Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, only the plot.

Guest: I did mention at the end of chapter 1 that Krowell is the third prince of Raggs. Automatically, Krom and Kreuz are Raggs as well. The reason why Teito and Ouka are placed in the tower will be answered in this chapter. Too short? I made it 3k words! I hope this chapter is okay for you? It's longer than the last xD

S: Much as I wanted to make it sexier (I don't even know your standard of sexy) but if you're referring to romance, you'll have to wait if FrauTei is the one you're waiting for. I'm gonna start with AyaTei first.

blubell: Cookies for you! You're the first to guess correctly! And here you go, the second chapter!

Many thanks to MysteryPT for applying for beta post~

Chapter 2: Meeting

Decades ago, when land was calm and the two kingdoms flourished, there lived a man and a woman in the border village between Raggs and Barsburg.

The man - Verloren - was a genius. He was talented in many aspects, but that wasn't the thing that made him special. He was born with the blessing of Mikhail and Raphael. By Mikhail, he was talented in fire Zaiphon. Blessed by Raphael, he could control the wind Zaiphon. In the age where Zaiphon was no longer common, he was hailed as The Chief of Heaven's son. Peaceful and worshiped was his life, until that cursed day arrived.

Eve - the woman who was also Verloren's love - was a normal human born in common household. She was neither rich nor royalty. All she and her family had was enough food for their small family. Under normal circumstances, they met and fell in love.

On one rainy day where thunder struck mercilessly and wind threw everything aside, Eve was suddenly gone. It was presumed that some people who were jealous of Verloren kidnapped her. How could they not? Verloren had surpassed a human's ability. That power he had brought him not only status, but also envy.

Without a single doubt, Verloren flew to save his lover. But what greeted him wasn't the happy end he expected. Eve was dying. Desperation could not even describe what he felt when he saw the woman in such condition. Eventually, Verloren decided to give half of his power.

Raphael's power was the power to control wind and healing. He was hoping it could save the woman. He wasn't wrong. But Eve was not born with body like his. Eve was only a human. A simple human. Raphael's power wasn't something one mere human could handle. Eve lost control of her body and ended up destroying the village along with most of its inhabitants. Verloren sealed her in a tower. Though he could leave her there, he didn't. He loved her too much. In the end, he chose to be sealed as well.

Verloren put a sealing spell for both of them so that they couldn't escape from the tower. The only way to be freed from that tower was entrusted to the girl's family. And thus, that family became the guardian of the tower. When Verloren died, little did he know that what he did affected the rest of the children like himself. Ever since his death, The Gifted was never one. It was always a pair.

Bearing the responsibility as guardian, the key holder took the two children - blessed by Mikhail and Raphael - to the tower. They raised them in utmost secrecy. People was never aware of other children's existence. They began to believe it was simply a myth. But the legend passed on and the day Verloren sealed Eve became the 'Scarlet Day'. As the name indicated, was the day when Eve lost her sanity. It was the day where many lost their lives. A day when blood dyed the earth red.

- Scarlet Day of Seele -

Today was the day Teito had been waiting for so long. Each year, without fail, on the same day, the kingdom of ice would be celebrating. Of what, he didn't know. But from his window, all he saw was beautiful mix of red and yellow banners. It was his only amusement every year.

Red balloon slowly rose, higher and higher to the sky. Yellow would soon follow. And finally, many balloons would fill the sky like red and yellow dots. Teito held his breath as he saw those balloons popped up and disappear into colorful light. The rite would go on until the sun disappear into horizon.

When night had arrived, the colors would stay. They glittered in the dark of night like colorful stars. It was utmost beautiful. Best yet, people would start to light thousands of candles. Light from the candles would shine on the glitters, forming an aurora of rainbow.

As usual, Teito would sit on his chair, hand rested on the window's railing. His head rested lazily on his arms as he gazed admiringly at the mesmerizing scene. And at the end of the night, he would fell into deep thought, thinking the same thing every year.

I want to join them.

I want to see it up close.

I want to go.

I want to be free.

