black gloved hand in his left hand was in the contrary to its appearance, felt vulnerable and as if being careful of his bigger hand as to not use too much force that would hurt it. He knew that smaller hand was far stronger than his, though, but its gentle hold made his genuine smile bloomed. Noted to himself that the prussian eyes flicked to his human Lady again when he did that.
The music started with a waltz, his Human had taught him how to dance in the Castile, even several traditional dances of other countries for anticipating this kind of event. Since he wasn't earthbound, he could move freely and as light as any Fairs would. It felt like they were dancing on the clouds, Zechs thought. He knew his Bland wasn't an earthbound too, but his beast was a little too shy to be asked for a dance even in the private, thus he never really had an experience close to this. Despite his full-body armor, he danced graciously with liquid movements, all eyes noticed, mostly with dreamy stares from the ladies.
Deia watched while in the inside she was trying to ignore her surrounding. It was beginning to feel too thick to breathe in, even though she wouldn't consider it as a lusty atmosphere. She noticed that the spacious room had stopped its activity, except for the music players, and all eyes stared the two beings dancing in the center almost unblinkingly. She tried to not notice the craving stare of the Lord's at her Beast too, to no avail, it was too obvious that even if she didn't see it she would still feel it in the air. A bubble of uncomfortable feelings started to pop in her insides, followed with another, then several others. She was not boiling, she thought to herself…
'Just ignore him….' she tried, '..cut him dead…cut him dead….!' Deia repeated like a spell, feeling more and more bothered by the looks on the Lord's face; so her premonition (jealousy) proved to be true, right..! She was so engrossed at concentrating to ignore the man's face (which actually by staring at it unblinkingly) that she didn't notice the flicks of gaze her Beast casted to her every now and then.
-Yeahh…CUT him DEAD literally..!- the other-mind leered inside that Deia even felt its malicious broad smirk like a second skin underneath her smiling face.
'Shut up..!'
"You really do like her, don't you..?" the soft voice asked as he noticed the prussian eyes stole glances to Deia more than several times now. That brought the impassive stare stick to his eyes, "She danced with you like this?". A blink questioned him back more than answering. An almost smirk altered the smile on Zechs' face, "How about like this…?" he pulled the slender armored body flat to his, feeling something akin to satisfaction as it stiffened a little and stopped moving just for a second.
The music changed to the slow one as the music players noticed their Lord's new position. "You should rest your head like this in this kind of dance.." Zechs embraced the brown head with his encircling hand to rest on his taller shoulder, suspecting that he was never in that position in a dance before if he only danced with his Lady. The surge of alertness charged for a millisecond from his stiff figure, and Zechs brushed his fingers a couple of strokes on the back of the brown head to comfort the beast.
"You were told not to make enemies, I see..!" he tried to make conversation, but knowing that was not a start to a real conversation. "How old are you? Your presence is bigger than someone I knew…". That meant his own beast.
The prussian eyes flicked sideways to his, but he didn't even make a sound to answer. So he too was a shy type, he noted to self with a new euphoria of a challenging conquest. A flash of frozen daggers in those prussian eyes told him that the beast felt what was on his mind, perhaps instinctively, knowing that the beast familiarized him as a beast-tamer since their first meeting.
He knew he was good looking, so he used to smile his adversaries to submission since childhood. This one was no exception, too. He gave him his gentlest smile he used to compel Bland with, and it worked like always as those sharp eyes snapped away from his eyes, a momentary repressed shudder he felt on his chin as it was in contact with his shoulder.
"…I mean no harm, truly…!" he murmured softly, "Well,….perhaps not yet, if you'd rather think that was my honest admission..!"
