Hope you guys haven't given up on me! I know I haven't updated in a while, so here's another chapter. Great news! Nate and I are friends again, so the uploads should come even faster.

Chapter Seven~ The Death Shock

The entire throne room was deathly silent. I don't even think anyone was breathing at that point.

Cygnus raised her eyebrows. "That is a very serious accusation young man," she stated with a pointed glare. "But I'll play along. Go on Oz, use your Wizard's eye to see that I truly am Queen Cygnus."

Oz recoiled back in fear, but she quickly wiped it away and glanced at Eckhart for permission. Eckhart nodded, and she stepped forward. She held her arms out, and closed her emerald green eyes. Her arms stretched out, and a slight wind began to blow, tumbling her red hair. A closed eye appeared in the open space between them, blinked, and disappeared.

"Oz? What do you see? Eckhart asked, reaching out towards her, but Mihile placed his arm in front of his chest and stopped him. He stepped back once more.

Oz's eyes opened in a sharp wince of pain. She gasped and fell to the ground, her eyes filled with terror. "Evil!" She screamed. "You're EVIL!"

A ring of shadows formed around Hilla's feet and slowly traveled up, bringing her true appearance to the surface. Long, light brown hair, yellow cat-like eyes, golden arm bands, golden hair pieces, and a sky blue dress. She glowered evilly. "You dual blade SCUM!" she shrieked. "How on earth could you have done that?!" She waved her arm in a swift motion, and a gust of wind blasted Oz back against a wall, and was knocked unconscious. Eckhart frantically flash jumped to her and set her head in his lap.

"Oz? OZ! Are you okay? Come on honey, wake up! Speak to me!" he wailed.

A whirlwind of shadows began to form, closing in on Hilla, and she vanished. Everyone quickly flocked to Oz and Eckhart, who was still freaking out. He was clutching her tight.

He glared at all of us. "What the hell are you all just standing around for?!" he screamed. "Someone go get a f*cking cleric!"

Irena was the one to go get the Cleric. Mihile went to go contact Lord Phantom that the empress had been captured. Mihile went to go check on our other-raced guests. Will went to spread it to the rest of the palace. I stayed with Lord Eckhart to watch over Oz.

Two dawn warriors carried Lady Oz off to the hospital wing on a stretcher; I recognized one from knighthood training- and our parents had worked together. I would say our parents suffered the same fate, but according to Will, my parents weren't dead.

Alec Galbraith looked just as I remembered- tall and pale, broad shouldered, with longish black hair and coal black eyes. He was wearing a plain white t-shirt, blue jeans, and black leather sandals. He flashed me a quick smile when I waved, a simple greeting among all knights.

Eckhart and I sat outside Lady Oz's room, waiting for a report on her condition. I quizzed him some.

"So how long have you and Oz been… together?" I asked, trying not to giggle.

Eck was hunched over in his chair, looking down with his elbows on his knees and twirling his mask mindlessly in his restless hands. "Well," he said. "We were both level thirty. We had just reached the level to become official knights for the empress before Cygnus."

"You mean Aria?"

He nodded. "The empress is very young despite her looks and maturity, which is why Lord Phantom fell for her."

My jaw dropped. "You mean to tell me…"

"Yes. Lady Cygnus and Lord Phantom are together as well, despite the great loss he went through."

"Great loss?"

"It's the same as what happened to all the other heroes, minus Freud. They were all level 200, and dropped 199 levels."

"Didn't the same thing happen to Lord Kaiser of NOVA?"

He pursed his lips and paused, thinking about my question before giving me an answer. "Similar, but not quite. See, Lord Kaiser was defeated by Magnus, an exile who then turned into a straight up traitor. How Magnus managed to defeat Kaiser… well, that's something everyone wants to know. But after Kaiser was defeated, he reincarnated into another child, which is why he nor his troops could help out."

"Okay, I get it now. What brought about the angelic busters?" Not that I really cared for them, but I might as well know.

"When Kaiser first resurrected, he had a friend named Tear. Tear was brave enough to help Kaiser fight the nefarious priests who were tampering with the relic in the East Sanctum, and touched the relic by accident, thus cursing her."

"I see. Now we've gotten off track. Back to you and Oz."

"Right, right. We'd just reached the level to become official knights for Aria, and were on our way to be tested. Once at the grounds, I lost myself in watching her. The way she twirled her staff to cast spells so effortlessly, the way her hair danced around her shoulders… It was love at first sight.

I tried to show off my own skills to impress her, but I couldn't do a whole lot. Shurikan blast, Gust Charm, Vampire… none of that was all too impressive.

But she liked me enough to accept my offer for dinner!" he added with a grin.

"Aw, that's so sweet!"

The cleric stepped out of the room, looking too relieved for words. "Miss Oz will be fine," she said with a happy sigh. "She broke half of her rib cage the very second the slammed against the wall, and hitting the floor ruptured an internal organ, and caused some internal bleeding, but she'll be fine."

Eckhart activated Haste, ran into the room, and was by her side by the time I was done blinking. "Oz? Oz, honey, it's me, it's your dark prince. I'm here, I'm here." He whispered softly, brushing red hair out of her sleeping face, kneeling by her bedside. He grabbed one of her hands in both of his, and brought them to his mouth.

The whole thing brought tears to my eyes. Not because I was sad or worried, but because the scene that was just displayed before me was so beautiful that my heart began to melt. I'd never seen anyone so devoted to someone else, someone so in love… and Eckhart, of all people! It was touching, and amazing.

I silently hoped that maybe one day, I could feel that too.

If you're contemplating leaving a review, just think... "What would Jesus do?"

Until next time!

XxNanamixX