He knew, it was useless to think of freedom. Still, he couldn't help but wish. Every time he saw birds flew by his windows, he would ask, "Just how much longer?" How much longer should he wait? How much longer until someone came to get him out of this place? He knew someone came in and out of this tower because every few days, he would found foods and other necessities left in front of their doors. But why had no one came to take them away? And those questions was never voiced for Ouka wished not for it. Who knew what the girl would do if she found out. She - on the other hand - was content with being locked like this as long as Teito was there, sharing the same fate.

Teito looked up again at the rainbow aurora. From far distance, he heard laughter. People were laughing, joking, playing happily, but he could only feel growing cold in his chest.

"It's not fair," a sad whisper left his lips. His hand stretched outside, trying to grab the scene. As he stretched his hand further, his ears buzzed loudly, making him moan in pain. His head was hammered with unseen needles. Even that was normal pain for he had been trying forever. Half an arm was the limit of his freedom. What was he if not a bird in a cage?

A second of his durability, Teito finally retracted his hand. His fingers were burned. The seal automatically burn his flesh should he try to leave. This window was the only escape door he could find - or know. He had searched up and down, high and low of this tower but no door lead to his freedom.

"Just what am I? Why am I here?"

Whisper of questions were left to dissolve in the passing wind. And as the scarlet sun swallowed by the land, those thoughts became another nightmare in his mind.

"Aya-tan, your forehead is wrinkling again."

A pair of pale purple eyes darted up to a raven with Cheshire grin plastered on his face. Instead of smiling at the joke, Krowell's eyes narrowed threateningly. Still, smile never left the raven's face.

"Are you here to waste my time, Hyuuga?" Krowell immersed himself back to the paper on his desk. His hand never stopped writing. "If you do, the door is just on your right." He added after a momentary pause.

Hyuuga laughed good-heartedly at his rigid prince's answer, taking no offense. The raven was Krowell's right hand; his most trusted subordinate. Their relationship went a long way back and Hyuuga knew Krowell too well to know the almost-albino meant nothing bad for his crude remarks. He was, after all, one of the very few person allowed to call the third prince 'Ayanami'.

"I'm not here to do that. You know me better than that, Aya-tan," said Hyuuga. He took a chair in front of Ayanami and crossed his arms. After making himself comfortable, Hyuuga continued in low voice. "I have found out about the Tower."

"Oh?" Hyuuga smiled a little at Krowell's perked interest. The prince noticed his subordinate was trying to hide the smile, but decided not to pursue the issue. Instead, he commanded simply: "Explain."

"None of my source could be certain about the Gifted Children part. It was a very old myth and its credibility is highly refutable. However, I found out about that magical forest surrounding the tower. And that, Your Highness, is something only you - or the Royal Blood in this case - could go through."

Hyuuga stopped at this point to let the information sinked into the Prince's head. The latter was now rested his back on black cushioned chair. His gaze traveled far to the sight of a tower standing tall in the deepest part of the enchanted forest.

For as long as he could remember, Krowell had always been so fascinated with that tower. In fact, his two brothers as well. It was unexplainable urge to protect the place. For Krowell, however, curiosity got the best of him. He wanted to see the place, not because of that inexplicable reason. For a place to be able to affect them unconsciously and so deeply, there must be a good reason.

"Let's go, Hyuuga." The near-albino prince finally said, tearing his gaze away from the tower. "We've got some exploring to do."

"What about Miroku?"

Krowell paused. "Let him be for a while but told Konatsu to continue the surveillance. I want his every move recorded."

"Got that. I'll see you at the gate."

The prince nodded in approval as his raven subordinate retreated. His preparation was brief. Donned in black tunic and trouser, Krowell finished his preparation by fastening his belt and wearing a pair of hard boots. A long rapier hung on his left waist. Before long, he had already standing at the town gate and greeted by his trusted aide.

Krowell took the rein for his horse from Hyuuga. The latter's grin never disappear. Krowell had known well enough to ignore the raven's constant grin. He had no idea why his childhood friend always had that stupid grin, but it wasn't the worst thing Krowell had seen in his life.

Hefting himself up the horse with ease, Krowell strode confidently on his white mane and light brown horse. Behind him, Hyuuga rode on a black skin and pale yellow horse. Without taking a second glance, Krowell signaled his beast to run.

Rapid galloping sounds filled the lack of conversation. Krowell wasn't born talkative and Hyuuga knew the man to keep his mouth shut. Still, the raven couldn't help but throwing comment at how intriguing the tower was from closer look.