"But I'd have to admit that I am intrigued to do more than just this….". The prussian eyes drooped in frost glare a little, their gentle movements of slow dance mocked his alertness. "I know that it's not my place to ask this; but, are you happy..?" The delusive gentle eyes smiled to the frosty side-glance at his face. "If I offer you something, would you allow me….-"
Those smile-drooped eyes strayed to his lips, Yuy noted as his jaws gritted reflexively. "…to..-" the word cut completely as his lips touched the beast's lips. Yuy stopped moving altogether, and Zechs didn't mind it. He was only wanted to flirt a little, if you'd rather not think that he was bullying the beast for fun's sake, but the beast's cold shyness he couldn't refuse to try to stir even just for a little bit. The slender neck in his arm was strong despite its vulnerable appearance, he pushed it forward a little more to his exploring lips. A little voice in his head pointed to him that he was just trying to provoke a little reaction from the beast in his arms, but somehow the blood in his veins called out to the beast, recognizing its presence to commit another conquest. And before he knew it his tongue pried the beast's thinned lips open and pushed it inside as he deepened the one sided kiss.
Suddenly his tongue made contact with a line of needle-sharp teeth, the sharp points nicked it to bleed. Zechs stopped his action as the small pain pierced his conqueror-mind to awareness, but he widened his eyes for a fraction of second as he felt a firm and not-slippery tongue, similar to the texture of a shark's skin, sought his nicked one, tasting his blood. He blinked and gently pulled back, staring a little stunnedly at the black-armored beast still cornered by his half encircling hand. His face was a blank mask and his prussian eyes seemingly looking pass through him.
Zechs blinked his mild surprise, and instinctively knew the person the beast was staring behind his body. He stared the mask of face in front of him for a while, something nudged his mind, but he tried to ignore it for now. Then bowed to whisper to his ear, "….you should be the one initiate it like that, it's not a Lady's place to come forward and opens a man's arms….!"
The hard prussian eyes glanced at his, it took sometime for his words to sink into his beastly mind. But Zechs watched with satisfaction as it eventually dawned and reflected in his eyes that were melted gradually and widened with a flush of redden color on his cheeks. He smiled widely to the beast's realization.
He opened his mouth trying to say something back to him, but swallowed it again, then snapped his face away from the human Lord's smiling face with a little grouching expression. That brought a silent chuckle from the Lord. "I'm sorry, the kiss was a joke….! But what I said afterward was not..!"
None of your concern…! Was what those prussian eyes burnt to him in a snap. Zechs felt he didn't want to push this beast more, so he escorted him back to where his human Lady was standing, finding her still smiling angelically. He bowed deeply to excuse himself and left the two alone, letting the beast sort it out by his own pace after this.
Yuy was back behind her with his impassive face, but with an escort who had that kind of immaculate face now no chicken-males would dare to ask her for a dance, she thought, watching furtively as the said chicken-males shrunk. She thought that she could use his face to shield her from them like that as well, but she thought she'd rather not tempting a beast-tamer Lord in his spell-tampered palace. A gloved finger sought her fingers covered by her long dress cut Deia's mind instantly. She loosened the grip she didn't realize she was doing, feeling her Beast's little finger encircled her index finger out of anyone's sight. It might be a little childish, but felt endearing. Deia knew he didn't ask for comfort for himself, he was too worry that she would blow that hall to any hell she didn't really care which one.
'…..I'm fine….!' she smiled to herself in her mind, '..you worry too much..!'. Truth was she felt relief draining her boiling energy as whatever it was she witnessing ended before the other-mind blinded her logics and made her lash out in a blast. He didn't relate anything to her afterward, she didn't thought nor said anything to him, either. They just stood unmoving and silenced for the longest time as the Grand Hall lived up with music and dances.
Zechs stole a glance to them somewhere in the spacious room between his guests. Something that nudged his mind came forward with his clearer thought. '…he tasted my blood…! He's not protected….-'
A weak snort came from behind one of the tall pillar. "…Love-based bond, hu..? As if a human and a beast's relationship could ever work out….!". ArrenBone finished his wine in one gulp, then uncaringly let the empty glass fall to the floor from his hand. The glass didn't broke when it's suppose to hit the floor; instead, the black shadow under the black garbed figure swallowed it completely.