At the entrance of the forest, the two stopped. Hyuuga took the rein of Krowell's horse and tied the two horses to the nearest forest. The prince looked briefly at the building before turning his eyes to Hyuuga. The latter took a short glance at the tower as well.

The building towered toward the sky, Hyuuga had to strain his neck a little to have better look. It looked normal enough. There was a single window nearing the top. Though, fom here he could only see abandoned tower with closed windows. The raven had no idea why his prince was so interested in the place. Rather than the tower itself, Hyuuga was more interested in Krowell's unhidden attraction to the imposing building.

"I'll wait," said Hyuuga, breaking the long silence. "Since I can't enter the forest anyway. Have fun Aya-tan."

At a nod from Hyuuga, the third prince entered the forest. In just a fleeting second, the prince's figure disappeared. Not even a trace was left. To say Hyuuga was shocked was definitely an understatement. He actually panicked. Without a single doubt, Hyuuga dashed into the entrance, hoping to find Krowell inside, but before he realized, the raven was repelled back. An invisible wall obstructed him.

"Damn it!" The raven cursed.

Inside the barrier, Krowell was stunned. The forest looked so different from outside. From the entrance, he could only see dense green and brown blanketed by white. But inside, it was heaven. Snow still fell and covered the earth but somehow the plant was unaffected. Despite the cold, trees of various fruits were still bearing seeds. Taking a closer look at the large tree on his right, Krowell could see red dots hanging on the branch. On the ground, flowers were blooming. Even a rare flower that grew only on Barsburg's scorching earth.

Those plants made a natural fence of a step walk. Seemingly it was the only pathway to the tower. Krowell's eyes traveled shortly, searching for other paths. When he saw none, he finally walked down the only way. The tower was not too far, unlike how it seemed from outside. Before long, Krowell found himself looking at it.

The tower was blatantly normal. The wall was made of normal stones. Even under Krowell's touch, it felt normally rough. He had been expecting some magical effect, but sadly there was none. Retreating his hand from the wall, the prince took a round walk to the back. The pathway continued still, almost rounding the tower but continued further down the forest.

Krowell stopped at the end of half-round pathway, scrutinizing a first (and probably final) door he found. It - unlike the wall - was made from wood but engraved with words. It was ancient but nothing Krowell couldn't read.

Here lies the end of sad fate

The prince read the elegantly carved words again, contemplating the meaning. Did it refer to Verloren and Eve? Krowell read it for the last time, shaking his head and touched the door. If there was anything magical about this tower, it was probably the forest and this door. The moment Kowell's lithe fingers touched the wood, a red line of Zaiphon floated right in front of the engraving. With a burst, the door disappear.

He was astonished. Being a royalty, Krowell had the gift for using Zaiphon. Many said his was the strongest ever appear for several decades. Still, his Zaiphon could only be used for combat. To know that it could be used to seal a door was simply genius. Because human could break a lock, but Zaiphon was an entirely different matter.

Beyond the vanished door, Krowell saw a spacious room, but nothing was there except a spiraling stairs that went up, reaching the top. He stepped in, not wanting to waste anymore of his precious time. As he stood in front of the stair, he put one foot to the first step, applying enough strength.

Sturdy enough, he thought silently. He didn't want the stairway crushed when he was high enough. A fall from enough height, he would die. Or at least a few broken bones.

There was nothing much he could inspect during the way up. Everything was the same dull color of gray. There was no one, nothing, no door, not even a sign of human. If anything, Krowell found this stair he was climbing was strangely clean from spider web. Along the way, he had seen many, at the back of the stairs even. But none at the steps. On closer look, he could even see footprints on its dusty surface.

Someone has been here before.

The thought disturbed him a little. He did hear about the Guardian, but how much true that was, he didn't know. He couldn't be sure Raggs were the only royalty able to enter the place either. For all he knew, those from Barsburg may be able as well.

Drowned in the thought, the prince didn't even realized he had reached the top of the stair. There was still a long way to the top, but seeing no more steps, he stopped. Krowell had finally reached flat surface. Slightly less spacious than the ground but still big enough. At the middle of the wall across the stair, there was another room with the same wooden door. There was no engraving this time.