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Q ran as fast as he could in the maze of narrow stonewalled passageways, knowing that not one of his friends were following behind him. This was not their plan. They were supposed to run away through the escape route they had set in the plan. But he was grateful that he knew his friends could make it there safely. Now, if he only could escape his pursuer….
A sharp wheezing sound heard from behind, he turned around sharply before that attack could hit his body, using the egg-shaped stone in his hands to fend off the blasting wind. A loud crack sound like a lightning heard, and he was thrown backward by the collision. He landed on his back with his breath knocked out from his lungs. Took sometime to take a few hard breaths on the floor, knowing that he was in another passageway so he didn't really have to be right on his feet to confront the pursuer.
'…this is getting confusing…! I couldn't make out the direction anymore…' he sat up and set the egg-shaped stone vertically on the floor at his side. The stone rolled to its length side pointing the direction behind the boy's back. 'That way now…?'
He took a deep breath and stood, and running to that direction, knowing his pursuer was close behind and would find him again in no time. Just as he finished that thought, the wall to his left side blown to pieces, he almost didn't make it to plunge forward dodging that one. The boy hissed a little as the projectiles managed to hurt his left upper arm and shoulder.
A blur of black flashed from the hole in the wall, stopped and floated above him with a burning pair of red eyes ready to kill him without so much of a thought. Q stared the black robed figure passed his wounded shoulder, his right arm clutching the head-sized stone under his body. The beast's face under the black hood didn't show any emotion beside livid wrath in his red-burning eyes. Q knew that this beast was still young, but still he was an ordinary human to fend him alone, and he didn't have any weapon with him that could defend himself with even if he had the chance.
Bland brought his hands up, collecting the wind in them as he 'gripped' the spear of air to impale the thief to death. Q only stared when those hands waved down throwing that spear to his body, waited the last moment to toss his body to his back revealing the egg stone to that blast. He uttered a repressed yelp when another explosion threw his body through the space's frame again in the short distanced teleportation. The short lost-moments repeated again and again started to make him nauseous. He coughed hard when he landed not so graciously on the floor of another passageway, trying to quell the urge to vomit.
When he looked around him again, his vision swayed. '…where to, now…..'
The egg stone rolled from his loose encircling hand, it bumped to the wall once and made an odd stop on an odd angle pointing at the right side of him a little behind his sprawling body. Q forced his body to his feet, knowing the pursuer could find him faster and faster now. The last attack was too close…
'..right..? But this is a one-way tunnel…-' he realized something and used the wall to help him moving on his feet. There was an intersection only a few meters behind his landing spot, and he took the right passageway. He knew the smell of his blood would attract the beast's sense even faster now, so he closed his eyes and tried to force his quacking body forward as fast as it could.
A breeze blew to his face made him snap open his eyes, thinking that his pursuer was already waiting in front of him. But what waiting for him there was something even more shocking to him, he ran to the end of the tunnel momentarily forgetting his pains, and stared wide eyed at the cityscape laid outside.
'…a tower window…!' And the high one at that! They were escaping from the underground chamber, for heaven's sakes…!
'…you think I could fly….?' He asked bewilderedly to the stone pressed to his stomach. A high pitched cry of a hawk up there startled him, he tried to adjust his eyes to see where it came from, and somehow he sensed that he's been spotted. A sound like a dove's coo heard from behind him in the passageway as if answering to the hawk's call. It repeated for several times, each time getting closer and closer to the end of the tunnel.
Q tried to swallow his fears, he knew who's making that dove-like sound. In a flash he contemplated jumping off the tower window down, hoping that he'd be lucky enough that his friends would already be down there, and catch him…? He blinked to himself, where did that stray of thought come from ?….but it felt too real as if he saw it in his mind.
The dove sound was close now, only a few meters away, and getting closer. He could see the black robed shadow coming his way, with one hand sweeping the wall along his walk, as if emphasizing the marks of his territory. The red blazing eyes told him that he could not talk this pursuer out, even if he gave him back the stone in his hand. Not that it was an option in his mind, though…
Bland extended the hand that had been sweeping the wall to the thief in front of him, the winds from the outside gathered to his call around the tower window. He could see the thief's face turned white by his panic, and smelled blood in his short breaths. So he's injured quite bad. Then, if he wanted to kill him by his own hands, he should do it quickly before the injuries kill the thief.
Q stared the beast unblinkingly, trying to swallow the bile in his throat again. No, actually it tasted like tangy liquid. The free air behind him started to feel solid, the force could crush his body like nothing if it used to 'grip' him, he saw what it did to the stonewalls in the tunnels. And they were spell-tampered walls, even. He glanced behind and down, calculating how deep the plunge down would be, noting to self that the White-tower was at the edge of the Palace's cliff, and there wouldn't be anything between his feet and the city down there for about more than 80 stories high if he were to take the jump.
Then closed his eyes, gave out a slow sigh.
"…you think I could fly….!" he whispered as if to someone else besides them both. Bland heard his defeated tone too, but before he could decipher what the thief meant (not that he really cared), the thief let his body fall backwards, to the cityscape laid down. Knowing if he ever survived the fall, he'd be out from the palace on the ground bellow.
That was, if anyone really could survive the fall..!
Q opened one of his eyes a slit, recognizing the cliff's natural rocks passing bellow his feet in a blur as he fell down with his back facing the ground. The solidifying air managed to slow down his speed at first, but he knew if the wind-user beast ever using it to crush him, he'd be dead right away. Spoke of the devil, the said beast it plunging down towards him, as well. Q gritted his teeth at the beast's persistence, not that he didn't expected such a thing from him, though.
Bland gripped his extended right hand tightly with his left, collecting wind in his open palm with that stone in the thief's possession was harder than he thought. Being farther and farther away from his Master was making it more difficult to concentrate, too. He used the thought of 'for Master's sakes' to boost his accelerating energy and managed a wind-canon ready to fire around his extended hand.
Q widened his eyes in disbelief as the air sucked to the beast's open palm, and made his fall getting slower and slower to eventually stop half way down. He bugged his eyes out as he realized he couldn't breathe, and even the air left in his lungs was being sucked out. The beast was fast closing the distance in the air. And even before he was close enough to him, the atmosphere from his wind-canon felt like razorblades cutting his body. He could see his dripping blood from the numerous cuts moved up as it too being sucked by the beast's canon. An attack like that, even if he use the stone wrapped in his right hand at his front to counter it, he thought he wouldn't be able to survive the explosion produced when the two powers collide.
'….Trowa..!' in the end he called the only name crossed his mind while closing his eyes.
Then a blast of invisible sound-wave struck them like a flood centering from the palace right before the last moment.
Q widened his eyes with a muted scream as he felt the sudden shot of electricity surged his body and the stagnant atmosphere around him. The air felt like broken glass letting him continue his falling down again. His shocked brain only registered that he was falling even faster than before, since the air was broken and its shards were everywhere. Only that those shards too were crushed into invisible air again by the sound-wave.
'….I never saw shards of air before…' he thought to himself with a tired smile, before he lost his consciousness.
A huge 'hand' of vine trees caught the wounded falling body near the bottom of the fall. The heavy fall made Q's body penetrated the vine's soft branches, but two pairs of waiting hand and a body cushioned his fall on the ground.
"Master…!" two men hurried to their sprawling bodies. Trowa let out a deep breath feeling that Q was still alive in his embrace, the stone was safe in his right hand despite him being unconscious. He wrapped his partner's smaller body with his cloak, and took him to the waiting horses. The two men followed their leader to their own horses, but the steeds were still agitated by the sound-wave reverberating through the air even though the men had covered their ears by Trowa's order before, including their own ears. They tried to calm them down when they started to kick madly, but seemingly useless.