Krowell took a confident steps toward the door. Probably the same trick, he thought, but much to his surprise, there was no magic seal. The door snapped open with ease.

Inside, it looked like a normal rooms in a normal house. There were foods, bookshelves, and more doors. One door was on the direction of Raggs, another to Barsburg. Also, it was warm inside despite no fire. He could sense presence as well.

Cautiously, he approached one door facing Raggs. With his left hand on the rapier, his right turned the knob. The door creaked, revealing what seemed like a bedroom. Across from the door was the window. And sitting on a chair gazing out to Raggs was a child. His silky brown locks flapped wildly. His body was half twisted so Krowell knew he was a male from the lack of chest, but he couldn't see the face.

Making his presence known, Krowell intentionally knocked the tip of his boot to the wooden door. The child who rested his face to his arms, perked up. Almost annoyed, he turned, his mouth opened, ready to throw complaint. When he saw the one standing at his doorway wasn't someone he expected, the boy blushed. The red was really obvious on his porcelain skin and contrasted by the boy's most beautiful green eyes. He looked beautiful when blushing, though sadly it lasted not more than a few seconds before the red was replaced by wary look.

"Who…are you?"

Bingo, Krowell smirked victoriously.

Frau was having a massive headache. Anyone in his position would when the war threatened to break out again. For nearly a decade they had maintained a good relationship with Raggs. The last time he came to visit the country, King Krom looked kind enough not to start another war. In fact, they were in good relationship. He even managed to befriend the second prince Kreuz. Why in the world would Krom started the war?

The blond King exhaled a heavy sigh. Not that he feared his kingdom might lose. That was WAY out of his mind. What he didn't want to happen was the bloodshed that followed. The memories of the last war was still freshly engraved in his mind. The scream, the fire, the cry, everything seemed to happen only yesterday.

When Frau was crowned, he was merely fifteen. They had to make a greenhorn like him a King because the last King was killed. The rest of the princes killed each other in struggle for power. And the seat somehow fell to him because the princes were dead, either killed by other princes or assassins hired by the corrupted ministers. Frau was an illegitimate son of the last prince and was, in fact, the last in line. They thought he wasn't any threat and left him alone. Even if they tried to kill him - which in fact they had - they didn't had the power. Frau had his two best friends.

Castor who served as his advisor kept the greedy blood away as far as he could from Frau. Lab was his court physician but his premonition never failed. Together, the two were his main tacticians. They think for him most of the times, and left the most important decision only to Frau. They kept danger away from him. Well, even if the greedy bunch of old foxes sent assassins (which they had, many times), the two were capable enough to protect themselves. As for Frau, he was the best in combat. No one, not even Castor who was crowned the best fighter, could best him. Not many knew for it was kept secret, but that was how he survived this long.

The moment Frau was crowned as King, the first thing he did was to offer the truce. He was doubting the success remembering how bad the relation between the two kingdoms. Still he persisted. The blond didn't want to see anymore victim of a useless war. Fortunately, Raggs had a new king as well.

Krom was a very kind and wise king. Definitely one suitable for the title 'King'. Unlike Frau, he was destined to be a ruler, a kind one. One loved by his people. One chance to talk and Frau had come to like the older man and his brother. He heard about the third prince, but never had the chance to meet him in person. But he heard all about his heroic tales.

To think that Krom raged a war was so…wrong. It was unlike him at all. Not to mention every letter he sent to Kreuz was never replied. It was as if the letter never reached the second prince.

"Maybe they never did," said Lab when Frau voiced his thought. "The letters, I mean." The physician added quickly.

"If what you said is true, then something must have happened in Raggs."

"I smell conspiracy. Krom-sama isn't the type to aggress in war."

"I agree," replied Frau. "Assuming there is something happening, how can we make sure of it?"

Labrador gave Frau a contemplating look and then gave the blond a small smile. "Let's go."

"Us?"

"Who else?" answered Castor from the door. "Aren't you happy to be able to leave?"

Frau gave the bespectacled advisor an incredulous look. But a grin definitely bloomed. "Are you kidding me? I've been waiting!"

At the answer, the King's two friends merely shook their heads and laughed good-heartedly at their King's childish answer. Being with such a King definitely never bored them. Maybe that was why the two loved him so much.

I'll be waiting for some reviews~