Trowa went to the front of the agitated horses, presented the wrapped Q to them and stared them with his inhuman eyes. The horses still look agitated but they calmed soon after. He gave a cue to the men to mount their horses, and then fled from the place on his own horse with Q in his arms.
As they rode through the paused city, passing the petrified citizens in their frozen poses along the streets, the men stared Trowa's back. Knowing the lad, he must have 'said' to the horses that he wanted to get Q to a safe place to treat him, and that he needed their help. One of the man smirked from behind the long cloth wrapped around his lower face. Right, practical was practical, and he didn't have any complaint about the lad.
In the air between the tower and the ground, Bland stopped in his plunge down. His eyes were bugged out but he didn't see his surroundings anymore, feeling the sound-wave electrocuting him bits by bits from the inside out. The ready wind-canon was charged with currents around his right hand and body. He couldn't control it any longer. He's going to explode. With a thought of his Master he screamed mutely as the power around him blasted up and downward.
One of Q's men glanced behind as a bright light blasted in the Palace's air. He could guess what that light was, and rode his horse faster thinking that he didn't want to confront what power had that beast down just by its sound-wave. Yeah, right…'just' by its sound-wave, alright..! Truth was he just wanted to escape that sound-wave as fast as he could.
Labor hitched breaths. Beads of cold sweats were dripping to the ground. Two balled quivering hands propping the crouching body, the right one was covered in the shredded loose sleeve that was soaked with blood. "…Master….." the hooded head looked to the direction the thieves gone to.
"….Master's dragon…!" he uttered between his hard breaths. His right hand gave out and his body fell to the side. Master's in the Grand Hall… he thought as he stared feverishly to the night sky from the end of his eyes. He contemplated to run after the thieves to get his Master's precious dragon back or to go back to the Palace to insure his Master's safety.
….Master's interested with another beast…! He pictured the Lady-guest's escort.
….Master's dragon would awake as another beast as well…. So, if he could get the stone back, he'd be rivaling with two other beasts, of which were much greater than him.
…..Master loves the dragon very much..! The black hooded head straightened, propping its body with his left hand with difficulty, facing the direction of the thieves had taken. But another stronger flood of sound-wave interweaved with the still reverberating one sounded from the opposite side all around the city. He yelped brokenly and covered his head as much as he could with his hands on the ground. Then, there's only one thing left in his mind.
"…Master….." -..in the Grand Hall..!
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Deia squinted both of her eyes as the sound-wave reverberating everywhere from the source very close to her. She glanced to her side, noting Yuy's partly opened lips with the points of his needle-sharp teeth slightly visible. His sudden inhuman scream eventually stopped as he sensed her stare on him. As he expected, his Human wasn't too much as effected as everybody else would since she already used to hear him singing in her sanctuary. They stared each other for a moment.
"…Returning an old debt…!" he offered with a voiceless whisper.
Deia blinked, noticing that he looked like he was quite in shock himself. 'What else..?'
We should go back..! Yuy grabbed her hand and took her outside the Hall. Deia noted that everyone was like frozen statue on their spots, few of them managed to look at where he stood when he let out the sound-wave, but they too were frozen with a little shock managed to creep on their faces. But something caught her eyes…
Zechs smirked between the petrified people; he caught a glimpse of Deia's eyes before they vanished through the side doors of the Hall. A sudden blow of breeze told him that his beast was near him, he turned sideway when suddenly the said beast fell down to the front of him from nowhere.
"Master…, the dragon…!" was what he gasped out as his left hand clutched his bigger arm.
Zechs caught his falling body, a little gleam burnt in his eyes as he saw his servant's condition.
"..they took..-"
"Shh..!" Zechs brought the black hooded head flat to his own chest. Right hand encircled the smaller body, left hand covering his servant's ear as the other ear he pressed to his beating heart in his chest to sooth him.
"This is…" he whispered softly and slow, "..a siren's-cry..!"
"You shouldn't tame beasts with this Voice, since they will bring bad luck even to generations after…!"
That brought his panic servant's eyes to his. "So, you won't have a rival in a short time…!" he smiled to his stunned red-eyes. Letting him took the time to calm down as long as he needed, seeing as the sound-wave wouldn't die down in a short time since the city wall bounced it back and forth to the center just like the Wind-pipe's sound. He felt a little upset that his city's form brought an advantage to the ones not on his side.
Small hick-ups brought his eyes down again, quite surprised at finding his Bland cried openly even with face down. He must have felt so useless that he did that in his embrace. "…'m sorry I failed…!" was what he mumbled over and over. He came to the Grand Hall to insure his Master's safety, but he turned out to be the one protected still.
Zechs forced his chin up a little to face him. He was closing his eyes in fright of the judgment of his failure. "No…." Zechs wiped his tears with his right thumb, noted that he'd flinched when he touched his face but didn't jerk to avoid the contact.
"You didn't fail….You came back to me alive..!"
That made him scrunched up his face with more tears flowing down, then covered it with his not so badly injured left hand as he hid it on his Master's chest. He cried brokenly there, while Zechs assessing his injuries with not so pleased a stare, the injuries on his right hand seemed like the result of an enormous power from himself. 'Since when did you manage to conjure that much power, Bland…?'
To him, Bland was always his little beastling…
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"Where are we going..!" Deia asked while hurrying after her Beast fast strides, taken by her hand. She changed her dress into a riding suit in the way, just a blast of smoke-like black shade cover, and in the next step she already changed. She flicked to the lines of paused counselors on either side of the corridors, a light crease appeared between her brows. Both of them were heading up.
We should hurry..! Cover your eyes ! Yuy thought once they got to a flat roof.
"What is it ? Could you be more communicative..?" but she closed her eyes obediently. Her Beast didn't elaborate more, but she sensed a difference in the wind blowing to her.
…Alright, we'd go now…!
Deia opened her eyes to his offered hand intended to aid her mount the divine white horse he was already riding. She was stunned for a moment but complied by taking his offered hand and let her light body pulled up facing the whitefire mane. Her mind blanked for sometime, as she glanced to Yuy's alarmed face behind her, she could only formulate one question.
"…What about Odin's warsteed..?"
We don't have time. Odin's friend already knew what would happen, so he'll be following our path if he'd like to…
That sounded final, ….and desperate. Deia deepened her creased brows. "Yuy, what's happening..?"
Her flat gentle tone somehow calmed him from his shock. Her straight wide stare captured his eyes, and he sighed out a long deep breath slowly. Deia noted his shoulder sagged with almost a shudder as he dropped his face from hers.
…I…had a feedback, back then…. He meant when he let out the Voice in the Grand Hall, Deia's mind spelled to her.
…It's from Skirr…! We should go back right away, or never at all… The deep prussian eyes darkened at her wide half-inquiring half-stunned violets. His Human stared his intense stare back for sometime, probably digesting what he was saying in her mind.
……'are we… am I..exiled…?'
No, something happened…! Her Beast shook his head vigorously.
'…something that bad…?' she noticed his thinned lips twitched once, he never showed his weakness like that these past years, so what ever happened this time must be that bad.
'Is this OWLs-related..!' her sharp stare regained their focus.
I don't know… Could be… he casted his stare down avoiding her eyes.
"Then I don't want you going back there..!"
"…You're throwing away your home..?" his whisper almost sounded hurt. The bitterness in it jerked Deia to a shock. "No…!"
The brown haired head dropped to her shoulder in defeat. "Then we'll be fast-riding, we could get there before dawn…."
As if being cued, the whitefire horse spread its one-wing and Deia's body thrown back to his armored front, a pair of black gloved hand encircled her from behind. She didn't even have a chance to utter anything else, as she widened her eyes realizing what speed the whitefire horse could fly.
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Sorry for taking so long to upload…. Work's been busy, n the publisher gave us more and more works to do… (of which -sadly- we've been always late at finishing –the drafts were not much fun, but finishing is hell…-) haahha